As for installing your acetylene cylinder indoors, enjoy these
linked pics. Remote door unlocking of the van did the job.
Ahh, acetylene, thou art a harsh mistress… Fortunately, however,
such accidents are very much the exception rather than the rule. The
proper methods for handling an acetylene tank have been very
thoroughly elaborated in this thread already. Further, an acetylene
leak isn’t exactly hard to detect. At it’s lower explosive limit,
the sharp, garlic odor would be very pronounced. This isn’t an
odourless gas here, it has a very distinctive smell. If your setup
is leaking, you will smell it. You just need the presence of mind to
perceive it.
My oxy-acetylene rig is kept indoors, and I have a much bigger
acetylene tank than most here. Mine is hooked up to a torch intended
for industrial use, not jewelry. The tank is chained in place in a
cart. I’ve seen shops with acetylene tanks that were almost bigger
than I am, and those tanks were kept inside.
I will relate one experience I had. I was attending training for
welding (earned my two-position plate and pressure pipe tickets) at
a welding school. For those not familiar with the setup of such a
place, there are ten or fifteen booths. Each booth has a welding
machine, a bench and a dark curtain to protect passersby from the
light. In the center area is a big bench, and various tools. Well,
this shop had two sets of oxy-acetylene torches. These were serious
business, too. You could cut through inch-thick steel plate with
these things. The acetylene tank was four feet tall, and almost three
feet in diameter. It was huge. Remember, this is a welding shop, so
there’s sparks flying everywhere. One day I was welding, and walked
back and forth past the torches to get something. Every time I walked
back, I noticed this smell… I couldn’t quite place it and was
trying to figure out what it was. I went back to the area where I
first detected the smell, and started looking around - then it hit
me! Garlic! The smell was garlic! I checked the torches, and one of
them hadn’t been properly shut off. The acetylene valve on the torch
had been left open and it was letting out acetylene into the air.
I experienced due alarm, of course. I shut off the torch properly,
and notified the instructor. He gave everyone a refresher on how to
shut down the torches.
Now, in safety near-misses like this, it’s helpful to review what
went wrong. So what did go wrong? The last person to use the torch
had turned off the oxygen first, forgot to turn the acetylene valve
on the torch itself off, and did not close the tank valves, back off
the regulators and drain pressure from the hoses like he should have.
This near-miss was directly the result of failure to follow proper
safety procedure. There’s a reason you follow this procedure.
Consider: What if the valve on the tank leaks? Well, the regulator
won’t let any gas through because it’s backed off. The torch won’t
let any gas out because it’s valve is closed. Torch valve leaks?
Regulator is backed off blocking gas flow, and tank valve is closed
also blocking gas flow.
Do you follow my meaning here? This method of shutting down the
torches requires failures in three valves, all at the same time, in
order for there to be a leak. If you keep your torches
well-maintained and in good order, have all three fail at once is
extremely unlikely. In conclusion, there isn’t a need to be fearful
of acetylene. Just respectful. Know how to safely handle it, know
the smell. Finally, don’t get slack! The proper way of shutting down
the torch has more steps than just shutting the torch valves and
leaving it. It’s easy to become lazy and forget, and it’s when do you
that that you start putting yourself at risk.
Paul Anderson