Acetylene Level

[Jack772]

My acetylene appears to be running low. I seem to remember that you cannot use it all. What is the level I should stop at?

Thanks,
Jack

[BillK]

Jack,
We use it until it stops. I am getting every pennys worth out of the bottle :)

[PTSideshow]

When you start having problems, maintaining the flame at the level you want with out constant adjusting. I learned in the olden times late 60's about 50 psig we were taught to shut it off.
But I have since been told that had more to do with the filler type and the ease that the acetone would carry over. Now with the new non asbestos/cement filler mix. It is some form of monolithic block of stuff, the acetone doesn't carry over like it did.
As with everything your mileage may vary.:D

[pressurerelief]

Asbestos has not been used in an acetylene cylinder since the 30's. Not saying that some are not still around but doubtful you have it. It was used by one company for a period of about five years. The Compresed Gas Association has thoroughly researched and documented what cylinder manufacturer placed what fill into a cylinder and during what time period.

I would change it at double your regulated pressure setting, ie if you are flowing 8 psi change it out at 16. For industrial purposes I would change at 50.

http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/showthread.php?t=34197

P/R

[davidh]

speaking of act., i was told yesterday when i picked up a new bottle that for every minute its laid on its side, it should remain upright for the same amount of time before being used. . . . other wise harm could come to your regulator for trying to control the liquid that is in the tank. . . .
sounds reasonable to me. . .

[radkins]

speaking of act., i was told yesterday when i picked up a new bottle that for every minute its laid on its side, it should remain upright for the same amount of time before being used. . . . other wise harm could come to your regulator for trying to control the liquid that is in the tank. . . .
sounds reasonable to me. . .



You heard right and NEVER, EVER try to use an Acetylene tank that is not standing upright! To do so will allow the fluid inside to flow into your regulator and ruin it, also the smell will ruin your day!:)

BTW, this can also happen if too much Acetylene is drawn off too fast such as might happen when using a large torch with a small tank.

[dave5605]

To minimize the withdrawal of liquid
solvent, acetylene should be
withdrawn from the cylinder at a
rate not to exceed 1/10 (one-tenth)
of the capacity of the cylinder per
hour during intermittent use. For full
withdrawal of the contents of the
cylinder on a continuous basis, the
flow rate should be no more than
1/15 (one-fifteenth) of the capacity
of the cylinder per hour.

Copied from #14 on page five....
http://www.airproducts.com/nr/rdonlyres/9d325c49-7c62-41e5-aa0b-8411db4d84f8/0/safetygram13.pdf

and from #8

Do not use acetylene at pressures
above 15 psig, the pressure where
decomposition can begin, to avoid
explosion and fire hazard.

[radkins]

Another trick I have seen people do when switching tanks is to open the valve on the empty ones, Oxygen, Acetylene, C25, etc, and leave it open letting them completely drain. I have no idea why someone would want do this but sometimes they do and doing it, especially with Acetylene, is nothing short of just being plain stupid! What happens is the inside of the tank becomes contaminated with air when the pressure reaches zero and in the case of Acetylene tanks it can be an explosion hazard. With air mixed with the Acetylene left in the tank and an open valve a spark could easily start a fire or worse.

[boslab]

over here we order DA, dissolved acetylene, the filling is a natural fibre called kapock and the solvent is unremarkably Acetone, and your all right they dont like lying down, very high flow on a full one can pull a little acetone.
High pressure acetylene also reacts explosivly with copper, so no bits of tube to join acetylene hose, brass connectors only.
all the best
mark

[radkins]

High pressure acetylene also reacts explosivly with copper,
all the bestmark


Wow! :eek: I did not know that! In all the years I have used this stuff that one had gotten by me, thanks for the info it just proves that even us old folks can still learn something. :)

[Boucher]

First let me say that I would never lay an Acetylene Cylinder down. For years there was a ruptured Acetylene tank at the door going into the local welding supply. I never did find out what the story was behind that incident, but I would not have wanted to be present when it happened. Second there are differences in how much Acetone was installed in the old cylinders. When I went to work for my father-in-law in 1970 his cylinders were both laying down. I was unsuccesful in persuading him to change. I worked for him for seven years and we often used a large Rosebud for 10-15 minutes at a time. He continued this practice for another twenty years and never had a problem.
That is no BS it is real world experience.

As an Engineer a large part of my professional practice and experience was in the field of forensic failure analysis. Not all, but most of the time when something really bad happens the SOB that did something dumb and caused it is not the one that gets hurt.

I don't remember all of the details of this incident. It happened in a small town in Texas. A person went to the welding supply to exchange an Acetylene cylinder. The new cylinder was loaded into the trunk of a car. Best guess is that the safety seal in the bottle was leaking. An expolsion occurred in that vehicle going down the street. I also worked professionaly with military type explosives. The amount of dammage from that explosion would have been hard to duplicate with a trunk full of high explosive.

Respect those gas cylinders. Dropping or rough handling could dammage them and cause problems.

Another story involving an oxygen cylinder. An expolsion occurred in a small Ford dealership. It killed some people and destroyed a lot of property. The investigation found the nut and nipple from an oxygen cylinder that had just been exchanged. In the mating surfaces were the remains of the wing of a bee. Back then there were no little plastic caps put over the threads. The main bottle cap was installed after filling. The consenus was that the bee went throug the hole in the cap and into the discharge hole of the bottle as it was being transported back to the dealership. Whoever installed the regulator did not purge the interface. When the bottle pressure was turned on an explosion occurred. What else contributed to this will never be known.

Good practice is to crack the tank valve very gently and allow some oxygen to excape and purge the flow channel before installing the regulator.

[radkins]

The part about the bee brings up another warning about these tanks. I am not trying to be funny here, if this happens it is not at all funny but it seems that wasps are attracted to the safety caps of tanks stored outside in the summer. We kept as many as 20 tanks at a time and it was not unusual for 1/2 of them to contain wasp nests under the caps, sometimes large nests with dozens of wasps in the tanks that had been there for a while. If you take the cap off a tank that has been stored outside and wasps are common to your area beware! This is no laughing matter and I have seen several people injured by these things, one guy was hurt seriously when he fell off a storage/loading dock when trying to escape after he removed a cap and wasps swarmed out. I don't know what it is about those caps but I would guess they must be the perfect nesting place because those danged things sure like them!

[boslab]

The part about the bee brings up another warning about these tanks. I am not trying to be funny here, if this happens it is not at all funny but it seems that wasps are attracted to the safety caps of tanks stored outside in the summer. We kept as many as 20 tanks at a time and it was not unusual for 1/2 of them to contain wasp nests under the caps, sometimes large nests with dozens of wasps in the tanks that had been there for a while. If you take the cap off a tank that has been stored outside and wasps are common to your area beware! This is no laughing matter and I have seen several people injured by these things, one guy was hurt seriously when he fell off a storage/loading dock when trying to escape after he removed a cap and wasps swarmed out. I don't know what it is about those caps but I would guess they must be the perfect nesting place because those danged things sure like them!
I must admit i have seen the little buggers in our gas compound and not given it much more than a passing thought, ill leave a can of bug spray there i think
mark

[PTSideshow]

Wow! :eek: I did not know that! In all the years I have used this stuff that one had gotten by me, thanks for the info it just proves that even us old folks can still learn something. :)
I have just copied and posted some information on Copper Acetylide an explanation of DANGER ! In a new thread
http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/showthread.php?t=36335