Getting ready to weld some sheet meatal patches and I wanted to pick up a small tank for my Lincoln 135. They wanted 150$ at Nexair just for the tank. Outta my budget. My grandpa has a large tank that he used for acetylene a long while back. Can I empty it and use that for MIG gas (75 oxy/25 argon I think)?
'Cety tanks have a brick style membrane in them. The valve is left hand thread. 'Cety remnants could still be in the tank. Short answer, no. But the trade idea sounds like a plan. Most tanks can be re-certified for current use.
I can't say for sure if there is any difference in the bottle itself, but i can tell you that I had an old Nitrogen bottle that my welding shop was happy to swap for an Argon bottle.
Ditto what KCK said, with the caveat that a so called "empty" acetylene tank still has a substance in it. IIRC, it's acetone, whatever it is it holds the acetylene in suspension to allow it to be pressurized in the tank. Pure acetylene can self ignite at surprisingly low pressure, very hazardous above 15 psi! Dave
I highly doubt it. Every time I tank a tank in to have filled, they just exchange. The suppliers never just 'purge' a full tank into my empty tank for a refill. I believe every single bottle / tank is pressure checked after you turn it in on exchange for a full tank. Usually will not take another companies tank either. So they sell you a tank from their company, then the exchange process doesn't end and is a cycle of sorts. Different color bottles / tanks for different g***'s etc..... Carl Hagan
Here's my experience....and this was just a year ago. I recieved a pair of old Oxy/Acetylene tanks from a friend. Called Praxair and inquired about their policy. They replied that they'd be happy to swap for a pair of Argon/CO2 tanks, provided my tanks p***ed certification. Most towns have a tank certification facility...typically ***ociated with companies that sell safety equipment (fire extinguishers, and the like). The re-cert for both tanks was $36. The O2 tank had last been certified in 1956! Anyway...took my tanks in, paid for the fill-up on the new bottles, all was cool.
An Acetylene tank can only be used for Acetyline. They will probably give you a credit for the tank however.
Only problem with the trade in is the tank isn't mine!! I guess I could steal it, but that might sour my relationship with gramps. Whats the story on CO2 tanks? Where/how much?
Acetylene tanks have an absorber in the bottom of them that releases acetylene (that's why your not supposed to use them inmediately after transporting them on the side). Not useable for anything other than what they are supposed to be used for. And like the others said, the treads are different so you'd have a hose that the entire world thinks is acetylene hooked up to something else, which is never a good idea.
There may be a difference in the valve where it attaches to the hose ***embly. Most regulators have specific mounting pegs that prevent you from connecting the wrong regulator to the wrong tank. Like you can't hookup an O2 gauge ***embly to anything but O2 if I remember correctly. I remember a situation in California several years ago where a delivery guy connected an industrial gas to the O2 system at a hospital. The patients were getting the ind gas instead of O2 and needless to say, caused a few problems with breathing. Many lawsuits were filed. Another thing to think about is the 1956 bottle, that's about 50 years old and I don't think I'd trust it. I bought a bottle from a guy out of the paper a couple years ago for my mig. It was in brand new condition and filled only one time. I paid $85 bucks for it. Not sure of the size but it's about four feet tall and 6 inches thick. Whatever you do put safety first, if that thing explodes for whatever reason, it will kill, or severly injure everyone around. If the valve is knocked off it will take off like a missle. With 2000 psi in a 30-40 pound tank you have a lethal combination. Take it to the welding supplier and see what they say and go from there. Good luck.
The oldest bottle I have seen was an oxygen bottle first certified in 1896. they will last forever if not subjected to fire. One of the few manufactured objects that is still made exactly the same way it was 100 years ago.
I have 4 bottles I got free. They are all ex military O2. All were last certified in the late 50's when I got them. Took them to my local welding supply place and they re-certified all of them and put new valves on 2 for my Mig and the other 2 I use for my cutting torch. Cost about $150.00 total to fill them and get them certified. They don't swap them though. I just drop them off when I am out and about and pick them up filled a hour or two later. OK with me since I gave them all fresh paint jobs. I also only had a small Acetylne bottle for my portable torch so I bought one. It was about $75.00 when I got it 5 or 6 years ago.
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