Acetylene bottle in an SUV, All welders need to read this Options

[Dr Evil]

Is acetylene not odorized? I forget. LPG and LNG are naturally smell free, methylmercaptin is added to alert one of its leaking by smell.

[URY914]

I'd think that he would be in worse shape also. Maybe the door was open when he went to open the window. It does seem a little fishy.

[scotty b]

Is acetylene not odorized? I forget. LPG and LNG are naturally smell free, methylmercaptin is added to alert one of its leaking by smell.

Yes it is. I believe he said he smelledit, but either way it definitely is (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon8.gif)

[scotty b]

notuce how the panels peeled. Back and to the right....back and to the right ............. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkCQ8qR5-i0

[Bruce Hinds]

Since he said he let it air out before he hit the switch, possibly there was enough oxygen to make a clean explosion.....

[partwerks]

Ok, what did we learn from this?

You got a lot to learn
You play in the fire
You might get burned
You gotta sacrifice
You're playin' the victim
Of your own device
You try to understand
The comb in the ashes
Isn't what you planned
You, it gets you every time
You're chasin' the visions
They're nowhere to find........

[zambezi]

My guess is that since the drivers door is fairly undamaged compared to the rest of the vehicle is that he was probably half in the vehicle when he decided to roll down the windows. He could have been blown clear out the open door. But, just a guess.

[76-914]

I don't know of any protective cap for an acetylene tank in "B" or "MC" size. From the looks of that SUV I doubt anything would have fit in there except for a B (T code) tank or MC (D code) tank. Unless he laid it down which I doubt any welder would do. BTW, sounds fishy to me. I've been riding with B yanks, MC tanks and MAPP bottles for many moons and have found that a tank was left on over nite many times. No biggie, just air it out and go. I did singe a pair of underwear when playing with methane gas when I was 12. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)
Trivia question: anyone here know where the "B" & "MC" designations originated? The winner will receive a book of methane gas igniters + postage

[sixnotfour]

http://my.firefighternation.com/forum/topi...all-cylinder-of

[Lou W]

My guess is that since the drivers door is fairly undamaged compared to the rest of the vehicle is that he was probably half in the vehicle when he decided to roll down the windows. He could have been blown clear out the open door. But, just a guess.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

[dlestep]

as a past Divemaster, and dealing with pressurized steel and aluminum tanks;
common dive tanks have an operating pressure of 3000 lbs and their blow valves
set at 2250 lbs, (as well as most pressurized tanks).
Which is to say the pressure was below the blow valve setting.
I have seen steel tanks far beyond their inspection dates, most with massive
internal corrosion found during hydroscopic testing.
Even one that blew sitting in a trunk of a car that sat in the sun. The vehicles'
trunk lid and the fender were blown outward and massively deformed, like the
hulk had ripped it open. The tank only showed a 7 inch rip along the side of the
tank, and yet it did all of that damage. Its' pressure was also below that of
the blow valve setting.
I am thinking that the tank failing and the act of pushing the switch on the
electric window was coincidental.
Nevertheless; he WAS lucky, if he was in the vehicle, like he said.

[SCV]

Is acetylene not odorized? I forget. LPG and LNG are naturally smell free, methylmercaptin is added to alert one of its leaking by smell.

The acetylene I've used to weld and the acetylene produced when you put calcium carbide (fun stuff (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blowup.gif)) in water smell the same, that is to say horrible. Scotty nailed it. It'd be difficult to miss that smell. Also, I can confirm from experience that acetylene makes black smoke that stains anything nearby when it explodes.

[bigkensteele]

Does it make sense that the airbags deployed?

I am inclined to throw the (IMG:style_emoticons/default/bs.gif) , but I am also trying to come up with an alternate scenario that could have caused that damage (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

One major reason that I am thinking BS is that if something like that happened to me and I posted it on a forum, I would explain how in the hell I survived, how far I was thrown, etc. This guy does none of that.

If he was actually sitting in that vehicle with the door closed, or even open, there is no way in hell that he would have survived.

[jcd914]

FJ BOOM!

[sean_v8_914]

natural selection has failed again. most avoid it thru clever legislation these days

[Brodie]

We work with Acetylene every day, and I know that when you light a torch you get a lot of black soot. With that being said I've never had a large explosion so I don't know if that would cause a clean "burn". I think that what we should learn from this discussion is that any pressurized container should not be left in an enclosed vehicle for any length of time. They should be fitted with a protective cap, and should be secured in the vehicle at all times. If they are just laid in a vehicle with out a protective cap and you get in a wreck you have a missile in the back end of your pickup or car. Just because you've left a gas cylinder in the back of your vehicle many times and have had no problems doesn't mean that at some point it won't come back to haunt you! Check out youtube and search O2 cylinder explosion. It shows the force of a small bottle exploding. If you have any doubt about hauling it ask you local welding supply company to deliver it.

To sum it up

If I'm going to die I want it to have something to do with pornstars and handcuffs not something as stupid as a gas cylinder or my car falling on me!

[URY914]

Someone on another forum said that if he opened the doors the gas in the main cabin was able to flow out. This left the gas trapped in the body panels. Also the cap doesn't stop the valve from leaking only protects the valve from being hit and damaged.

Still can't explain why there is no smoke damage.

[JMKnight]

you didn't have the steel cap on. If the cap was on that would not happened, also ALL pressure tanks need to have proper venting. Common sense

This sounds about right. I always transport the tanks upright with caps on. I store them the same way, If I do not have a vehicle to carry the tanks upright, then I ask/hire a buddy to haul them for me.

[zambezi]

If the door was open there would have been plenty enough oxygen to acetylene ratio to burn clean enough and not leave a black soot. Only pure acetylene burns with a black soot, the slightest addition of oxygen and it starts burning clean. If he had pulled the vehicle out to air it out and the vehicle was still running it is very possible that the airbags would deploy. The crash sensors would have picked up on the intense shake of the vehicle assuming an impact. I have no first hand knowledge of the incident but it all seems very plausible and real to me. Maybe this is a job for Adam and Jamie at Mythbusters.

[Millerwelds]

I don't know of any protective cap for an acetylene tank in "B" or "MC" size. From the looks of that SUV I doubt anything would have fit in there except for a B (T code) tank or MC (D code) tank. Unless he laid it down which I doubt any welder would do. BTW, sounds fishy to me. I've been riding with B yanks, MC tanks and MAPP bottles for many moons and have found that a tank was left on over nite many times. No biggie, just air it out and go. I did singe a pair of underwear when playing with methane gas when I was 12. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)
Trivia question: anyone here know where the "B" & "MC" designations originated? The winner will receive a book of methane gas igniters + postage

B tanks were for auto headlights. MC for motorcycle.