1. Home
  2. ⏣ General Metalworking
  3. Frozen acetylen ?

Frozen acetylen ?

Hi

I live near Montreal, Quebec and it is pretty cold these days. Beetween -10 C and - 25 C ( about 0 to -35 F )

I have a small oxy-acetylene kit (not the smallest one home depot sell, the one just bigger) that stay outside. Both bottles are supposed to be almost full. Last time I used it, I was reading 50 on the first meter of the acetylen bottle and that pressure drop to 0 pretty fast (maybe 30 sec.) After a couple minuts, the pressure came back to 50.

As I remember, there should be more than 50 lbs of pressure in it. Maybe there was a leak, but I think that something was frozen, as I already had a small propane bottle froze on me in similar temperature.

Is the regulator frozen? Is it the acetylen bottle. Can I put the bottle in my house to unfroze safely?

One good point in all this, I finally learned how to cut steel :) As I ran out of acetylen, I only had to use oxygen to control the cut, and the result was impressing, for an eternal newbe like me who use only one set of those small bottles every two years, wich give me plenty of time to forget what I learned the last time....I just hope I don't forget this time.

Thanks for any hints,

Francois in the cold

Reply to
Francois
Loading thread data ...

I just moved to BC from Ottawa. Pardon me while I gloat!

The acetylene is not in the cyliner as a compressed gas. If you try to compress acetylene to more than a few psi it will explode. The acetylene tank is full of porous pottery and the pottery is saturated with liquid acetone. The acetylene is dissolved in the acetone like CO2 in a bottle of pop under low pressure. I suspect that when it's very cold, the acetone is less likely to 'fizz' and release the acetylene.

Yes.

No

Better you than me!

Reply to
John Ings

"Francois" wrote: (clip) Last time I used it, I was reading 50 on the first meter of the acetylen bottle and that pressure drop to 0 pretty fast (maybe 30 sec.) After a couple minuts, the pressure came back to 50.(clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^ The acetylene gas is dissolved in something like acetone, which, in turn, is soaked into a solid porous material like charcoal (?), to lessen the risk of explosion. At your low temperatures, the gas cannot come out of solution fast enough to supply the torch, so the pressure falls off. You need to warm the cylinder up.

SOMEWHERE, I READ THAT YOU MUST NOT DO THIS BY TURNING THE TORCH ON THE CYLINDER.

Reply to
Leo Lichtman

Sounds like a Darwin Award waiting to happen.

Bernd

Reply to
Bernd

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.