On Dec 3, 1:22*am, E Z Peaces wrote:
humunculus wrote:
On Dec 2, 4:28 am, E Z Peaces wrote:
Ned Simmons wrote:
On Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:25:33 -0500, E Z Peaces
wrote:
Ned Simmons wrote:
On Sun, 30 Nov 2008 14:58:54 -0500, E Z Peaces
wrote:
The cylinders are a mystery. *Seeing only a grayscale picture, the
trucker identified the tank near the passenger door as refrigerant.. *He
said that's where service trucks carry it. *Its color corroborates this.
*Why would a pipeline welder carry refrigerant?
The truck has welding hose on a reel beside the spare tire, but I see no
*cylinders marked for acetylene or industrial oxygen. *Could he get
anyone to put anything but medical oxygen in a tank marked for medical
oxygen? *Carrying highly compressed gas in loose cylinders looks very
dangerous.
How have you concluded that the tanks do not contain welding gases? In
the US there's no standard color code for gas cylinders. The standup
tank behind the passenger door looks like a fuel gas cylinder (MAPP if
I had to guess), and there's no reason the green tanks lying down in
the bed can't be welding oxy.
When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.
MAPP isn't used for welding. *It makes steel brittle.
There's an arc welder on the truck. The fuel gas is for cutting and
heating, perhaps for bevelling pipe.
OSHA 29 CFR 1926.350(a)
(4) "When cylinders are transported by powered vehicles, they shall be
secured in a vertical position".
DOT CFR 177.840 (1)
(1) Cylinders. To prevent their overturning, cylinders containing
Class 2 (gases) materials must be securely lashed in an upright
position; loaded into racks securely attached to the motor vehicle;
packed in boxes or crates of such dimensions as to prevent their
overturning; or loaded in a horizontal position. Specification DOT-4L
cylinders must be loaded in an upright position and securely braced.
You've never seen OSHA or DOT regs ignored? Wouldn't those rules be
applicable to the gases you proposed?
I doubt the rules would apply to empty cylinders.
I don't know if there are welders who would consider it acceptably safe
to transport filled cylinders loose, but wouldn't it also be
inconvenient? *When he wanted to weld, he would have to lift an oxygen
cylinder from the truck and find a place to secure it upright.- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
The tanks aren't loose. If you look closely at the picture Rob sent
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...DSC00015-1.jpg
you can see that they are stored in a rack that carries three tanks
with a system of three rings. The empty third ring is between the legs
of the ladder, and you can see the other ring (for the bottom of the
missing tank) securing the top of the ladder. It almost looks like a
wheeled cart, with a wheel showing just beside the big ring that
started this whole thread.
Moreso, on top of the spool of hose behind the driver's seat (the one
with the white arrow), there is a welded metal thingy that looks like
its the same material and patina of the gas cannister rack, which
could be the handle of the rack. If the rack is broken, it gives more
credibility that this is a 'catch all' truck where someone stashed
their oxygen and acetylene tanks. Otherwise, it looks like someone
secured their AX tank behind the passenger seat, took off the cart
handle and *stashed their cart and OX tanks on the floor of the bed,
tossed in the handle, plumbing and ring, and headed off into the
sunset.
--riverman
Does AX mean acetylene? *Why stash it behind the passenger seat?
Wouldn't it be heavy to get in there? *In a closed space, couldn't a
leak cause an explosion?
Your observations seem consistent with a catch-all from pipeline welding
or a catch-all for somebody getting set up to weld on a pipeline. *I
wonder how likely it is that a pipeline crew would happen to be using a
pair of oxygen tanks painted for medical oxygen.
Does it appear to you that one tank has no valve cover? *Well, I'm sure
being in a rack is safer than being loose.
The tank behind the passenger door was apparently manufactured for
refrigerant. *If it were being used for fuel, wouldn't there be an
oxygen tank beside it? *If it's refrigerant, that sounds like the owner
is a repairman collecting equipment to work on a pipeline.- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
The 'tank behind the passenger seat' I referred to IS the orange tank
strapped beside the drink cooler. Maybe I should have said 'behind the
passenger door' instead.
It doesn't seem so mysterious to me. The tank rack has three spots in
it, with three tanks in the truck. If it is true that oxygen does not
have to be stored vertically (either for physical reasons or for DOT
requirements, not OSHA), then it makes sense to stick the acetylene in
the carrier away from the driver, in the required vertical position,
and to lay the other two tanks in the bed of the truck, securely in
their rack. If the other thing is the handle, that makes sense
also...remove the handle so the rack lays flat. I can't believe the
rack is broken....what moron would carry around a broken metal rack
that needed welding to repair....if it was on a welding cart?
As for the color coding....there is no standard coding, although green
is common for oxygen, and red (or orange?) is common for acetylene. If
the orange tank is standing on a running board, then it is taller than
the green tanks, and it has a wear band around it at what looks like
the right height for the strap in the cylinder rack.
It all seems to fit....its a welding truck, with a step ladder,
welding gas rack, hoses, power supply, band and tools. Also a propane
tank, and probably a propane tip somewhere in the tool box. This guy
is set up to weld or solder all sorts of things. He might spend most
of his time using the TIG/MIG setup, so the acetylene is not often
taken down and racked. Thats why its on the bottom, and why its not so
inconvenient to have them separated.
--riverman