Acetylene Bottle Stored Tilted???

W

Will Leavitt

Joined
Jul 28, 2006
Messages
3,953
Quick question, my acetylene bottle was stored slightly (no more than 10-15 degrees) off of vertical for the last few weeks. :rolleyes: Father in law borrowed my tank dolly for something he's doing and I guess something got pushed up against the bottles. Is it safe for me to use it or do I need to stand it vertically for a length of time (if so, what length of time?) :confused:

Thanks, I was needing to use it tonight but don't feel like having an exciting time with the torch. :barf:
 
IIRC it should be stored upright for some time (24hrs) if it was stored horizontally. 15 degrees doesn't sound too bad. Maybe overnight would be ok. I can't find my welders manual.
 
Edro20 is correct. 24 hrs if horizontal. even at 45 degrees, its ok to use. the reason for this is that acetelene bottles have acetone in them to absorb moisture, if horizontal, it can get in the valve and cause an explosion when you try to light the torch. :(
 
Hmmm yeah, well I guess I'll wait til tomorrow then... I've lived an exciting life and now I like my boring life. :D Boring is good. Thanks guys.
 
I'm not doing any cutting.... I'm almost embarassed to say this but on a little knife thingy I'm working on part of the freaking tang got hardened when I edge quenched the blade. :( Soooo I'm pulling the torch out to do a "spot anneal" on the tang.
 
Teknition said:
Go ahead and use the torch Will. You won't have any problems at all.

Brad
www.AndersonKnives.ca
Click to expand...


Have I mentioned that I'm terrified of fires? That's why I'm a bladesmith... but seriously, I'm terrified of fire. :( :( :(

My ex-father in law has been a industrial maintenance man for like 30+ years, he was using my torches and there was a small leak at the torch, I hosed him with the extinguisher and ran out of his shop. I'm that afraid of fires. :grumpy:
 
10-15 degrees off of upright isn't going to do much. IF a cylinder has been on its side, then the general rule is to stand it up for 4 hours before use.

The acetylene is absorbed in acetone, and the acetone is absorbed in a filler. Used to be balsa wood... it's usually a fancy composite nowadays. If the cylinder is used too soon after being stood up, you can draw acetone out of the cylinder. The acetone will lower the flame temperature and will likely damage the regulator and/or torch valve settings,and gunk up the inside of your hose.

Explosion and fire aren't that much of a concern here... it's damaging your equipment you have to be careful of.

Now if you run it past 15 psig, then you might have some problems ;)
 
Will Leavitt said:
Have I mentioned that I'm terrified of fires? That's why I'm a bladesmith... but seriously, I'm terrified of fire. :( :( :(

My ex-father in law has been a industrial maintenance man for like 30+ years, he was using my torches and there was a small leak at the torch, I hosed him with the extinguisher and ran out of his shop. I'm that afraid of fires. :grumpy:
Click to expand...

Ok, let me say it another way. The bottles being canted on a 10-15 degree angle from verticle will make absolutely no difference in the outcome of using them. If you are confident enough to use a torch in their normal orientation, stand them up straight and use it, there is no difference at this point. What would have concerned me alot more was the danger of the tanks falling over for the last 2 weeks.

Brad
www.AndersonKnives.ca
 
Thanks again guys, I got the tang softened and didn't blow up anything accidentally. That will make the wife happy.
 
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