idle chit chat about gas bottles

[smokeyone]

Many moons ago I purchased outright a gas welding kit from a company long gone now but I think it was in Scotland. It came complete with a baby oxygen bottle and a can of mapps gas. Later I also purchased a larger oxygen bottle from them. You used to be able to post back to them the empty mapps gas can for refilling and even the oxygen bottle if you wished.
Then by chance I found out that if you went to your local friendly British Oxygen depot (might have been in Wembley) they would refill the oxygen bottle for you. The happy days are long gone - now it's a British Oxygen yearly contract with in between letters saying how much the fee is going up.
However I still have the empty oxygen bottles and suppose the only use for them is scrap ali value.
Did wonder about filling them with compressed air from a compressor but suppose that might be a bit dodgy.

 

[Pnumac]

Dodgy? No No not at all.........Incredibly dodgy and life threatening...YES!
Also never ever try to decant from a full (or partially full) bottle to an empty bottle. The bottle valves are manufactured to prevent reverse flow, so its not even worth trying

 

[rtbcomp]

The scrapman won't take them (or a proper one won't) as they don't like pressure vessels unless they're cut in half or have a large hole in them.

Mixing air and oxygen per-se is OK, but oxygen enriched air mixing with oil, in air tools for example, is very dangerous as the oil could ignite or explode.

Your local dumpit site or a gas supplier should be able to dispose of them safely.

 

[smokeyone]

I'll cut them in half then - bandsaw should do it okay.......

 

[rtbcomp]

No - If there's a trace of oxy in the bottle and you get a spark or even a bit of heating you'll be in trouble, steel and ally will burn in oxygen.

 

[eil]

Is it this set you mean

 

[eil]

You can still get them and a few other makes as well, that set comes with a de-canting hose so you can fill up from a big bottle perfectly safely. I have been doing it for years as has many refrig Eng's. have a look at page 12 here
http://www.srw.co.uk/pdf/SRW/Tools_Mini_cat_08.pdf
The only trouble with them is the oxy doesn't last long and when you send them to BOC to re-fill they charge the same as the porta pak for filling as you own the cylinder so they cant charge rental.

 

[Gasman]

Just wanted to reinforce and advise extreme caution for the less experienced members reading this thread thinking its "OK" to mess about with gas cylinders.

ITS SERIOUSLY NOT WORTH THE POTENTIAL INJURY, DEATH, PROPERTY DAMAGE OR PROSECUTION!!

Anything other than reading the label, attaching the correct regulator and carefully turning the valve on/off should be avoided.

Some forum members from the diving or industrial community often suggest or imply dangerous practices. Obviously this is up to them, but it only takes a bit of grease/debris on a hose, a cylinder issue or incorrect pressure calculation to blow your head off. Please be sensible about this, you have been warned!!

 

[Arsonista]

I didn't take this too seriously at first because I thought it was a wind-up.

If it is, then we've had a laugh and ha ha ha.

If it isn't, then PLEASE listen to the advice given. Gas cylinders are not to be messed with.

 

[smokeyone]

Yes, it's the baby set shown in the image. When I tried to get BOC to refill the cyclinder a few years ago they didn't want to know as it's not there's. Suppose I could always fill the cyclinder with water to expell any oxygen before cutting in half....