what to do with my used Ox cans

Pull a vacuum on it w/ a refrigeration pump, let it refil itself with air.

Excellent, thanks!

Hello Grant,

Being a newbie if I have *any* doubts I ask the group first. Have avoided some bad situations this way already. I understood ox supports fire and isn't a fuel itself but doesn't hurt to ask. Would rather risk exposing my ignorance than hurting myself or someone with an experiment =)

Thanks for the reply,

- Ben

What are you worried about happening? Just cut it open. There's oxygen in air anyway .. it isn't like it's a fuel gas.

GWE

Sawing into Oxy at atmospheric pressure, unconstrained volume, would probably be safe.

Probably.

If the valve is off you could run an air hose into it and blow a lot of air into it.

Dave

Just cut it, won't hurt anything. Don't add a few tablespoons of kerosene to a O2 cylinder and send it out to get refilled.

Umm, actually, pulling the remaining PURE O2 through a vacuum pump could lead to a much larger explosion than anything you might do to the "empty" can itself. You'd be bubbling pure O2 through a pure hydrocarbon oil. If you allowed a bleed valve so dilute the intake to the pump with air for a while, first, that might prevent a fire, but without knowing the O2 percentage going into the pump, you'd really have no way to know whether you were safe or not.

Maybe pumping compresed air into the tank and venting several times would be safer. That way, you wouldn't be mixing oxidizer and fuel.

Jon

That is a healthy attitude.

Wes

Yes another post said same, I think I'll go that route. Pressurizing to 15 PSI then releasing three or four times should be safe and should also work for the empty MAPP containers right? I was also thinking that for MAPP container I should invert when releasing pressure because I think it's heavier than air. The disposable containers will be completely depleted to start so whatever they still contain at zero pressure is all I'm trying to clear so they're safe to open with a manual hack saw (little or no sparks)..

Thanks again,

- Ben

Just crack the valve and let it bleed to atmosphere. When it's done hissing, go ahead and cut with a hacksaw. Don't use a saw or chopsaw that makes sparks, though. They'd burn ferociously hot, like sparks from an O/A cutting torch.

Fill it with tap water, then drain the water while letting air in. The cut away.

Joe Gwinn

Don sez:

"> Just crack the valve and let it bleed to atmosphere. When it's done

I do that with small Mapp gas and campstove-size-propane bottles. They make cups for holding cutting oil, etc After I'm sure they're empty, I cut them on the lathe or bandsaw. Operative phrase here is "sure they're empty".

Bob Sw>