Hand held propane torch exploded in my neighborhood

the flammable fuel/air

be determined with

was a short circuit

electrical wiring associated

were the design and

precluding all ignition

located beneath the CWT

fuel vapor in the tank

Most lawnmowers don't have wiring in their gas tanks.

connected when finished

Probably to limit their culpability in case of a mishap.

Dave

connected when finished

Not sure that makes more sense or not.

P'raps they were going way over the torches duty cycle, the handle got too hot to hold, and when he threw it it broke the torch body, or broke the torch off the valve head?

In which case, more like a big fireball, less like an explosion, but that's splitting hairs.

Dave

I respect your thoughts on the subject but have you ever seen a BBQ tank purged before it is filled ( after the initial purge) ?

connected when finished

Thanks. Nice to know I've been following the recommended procedure.

"Robert Swinney" wrote: Tell that to the NTSB examiners of TWA Flight 800. Their report:

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Bob, you need to separate in your mind the tanks filled with pressurized fuel, and tanks that have liquid fuel and an airspace above the liquid. The tanks on your car, your lawnmower and TWA flight 800 are vented--as fuel is consumed, air goes in. If the air vent on your car's gas tank gets plugged, the tank will collapse under atmospheric pressure. A Bernzomatic tank is filled with liquid fuel and fuel vapor. No air. As fuel is used, more evaporates, but no air goes in.

"mlcorson" wrote: UPDATE:(clip) He threw the tank across the basement and it blew up and started a fire. (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ That was pretty stupid. Why didn't he just turn it off? He threw a lighted torch across the room, causing the valve to break off, releasing the total contents of the tank in the presence of an open flame. ^^(clip) Fast action by the plumbers saved the fire from

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ So this part: "The plumbers stumbled out to the street and sprawled on the grass until the paramedics arrived," was completely false. This goes to show how easily a story can be exaggerated and distorted. Right now we are hearing conflicting reports about the Minnesota bridge that collapsed. Were there advance warnings that the bridge was unsafe? Had the bridge been recently inspected and given a clean bill? I say we have to wait for the confusion to die down to learn the facts.

I carry a "B" tank and a small propane torch on my service truck. I always leave the head screwed on the tank. Too many times I have come out to the truck in the morning and smelled propane from a leaking cylinder. With the torch head in place I have never had a propane leak. I forgot to close the valve on the B tank once. Came out in the AM hopped into the truck, and got out even faster! The truck was full of acetylene! I left the drivers door open for a while, then opened the back doors to air it out. That could have been one hell of a wake up call in the morning! Greg

mlcorson wrote: UPDATE:

Still fishy...

Drawing propane out of the tank will make the tank colder as the liquid propane gains the heat needed to vaporize it.

My disposable propane tanks all seem to leak down if the torch is removed from them. When I leave the torch on - a full tank stays full.

The instructions on the side of the shampoo read: lather rinse repeat.

The last word was added by the sales department.

You don't suppose Berzomatic, et al, was influenced by the Manufacturers of diaposable propane bottles, do you?

Mark (cynic) Dunning

You might want to consider the difference in scale and containment between combustion inside a 13 oz propane bottle versus an aircraft fuel tank.

I had disposable propane tank stick open. There was no way to stop it except to reattach the torch and let it burn out outdoors.

Doesn't need to be- the valve on a propane tank doesn't allow air to enter at atmospheric pressure and vessel pressure is always higher than atmospheric. Most fuel gas cylinders are valved this way.

I used to work with transfilling compressed gases (medical oxygen) and a vacuum purge was mandatory because the valving , if left open, would allow room air to enter an empty cylinder.

-Carl

I've always figured that the valve in the tank was disposable, the one in the torch head isn't(or shouldn't be, given Chinese tool quality, though...). Which one would you rather trust to not leak? Although I've also seen disposable propane tanks right off the shelf that didn't have the seal right above the tank valve, those would tend to leak if kept on the torch. I generally leave the torch head attached until the tank is empty unless I'm hauling it cross-country or something like that. I also don't buy Coleman brand tanks and steer away from the big-box house-brand ones, those tend to be Chinese-made.

Stan

What, the valve on the torch wouldn't stop it?

Yup! I purge all my outdated tanks before I use them for air tanks. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

Well, I've had too many Coleman tanks leak when removed fromthe stove/lantern/torch. I don't buy them any more unless I can't buy BernzoMatic tanks. I use them for camping equipment and the torch (when I don't use MAP for the torch - lately I've decided MAP, although more expensive, is more cost effective for torch use (you use so much less to get the job done)

Sorry, Richard ! I just couldn't let it go by.

You might want to consider the difference in scale and containment between combustion inside a 13 oz propane bottle versus an aircraft fuel tank.

OK I kind of glossed over the brand Colman in my mind. Almost all of the tanks I've bought were Bernzomatic. I've bought maybe 3 Colman tanks. I still have some so I'll keep and eye (actually nose and ear) on them. Always good to have a heads up on something like that. Thanks Karl