Ive watched so many videos of exploding tanks that im now scared to remove my equipment from my small disposable oxygen canister so i can set up my concentrator. All thats on the canister us this and my flashback arredtor. Am i being ridiculous?
There’s always the chance that you could do something that I can’t imagine, but I can’t imagine what could possibly go wrong with unscrewing that regulator from a disposable oxygen tank. Just unscrew it. If you’re really concerned, do it outside.
When you unscrew the regulator from the tank, the tank will automatically seal itself. It’s best to unscrew the regulator kind of quickly as there is a moment between when the tank is unsealed as the regulator partially disconnects. You might hear a bit of leaking oxygen.
Make sure that your hands are clean and free of any grease or oil. You should be fine!
Jeff
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Just unscrew the thing.
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You shouldn’t have any problem removing the regulator as described in a previous post. Or you can leave it on the tank. What you are connecting to the O2 concentrator is on the output side of the regulator. Make sure the regulator is turned off…Rob
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Im all set up. Bye bue oxygen canisters.
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Yay!! Congrats!! Jeff
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problem solved! you’ll save a lot of money getting rid of disposable 02 cannisters… expensive for the amount of oxygen they contain…which is not much at all… there was another thread about how many disposable cannisters it took to burn up one disposable cannister of propane… 40…!
congrants…
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I got a 5 foot oxygen tank in my garage and nothing bad has happened…yet…
You’ll be fine. I read that propane tanks are more dangerous than Oxygen tanks. I think because propage gas sinks and gets more trapped.
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but keep all pressurized tanks securely secured!
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I like to keep them out of my shop. So far, with the exception of a one lb. camp stove propane cylinder, I have met this goal. The next step might be a NG accumulator…Rob
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RickPowell,
I’m not sure what size propane tank that you are using in your garage, but in case you don’t know. Barbecue style propane tanks are illegal to be used indoors in every state in the US. As far as I know, most states allow a small 1 pound camping propane tank to be used indoors with jewelry torches, but you need to verify that with local authorities.
There is extensive information about why barbeque style propane tanks are illegal indoors and against state and county codes throughout the internet (and in this forum). It’s potentially very dangerous! I’ve mentioned this in another thread, but a friend’s mother blew up her whole house and suffered extensive burns because of a leak in an illegal propane tank connected to a jewelry torch.
I say all this because there are many beginners who read these posts and it’s very important that we don’t steer them in the wrong direction, especially with issues related to safety.
Thanks!
Jeff
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Thanks Jeff…Rob
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I have a shop oxyacetylene cutting torch and welding torch tips… the oxygen bottle contains 128 cubic feet at a pressure of 2100 psi…the acetylene is in a bottle filled with foam and acetone which dissolves it and keeps it from spontaneously exploding… it’s kept in the garage…the torch can take a barbecue propane tank, but the oxygen/ propane mixture is harder to control… all use two stage regulators…an adapter for the barbeque propane…both the acetylene and oxygen bottles are secured to a wheeled stand by chains…the bottles for high pressure gases, including scuba tanks which are pressurized up to 2,200 psi are strong enough not to crack and explode if dropped on a concrete floor from an pright postion…but it doesn’t make them safe either…I witnessed many years ago a scuba tank accident, when the bottle was dropped and broke the valve connector…the bottle took off like a rocket…
propane is heavier than air… a leak will cause it to sink to the floor… acetylene and natural gas are lighter than air and will rise up to the ceiling… explosive concentrations of gas can build up from a leak if there’s no ventilation… My garage is ancient, leaky, and has airflow thru it even with the doors closed…I don’t bring the torch and bottles inside the house… use it mostly for melting and pouring ingots outside…pouring is dangerous, as there is a risk of spilling some molten metal…
If you can smell gas, turn off all sources of ignition and ventilate the house… it’s a matter of common sense, besides legality…
I have been using an air propane torch with a disposable propane bottle… just a plain old hardware store bernzomatic… it was sufficient to do all my work indoors.
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Once the valve on tope of the tank is closed, removed regulators don’t release but a smidgen of gas. Highly unlikely to have anything blow. That would require knocking the valve stem off when closed or knocking a regulator off when pressurized. Most of the accidents you read about are from tanks getting knocked over and the valve stem is broken. The pressurized gas escapes rapidly and a tank can shoot through a wall. The other mistake is putting a tank that is slightly leaky into a trunk of a car and leaving it in there for awhile. The gas leaks enough to fill the trunk, a spark sets it off.
As long as a tank is immobilized (i.e. chained) so it can’t fall over while removing or replacing the regulator AND it is transported so it can’t fall over with ventilation things should be fine. I’ve been in this field for over 40 years and have never personally known of anyone who had an explosion. Take your time, follow the rules and all should be fine.
Ruthanne
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disposable oxygen cannisters have low pressure… the estimated pressure, from a previous discussison that I had with a former mechanical engineer turned jeweler, was that disposable oxygen bottles have less than 200 psi pressure… I’m glad that you are getting an oxygen concentrator, not because of any danger of a disposible oxygen bottle exploding, but because it’s the most expensive way to by oxygen… it takes 40 disposable cannisters to one disposable cannister of propane…the disposable cannisters are very expensive… propane bottles by contrast are very cheap…disposable ones are very safe… I did almost everything with just a bernzomatic air/disposable propane bottle torch… the only time that i needed oxygen was for melting and pouring ingots… that’s when I used my oxy/acetylene torch… I had bought the bottles, regulators and torch heads and tips to do steel cutting… I made heavy duty wind chimes and mobiles out of steel scrap metal…welding was done using a MIG welder…much easier to do arc welding than gas welding…