Will cutting brass with steel cause a spark?

[nknelsen]

I have some old propane tanks I would like to get rid of but they have to be opened. I am thinking of cutting the valve off with my Sawzall, but really don't care to blow myself up.
Another option is to perforated them with my .308, but that may not go as planned either.

Thank you

Propane tanks have a regular ¾" threaded valve on top. Remove it, fill the tank with water and cut away.

 

[GeneSimm7]

There is some type of mechanism that keeps fuel from coming out if no appliance is attached. I found that out the hard way years ago... I left the valve open for a few months, then put a wrench on it and turned the valve out. I'm lucky I wasn't leaning across the top, the valve shot up about 30 feet and would have taken me in the face.

Since others have tried it first I may resort to the .308 method. At least if something goes wrong I will be 100 yards away.

I also found out recently that there is no approved way of getting rid of all of those disposable propane tanks I've thrown out over the years. Apparently they don't want them in trash incenerators... go figure.

I have some old propane tanks I would like to get rid of but they have to be opened. I am thinking of cutting the valve off with my Sawzall, but really don't care to blow myself up.
Another option is to perforated them with my .308, but that may not go as planned either.

Thank you

Why do you want to get rid of them? You don't use propane anymore? If you do, just go to Lowes or Home Depot and do an exchange for a reconditioned tank.

 

[GeneSimm7]

Propane tanks have a regular ¾" threaded valve on top. Remove it, fill the tank with water and cut away.

I've used this method and it works well!

 

[davideubanks]

Just fill with water and cut away.

 

[Gord Baker]

I have some old propane tanks I would like to get rid of but they have to be opened. I am thinking of cutting the valve off with my Sawzall, but really don't care to blow myself up.
Another option is to perforated them with my .308, but that may not go as planned either.

Thank you

If they are the 20 lb type, put a long bar through handle holes and use a 24" pipe wrench to unscrew valve. I don't recall if it has Left Hand threads or not.
Filling with water is time consuming and does not guarantee there is no flamable gas still in the tank.

 

[walnutman]

If they are the 20 lb type, put a long bar through handle holes and use a 24" pipe wrench to unscrew valve. I don't recall if it has Left Hand threads or not.
Filling with water is time consuming and does not guarantee there is no flamable gas still in the tank.

If the tank is full of water you can be sure it's not gonna do anything bad. You cut the tank with the water still in it.

 

[walnutman]

Down here in the south they build smokers out of the large tanks.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Be aware that if you use a torch to cut up an old propane tank, filling with water and draining may not be enough. The Methyl Mercaptan odorant used with propane can coat the inside of the tank. When heated with a torch, this coating can emit a toxic explosive gas.

https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/MHMI/mmg139.pdf

 

[aircommuter]

the only thing is methyl mercaptan isn’t used in propane. It’s ethyl mercaptan. I have worked on numerous tanks and I like others fill them with water but go one more step to wash them out with soap like Dawn and simple green with my steam cleaner. You can chain them down with a load binder and remove the valve with a big wrench and extension if needed. They are not left handed pipe threads as was brought up before. I have made a couple pressure tanks with them, one with gear oil for filling final drives or differentials. Another for engine oil to pressure feed newly rebuilt engines before the first startup after I do one. That one has an oil filter on it.

 

[lilranch2001]

Many years ago, I was reading an industrial safety journal about some poor fellow who was using a drill press to drill holes into old oxygen cylinders to prove they were empty for disposal. He encountered a cylinder with a busted valve handle and no way to get it open. He went ahead and drilled a hole in it: it not being empty it exploded and killed him and blew out the wall of the shop.

As I was reading it I thought, should have taken it out and shot a hole in it (a viable solution for many problems), but then thought that’s not something anyone would ever recommend.

Nope. That’s exactly what this trade rag safety journal recommended: take it out and shoot a hole in it from a safe distance.

But what is a safe distance for a fully loaded oxygen cylinder that’s a lot of pressure!