Frozen acetylen ?
 

Hi

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

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. Can I put the bottle in
my house to unfroze safely?

One good point in all this, I finally learned how to cut steel :) As I ran
out of acetylen, I only had to use oxygen to control the cut, and the result
was impressing, for an eternal newbe like me who use only one set of those
small bottles every two years, wich give me plenty of time to forget what I
learned the last time....I just hope I don't forget this time.

Thanks for any hints,

Francois in the cold

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!

"Francois" wrote: (clip) 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.(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^
The acetylene gas is dissolved in something like acetone, which, in turn, is
soaked into a solid porous material like charcoal (?), to lessen the risk of
explosion. At your low temperatures, the gas cannot come out of solution
fast enough to supply the torch, so the pressure falls off. You need to
warm the cylinder up.

SOMEWHERE, I READ THAT YOU MUST NOT DO THIS BY TURNING THE TORCH ON THE
CYLINDER.

"Leo Lichtman" wrote in message
...
SOMEWHERE, I READ THAT YOU MUST NOT DO THIS BY TURNING THE TORCH ON
THE CYLINDER.

Sounds like a Darwin Award waiting to happen.

Bernd