Handling of cylinders

[Rocky D]

We haven't given eough attention to the handling of gas cylinders, / tanks.
they can be tricky sometimes, so maybe a few tips from the pros will avoid a accident.
First, when you need to move a cylinder, make sure the cap in on tight. There was one incident at my plant, where a guy tried to pick up tank, to pull it up into he truck bed, the cap came off, after he applied sufficient force to get it off the ground, and the cap slapped him in the face removing several teeth! :eek:

There are prolly a few guys that can pick up a 300cf tank with one hand, out there, but for the rest of us, here's some tips, that could help you avoid from having your intestines end up in your nut sack! :eek:

When lifting a tank onto a truck bed, or even onto the welder cart, use leverage to raise it. For the truck bed, lean the tank onto the tailgate, and then pick up the bottom of the tank and lift. throwing it into the bed. To bring it out again, if I'm on concrete, I place a board down to where I think the tank will hit, and slide it out quickly so the tank lands hard on the board, and make sure in both cases the truck is on level ground, or the tank will slide to one side, and you'll lose it.

For lifting it from the ground to your rig, say, a couple of inches, I lean the tank onto my inner thigh, and allow it to lean back enough to get it onto the cart, and push it in to the upright position. Some guys will use the bear hug technique,... real hard on the back, tho. When moving the tanks around on the concrete, I lean the tank over and kick it with my foot, to roll it along...the real coordinated guys can to two tanks at a time! Hope this helps someone, tanks can be dangerous, so be careful out there.

[migwelder05]

i thought your not suppost to lay cylinders down flat to transport? The other day when the airgas guy can he had some little van and swapped out 1 tank (they normally com with the big truck and swap more tanks) and layed it flat in the back of the van

[Rocky D]

i thought your not suppost to lay cylinders down flat to transport? The other day when the airgas guy can he had some little van and swapped out 1 tank (they normally com with the big truck and swap more tanks) and layed it flat in the back of the van

Acetylene is the only cylinder, I know of that should be transported and used up right. The rest can be laid down...I've heard of taking mix gas tanks and rolling them on the ground to re-blend the gas after it has been sitting for a long period of time...dunno if it works,...just heard of it.

[Sberry]

I lift them like Rocky does. In my 20's I could get a big one over the shoulder and carry it up stairs, have given up on that one now.

[aametalmaster]

Acetylene can be layed down but it can't be used right away. It needs to set a spell and remix so the acetone won't run out of your torch when you light it. Trust me on that one...Bob

[whateg0]

Good thread, Rocky!

Dave

[taylorkh]

Then of course there are the safety issues when one of these things gets loose - without the cap in place. When my Dad was an engineering student at Rensselaer Poly Tech (Class of '40) there was a professor on campus who USED TO demonstrate the reaction principle by placing a gas cylinder in a carefully aimed trough then busting the valve off with a sledge hammer. The cylinder would fly over a 4 story building. This went well until one semester when some enterprising student bled off some of the gas the night before. That time the cylinder went through the 3rd floor instead of over the roof. The professor kept his job but was told not to do this demonstration any more.

I believe that all modern high pressure cylinders have a restrictor in the neck to reduce the force in the event that a valve shears off. Still, better to keep the cap on.

As to old cylinders... have a look at this page: http://www.taylorwharton.com/cylinder_report.htm

Ken

[Brianstick]

One of the Mythbusters episodes had an experiment where they busted off a valve on a cylinder to see what it would do. The results were scary to say the least.

[usmcpop]

These are pretty amazing: http://users.frii.com/bsimon/daven/kdrag.html

I've done it by merely putting in about a 4 second (?) squirt of propane from a torch, then screwing on the cap that was drilled to 1/4 inch or so. They make a lot of noise when they take off, as the hot exhaust gas goes sonic. I used to shoot them off the deck from a piece of steel channel.

SAFETY WARNING: These could probably blow up in your face. Don't try this at home, etc.

[Roger]

As a diver I would help more, store and charge many pallets of 200 cubic foot helium and O2 cylinders stacked on side 4 ft high. Some were at least 30 years old. One big problem was getting cylinder caps off and on. Some caps seemed a little oval in stead of round and stretched at thread end. If you couldn't get cap off by unscrewing you pulled and rocked them off always worked. I would never try to lift a cylinder by the cap.

All of this handling was because that was only way to get gas aboard the ww2 submarine rescue ship when tube truck wasn't available. Helium and O2 gas banks were one deck down from main deck. 2 people lowered/raised the cylinders through a small hatch using barrel hitches tied in line. Helium cylinders were placed in banks laying horizontal. We added O2 to Helium banks to get desired HeO2 mix. Extra pallets of gas was carried as deck cargo on weather deck.

[enlpck]

There is a concern when transporting cylinders laying down. IF a cylinder isn't properly secured, tied in with the base against a solid support, like the front of a truck bed, in an accident, the cylinder may turn into a rocket.

Base against a solid stop solid so it can't rocket. Tied in so it can't shift into a position where it can rocket. Remember that the tailgate of a pickup isn't a solid support... They often pop open in accidents, even minor ones.

It frightens me when I see a pickup with a dozen or more cylinders, both oxygen and acetylene, stacked loosely in the bed.

[FormerTankSarge]

Some spooky stuff out there with regards to safety.:eek: Thanks for bringing up the subject!:)

[vwguy3]

The MOST important rule about handling cylinders is.....
always handle the cylinder as if it were full.

The rule of thumb on acetylene is to set it upright as long as it was laid flat before using it.

[Zrexxer]

The MOST important rule about handling cylinders is.....
always handle the cylinder as if it were full.And never point a loaded cylinder at anything you don't want to weld?

[prowess]

I remember a thread last year, think it was in an "amazing welding stories" thread or similar.
Someone stated he used to see jobsite workers at the end of the day just toss bottles off of 2nd story elevations (maybe more) to get them down quickly, rather than carry them down.
Unreal.
But does not surprise me.

All it takes is one time for the valve to hit just right, and you have disaster. Or a 100 lb rocket ship with no care where it may go - or go through! :eek:

[calweld]

I handle these by myself, when empty, drag the old ones out, new full ones, simply bend my knee, balance the new full one over it, just slide it in, then push it up. BTW, this is a #5 acetelyne, and two 250 or 280 oxygens. Just gotta watch the fingers,,,,,,,,

[Mr Meck]

Okay so the ox tank is empty. Toss it in the truck and head out. Rearend some one at 30mph. Guess where the ox tank is? It will be sitting next to you in the cab. Secure before transport please. :D

[vwguy3]

I have seen guys pick up full WC acetylene tanks and toss them butt end first into a service truck bed......those tanks are pretty tough but let me move a few(hundred) steps away first!

[kimmyswelderboy]

hey rock..where are you from? we had a guy who stopped our laborer/grinder from doing the same thing and pulled out his dentures to show the results. same guy? or equally bull headed?

[Rocky D]

hey rock..where are you from? ...

Read this post...there's a clue hidden in it. :rolleyes:

[Knowledgeworker]

Yep. :D:D:D:D:D

[B_C]

I usually get one of the BIG BOYS that hang around to change my bottles....



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RAIDER GAME

[ptsideshow]

Acetylene can be layed down but it can't be used right away. It needs to set a spell and remix so the acetone won't run out of your torch when you light it. Trust me on that one...Bob


The rule of thumb is the length of time it is on its side is the length of time that should be up right letting the liquid and gas get cozy again. No less than 15 minutes if it was up and down for only a short time.

I think that would probably a good starting point in any case, as Bob said.
I have only seen it one time and that was back when cylinders were made of wood the instructor used an MC tank and air acetylene torch and let some drip out just a little before. Shutting it off, and standing the tank upright. It has to do with the filler in the tanks now and the length of time it takes the acetone to migrate back into it. in the olden times the filler absorb it quicker. If the neck and valve have been lower than the other end. The liquid infuses the neck valve area gets blown out by the rush of gas.

[SundownIII]

Dang,

I agree that I go back a good ways. When I first started gas welding we did make our own acetylene in a hopper, rather than having it delivered in a bottle.

I've got to admit though that "back when cylinders were made from wood" does definitely pre-date me.:)

[hankj]

From "Welding Essentials", by Galvery and Marlowe, page 12, in answer to the question of what to do if you know a newly delivered acetylene cylinder has been transported on its side:

"Upright the cylinder and wait at least one-half hour before connecting and using the cylinder...."

Hank

[FWI]

We were on a job last year next to a river and the pipe liners built a ramp if you will out of 8"x8" angle and where shooting ox. bottles into the river by breaking off the valves with a sledge hammer....Crazy things that people will do..:eek:

[SundownIII]

Rocky,

Couple of years ago, a hopper dredge, doing maintenance dredging to the ship channel on the Chesapeake Bay, sucked up a hi pressure cylinder (they think it was oxygen-lost overboard from deck cargo on a ship) and when it hit the pump blades it went off.

Did over 2 million in damages to the dredge. Luckily, no one was killed.