On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 13:06:03 -0500, "Francois"
wrote:

I live near Montreal, Quebec and it is pretty cold these days. Beetween -10
C and - 25 C ( about 0 to -35 F )

I just moved to BC from Ottawa. Pardon me while I gloat!

I have a small oxy-acetylene kit (not the smallest one home depot sell, the
one just bigger) that stay outside. Both bottles are supposed to be almost
full. Last time I used it, I was reading 50 on the first meter of the
acetylen bottle and that pressure drop to 0 pretty fast (maybe 30 sec.)
After a couple minuts, the pressure came back to 50.

As I remember, there should be more than 50 lbs of pressure in it. Maybe
there was a leak, but I think that something was frozen, as I already had a
small propane bottle froze on me in similar temperature.

Is the regulator frozen? Is it the acetylen bottle.

The acetylene is not in the cyliner as a compressed gas. If you try to
compress acetylene to more than a few psi it will explode. The
acetylene tank is full of porous pottery and the pottery is saturated
with liquid acetone. The acetylene is dissolved in the acetone like
CO2 in a bottle of pop under low pressure. I suspect that when it's
very cold, the acetone is less likely to 'fizz' and release the
acetylene.

Can I put the bottle in my house to unfroze

Yes.

safely?

No

Francois in the cold

Better you than me!