Don't know what he heard or felt, but th' propane truck driver who's loaded tanker blew to kingdom come in this one, is still alive. Critical condition at Harborview, but alive.
Snarl
Presumably because in the US common sense went out of the window years ago? :)
Not sure about that, but certainly we've let the lawyers hopelessly corrupt our "legal" system.
Coat hanger wire is maybe good for welding coathangers. Proper mild steel gas filler rod is cheap, has consistent analysis, can be had in many sizes and you don't have to worry about weld contamination from the coating or the mystery metal's strength. Bought by the pound, you change sizes when you change tips for material thickness. One size doesn't do it all. Visit your welding supply, you're going to become VERY familiar with them with small tanks. They should have flashback arrestors as well as quick connects. Unless you're begging in the streets, cost isn't that high.
Small tanks are cute and handy, they'll leave you flat on a Sunday afternoon with no gas, though. Just not very much gas in those small bottles and they cost almost as much to fill as larger bottles. Transport and handling is the main cost for bottled gases, along with insurance. Check your tip chart, it should tell you what tip size is to be used for what thickness of steel and the gas flow rate. From that you can figure out how long your gas bottles are going to last on a project before a refill is needed. No tip chart? Visit a welding supplier that sells Victor equipment, they hand them out gratis.
Air/MAPP is nowhere near hot enough to melt steel, maybe do brazing on small stuff.
Most pros I know don't use gas for welding up exhaust systems, they either use stick or MIG. What O/A is good for is cutting loose the rusting bits of what's left of the original pipes and heating stuck nuts. Small tanks are no good for that, you'll get maybe one or two cuts before the oxygen goes flat.
Stan
"Mike" wrote
I think there are still a lot of people around with common sense. I do think the percentages are lower than they were years ago, though. Today, we have the WALK/DON'TWALK signs, instructions to tell us NOT to take our toaster with us into the shower, and lots of warnings. I am disheartened when talking to people, though, and watching their actions. Particularly the young. It seems the thing today is to find out just how far ANYTHING will go before it crashes, burns up, or otherwise destructs. The entertainment is in getting something to go boom. And there are serious consequences sometimes.
It's just when they involve me that I become livid. I watch their stupidity and lack of common sense all the time in videos. Trouble is they usually take out other people.
Darwin's Law has an overpowering counterinfluence. Stupid people with no common sense are usually very fertile.
Steve
The "B" acetylene (~40 CF) and '50 Cubic Foot' Oxygen are the smallest practical size bottles for home use - and even at that, you really do need to have two sets of bottles if you want to get work done. One set in use, and one set of full spares to finish off the weekend project. And if you are doing any torch cutting, two spare Oxygen, you go through it fast when you hit the cut valve.
The "Porta-Torch" size bottles - "MC" Acetylene (originally for motorcycle headlamps) and 20CF Oxygen - are only really practical for Air Conditioning & Plumbing repair work where you have to take the torch up a ladder to the roof or drag it under the house. Try doing anything other than silver brazing with the smallest tips, and they run out FAST.
Myself, I leave the B and 50 in their little cart outside, and connect more welding hose to reach the work.
Or I just take the B alone and use a Prestolite Air/Acetylene handle
- it gets plenty hot for plumbers' solder, and can silver braze up to
1-1/8" copper A/C suction lines if you know what you're doing.-->--
The product liability (and general blame) culture is happening here as well and to an ever increasing extent over the past 5-10 years but significantly from a base of near zero - it's viewed as a modern acquired syndrome from the USA.
Maybe it was due to a major piece of general health and safety legislation passed in the UK during 1974 but the use of arresters was commonplace here within responsible industrial and educational premises from the late 70's/early 80's - virtually everywhere with any semblance of a safety culture used them. The cowboys still don't use them - no prizes for guessing where almost every recent acetylene related incident occurs.
That's why your comments on the reason for their requirement in the USA puzzles me especially after their extremely long period of usage over here!
On the other hand I started welding with oxy-acet in 1950 without back flow arrestors and haven't blown up yet. In fact I have never seen a "flow arrestor" they don't seem to use them over here.
Bruce-in-Bangkok (Note:displayed e-mail address is a spam trap)
On Tue, 30 Oct 2007 19:05:52 +0700, Bruce in Bangkok
SNIP
Hey Bruce,
I don't doubt that you have never met anyone that has found the purpose for them from personal experience in the non-use of back-flow preventers.
Maybe folks from a few hundred feet away, but not the anti-proponent himself!
As an aside, during an exchanging of cylinders, I watched a full tank of oxygen "flywheel" horizontally out through a overhead garage door and across the parking lot. It got knocked over and the valve-neck cracked. The load "whistling noise" stopped after about 2 or 3 seconds, but the bottle spun for about a minute. So,when the "old hand" at the job says " Don't take off the cap until you've got it chained in the cart.", take his advice rather than arguing that it's a whole lot easier to lift the bottle by the valve that by the cap.
Take care.
Brian Lawson, Bothwell, Ontario.
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