I saw a tank recently that was captured in WWII, They stamped
over the swastika and made it into four boxes.
At 05:40 PM 6/17/98 -0500, you wrote:
>
>At 09:30 AM 6/17/98 +0000, you wrote:
>>
>>> At 03:37 PM 6/16/98 -0500, Gano, Ken wrote:
>>> >A word of caution. The oxy-acetylene tanks are probably the property
of the
>>> >welding supply company. I worked for one years ago, and the USUAL
practice
>>> >is to sell a lease or take a deposit, but not to sell the cylinders
>>> >themselves..
>>>
>>> Maybe so, but some companies *will* sell the tanks. I bought
>>> a set of tanks years ago, because I planned on keeping them
>>> and didn't feel like paying rental charges forever.
>>
>>Buying the cylinders is fine if you still get them refilled at the same
>>supplier, but watch out if you try to get them refilled at a different
>>place. There are all sorts of safety regulations aimed at protecting
>>their employees from the hazard of "unknown source" cylinders that may
>>not be sound.
>
>Well as far as I understand, the saftey precautions should be taken care of
>by current/valid testing (which I think is DOT approval). A cylinder that
>is personally owned needs to be retested every 5 years but one that is owned
>by a gas company only needs certification every 10 years (why I don't know).
>This is what my gas supplier told me. If you look at a cylinder it should
>be date coded for the last time it's been tested (it's cool to check out and
>see how old the cylinders are, one I just check was first certified in 43,
>it's as old as my dad. It was then certified every five years until the
>sixties, when it was certified every 9 or 10 years. My supplier says he has
>one from the early 1900's, it has a square bottom, next time I'm around I
>want to check it out). If I remember how the testing goes, the cylinder is
>places in an protective tank, which is then filled with water. The cylinder
>is then pressurized (over pressurized?), the tank expands some amount, and
>the amount of water that is displaced is measured. Then the pressure is
>released and the amount that the tank contracts (the amount of water that
>returns) is measured. I can't remember which is the elastic measure and
>what the term for the other measure is. The tanks have to meet some set
>number for expansion. There are also different ratings for the tank
>depending upon how much the tank expands contracts, this is why some
>cylinders of the same size are rated to hold more gas than others.
>This is just what I remember from a conversation I had with my supplier some
>time ago, I'm not sure I have every thing correct.
>Also as far as tank ownership, there are normally several marks on the tanks
>(like cattle brands) that mark the owner. Some people try to remove these
>and claim the tank as their own, but normally don't get them all removed and
>are spotted (by someone who knows/cares). This info also came from my
>supplier and from the personal experience of some stupid college kids at my
>school (who were arrested right after they picked up some CO2 tanks from the
>local gas supplier. Seems that the same supplier also supplies the school
>with tanks/extinguishers and noticed that these particular tanks actually
>belonged to the school. Bright kids.)
>So while some companies don't want to fill other tanks for whatever reason,
>if the tanks is certified and the valve is good then it should be safe.
>If anyone wants more info let me know and I can ask my gasman.
>
> Matt Wehland mwehland@webtripper.com http://www.webtripper.com
> 95 Mustang GT Crystal White 5spd Best 14.601, in street trim
>
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