Oxy/Acetlyne tank contents lifespan

[MadReferee]

My brother just called and asked what the expected lifespan of the oxygen and acetlyne in his tanks is. Seems he has tanks that have not been used in about 15 years and there is still some content in both according to the gauges.

He wants to know if he can use the tanks untill they are empty then deal with the recertify and refill issues.

So, before I post this question on the Hobart/Miller forums, I thought I would ask here. Opinions?

 

[dummy]

I have one on the acetylene. They use a cellulose type material on the inside of the tank to absorb the liquid and produce gas, so if they are that old he would need to roll it around on its side to absorb the liquids. I had an old small acetylene tank (plumbing type) and my supplier told me how to recover it but he exchanged it after giving me the story.

 

[Lazy]

Hi
The gauge will not tell you how much acetylene is in the tank.
To determine the amount of Acetylene remaining in the tank you have to weigh the tank then subtract the tare weight. the difference between the tare weight and actual weight will be the amount of acetylene remaining.

14.5 cubic feet per pound @ 60 degrees F

charlie.

 

[MadReferee]

Here is more information.

The acetylene guages are 2 stage and one reads 75 which I think is the bottle contents. The other is the adjustable output pressure.

I am assuming that the oxygen tank can be used with no problems.

His real question is can the acetylene tank be used without problems?

 

[Junkman]

Can't say for 15 years, but my tanks haven't been used in almost 8 years and when I cracked them open this past summer, there was still gas in there. I can't see how the gas can go bad in a sealed container, but it could leak out if the valve wasn't closed properly. If they are owned tanks, then he will have to pay to have them re-certified. If they are rental tanks, then he owes a lot of demurrage (rental after the initial grace period) on them. I had a few tanks that were in a building that I purchased that were leased tanks. I called the company and asked them if they wanted them. They came to pick them up and were happy to get them back even though they had been "missing" for many years. That is the fastest way to get rid of empty tanks. If you own your own tanks, when you swap them, make sure that they give you back tanks that don't have the company name embossed in the top. I had this happen to me, I owned the tanks and they just swapped with mine for some of their own owned tanks. Then the business was sold, and the new owners said that the tanks belonged to them when I tried to exchange them.