I have an old propane tank that I want to turn into a gas forge.
I have the burner, gauge, regulator, and hose. All I need is to
fabricated the forge.
My plan was to get the valve off the tank and let it sit outside for a
couple of days, then rinse it out with water, and take a cutting disk
and/or torch to it. However, I can't get the dang valve off it.
Should I try penetrating oil to loosen the threads? Should I punch a
hole in it with a centre punch or something?
I really do NOT want to send myself (or anyone else) into oblivion.
So before I do something, I wanted to see if anyone here has
successfully accomplished similar.
rvb
--
As Iron Sharpens Iron,
So One Man Sharpens Another.
Proverbs 27:17
Long cheater bar on a pipe wrench ?
Martin
Martin H. Eastburn
@ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net
TSRA, Endowed; NRA LOH & Patron Member, Golden Eagle, Patriot's Medal.
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder
IHMSA and NRA Metallic Silhouette maker & member.
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Rick Barter (rvb) wrote:
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If the valve needs to be off for the tank's new use, then do it. If
it's because you think that it has to come off in order to safely cut
the tank, it doesn't. I've cut up plenty of tanks by simply doing it -
they do not need to be purged! PROVIDING that an O-A torch is NOT used
to do the cutting.
A propane tank does not have any oxygen in it, so the propane cannot
burn in the tank. It may burn as it comes out the cutting kerf, but
very quietly. I once drilled a hole in an empty propane tank and held a
match to the hole, to convince my cautious stepson that it was safe.
The result was a very languid flame, like a small candle.
Using O-A to cut the tank may introduce oxygen into the tank & be
unpleasant. DO NOT DO THIS.
What I do is start the cut with a cut-off disk in an angle grinder and
finish with a metal cutting blade in a Sawzall. Very fast.
When somebody says "I do this, and this, and this to clean the tank and
I've never had a problem", I believe them. It's just that it's not
necessary.
HTH,
Bob
"Bob Engelhardt" wrote
Is oxygen, once it has been involved in a combustion process, still oxygen
or does it change to a COMPOUND? I must have been asleep that day in
chemistry.
Steve
You know it's a compound. I guess Bob was referring to the fact that
an OA flame can not only be lean, but a jet of pure oxygen is used to
burn through the steel after preheating. It is unlikely that the jet
is only the stoichiometric amount (the amount required to combine with
the iron to form Fe2O3), there is probably considerable excess, and
that's the oxygen he's concerned about.
Pete Keillor
If it stayed as oxygen you could reuse it ;)
It generally bonds to the carbon making CO2 or to the hydrogen making
dihydrogen mononoxide.
BTW Dihydrogen Monoxide can be fatal in many ways ;)
(PS Loving your adventures with the Sally.) *Goes back to lurking & learning*
The weld idle control is often gone on old welders. It isn't really part of
the welder, and it isn't really part of the engine either. I am always amazed
at how poorly they are designed and how enormous the parts replacement costs
are.
Grant
I welded with it last night. I'm going to paint the outside vertical
surfaces of the channel trailer red as soon as this wind quits. Also some
of the International red here and there as per Lincoln color scheme. Then
Black gloss for rims, tongue, and a couple of other things. I need to drag
it to Vegas, as either the printed circuit board or the high idle/regular
idle switch or solenoid isn't working. Did get the info from Lincoln that
it runs at 2300 RPM, so can get a tach and run it there until I get the
electronics fixed. Need to get a motor manual for the Continental, but they
are priced through the roof, and a lot of them are just printouts or copied
versions, and fuzzy. I am involved in a stair rail making project at our
church right now, so that all will happen in a couple of weeks. It's coming
along.
Steve
When I first dragged this old gal home, it looked like an ICBM control
package. The more I get into it, the more simple it is becoming. I have
decided to just get a tach, put a spring on the carburetor linkage, and then
cut a link of small chain that I can hook to the spring to attain the right
rpm, and use that whenever I weld. I may get fancy and make it a little
more than that, but as long as the welding output and the AC output are
working fine, I can do without the frills. $75 for diagnosis plus parts
could add up to $500 real quick. The tekkie said they can't guarantee
fixing it because of the lack of spare parts because of its age. Time to
switch to Manual mode.
I do think I'll buy a motor manual, though, just to be sure to get it set
right, and in case anything needs tweaking. I'm pretty much going to go
around the electronics part. When I can find a person who's versed in such
things, I'll probably just have them snip the proper wires.
For $500, I can live with a manual control, and that will buy a lot of rods,
lenses, strikers, gloves, tips, markers, soapstones, wraparounds,
cur-vo-marks, and all those little goodies we love so much.
Steve
I am not going to comment or argue with the science? of this logic but
rather with the SAFETY attitude that it expresses.
In the bad old days there were LOTS of people injured and killed as a result
of poor practices when welding and cutting on vessels and containers which
have held combustible substances. I have done my share of 'hot taps' into
'in service' gas lines and various tank repairs and modifications, and I
have lived to tell of them but, I have learned that it is not the expected
that bites you but it is the unexpected or unrecognized thing that you were
not aware of.
I have turned down lots of requests from customers who wanted
me to weld on gas tanks without proper precaution. They always have stories
about someone who did it all the time by just filling them with exhaust, but
the bottom line is always that they did not want to do the job themselves
and they did not want to pay the cost of doing the job safely. It is
interesting that the most dangerous requests always seem to involve working
with stuff that is not worth very much, or on projects that are also not
very valuable or worthwhile.
When attempting to weld on tanks filled with exhaust we are hoping that the
engine was operating at 100% combustion efficiency and when we cut into an
old scrap propane tank we are hoping that nobody used it as a small carry
air tank.
Every winter we get more reports of deaths caused by someone using a torch
to thaw the frozen lock on the door of a tool box that contains a leaky
torch or fuel gas bottle. This has been occurring for as long as I have
been in the trade but it continues to happen regularly.
When we work on big jobs, there are firm safety systems in place to ensure
that all work is done in a safe manner. We have layers of safety
administration and training and firm policies on how safety issues are to be
dealt with. We wear ALL the proper personal protective gear and unsafe
practice will earn us a quick ride to the gate. It is when we are working
independently or for small gypo operators that we are at the greatest risk
as there is constant pressure to do the job as fast and as cheaply as
possible and safety is considered just too expensive to pay more than lip
service to.
The big jobs have learned from hard experience that 'If you think safety is
too expensive, just try having an accident.'
Risk management is not about thinking (or hoping) that you are probably
safe, it is about ensuring that you have eliminated ALL the risks that could
have harmful consequences.
Always remember Murphy's Law,
'If it can, then it will.'
and
'It is easy to cheat death, but death's advantage is that it only has to win
once.'
'Be thankful of good luck, but don't count on it.'
"Rick Barter (rvb)" wrote:>I have an old propane tank that I want to turn
into a gas forge.
I did one last week. Drained the tank of LP pressure, then put a big pipe
wrench on the top valve assembly (it is brass), and beat on it with a
sledgehammer until it started to turn.
Kept doing that until it was loose enough to remove by hand, then filled it
with water for awhile.
Turn it upside down, drain out all the water, then splash around some bleach
to kill off the stink.
Jon
"SteveB" wrote: (clip) cur-vo-marks, and all those little goodies we love
so much.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I would prolly love it if I knew what it was. So, dumb question: "What's a
cur-vo-mark"
Curve-O-Mark is a trade name for a line of pipe tools and especially the
common marked wraparounds. I prefer to use a strip of plain heavy rubber
covered gasket material for wraparound marking (cut from a big roll on a
major pipe construction job, not commonly available locally from small
suppliers) but many people use the more widely available branded wraps from
curve-o-mark. They also make handy center punch protractors and flange
tools but IMHO the handiest is their 'contour marker'
Google "curve-o-mark" "contour marker"
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This is probably the best (and most essential) welders tool for doing layout
of pipe and (with the structural adapter) wide flange and structural shapes.
It is not cheap but once you have used one it will seem like a small price
to pay for its functionality. It will probably save its cost with saved
time and material on the first job. I use the standard size on even bigger
jobs by moving it around the pipe or structural shape. They are a little
fragile but will last a long time if treated with care.
IMHO this tool and an air powered flux chipper are the most under-used/rated
but essential welders tools. IMHO both will be found on the rigs of the
most experienced hands, and will also both be absent on most of the rest of
the farmers and wanabe's rigs.
Good luck YMMV
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