What he said................. askin' somebody that's done it wrong for a hundred years, and buying that excuse isn't going to change an unsafe practice. chained or bolted upright when transporting, not seat belt or bungee............
I have just read the posts....and it has been said before ......... NEVER lay oxy/acet bottles down.....when i started at my current employment .....i had run out of gas...and was told to just go and get some more .....in the work truck ...a jappa mitzy....i would have to lay the bottles down ....i flat refused to do it .....the boss got all shitty with me .....i told him a story about a film i saw in my apprenticeship ......the short version .....bottles layed down .....caps facing forward....the oxy let go as it hit something in the back of the van it was in ...the cap became a rather large bullet....was found some hundreds of yards away and had gone threw steel panels in the van ....wooden fences and another metal sign 60 yards from where it first blew .....the other was of a acetylene bottle exploding as it was droped of the back of a truck ....this was a staged act.....but unfortunately ....the guy that delivered our gas .....was taken by a bottle exploding in the same sort of manner......they carried them uprite but used to drop them down on to a tyre then roll them in to the shop ....one day ...he just got it wrong and knocked the top off .....years later ..working at the D.S.I.R.....a govenerment department who looks in to work accidents...i got to see the bottle .....7/16 metal torn open like tin foil....was just damn scary.....SHIP UPRITE OR NOT AT ALL....and BE DAMN CAREFULL
Thank you! maybe I do have a few lives left after all. 14. TRANSPORT INFORMATION DOT/IMO Shipping Name: Acetylene, dissolved Hazard Class: 2.1 (Flammable gas.) Identification Number: UN 1001 PIN: 1001 Product RQ: None. Shipping Label: Flammable Gas. Special Shipping Information: Cylinders should be transported in a secure position, in a well ventilated vehicle. The transportation of compressed gas cylinders in automobiles or in closed-body vehicles can present serious hazards and should be discouraged. Placard (When Required): Flammable gas.
hmmmmm, nothing about laying horizontal...........so is this just an old myth that we all keep believing......because we are scared (should be very) of acetylene? all the tech info we keep finding just says to set upright after being layed down.....and from everything i've read, the worst that can happen is the acetone can come out and make your flame cooler or damage your regulators and torch valves.....
I think it's more of the old party game. Wisper a statement into someones ear and he passes it on. By the time it gets around the room it's not the same statement anymore. They say don't use (hook up the gauges) with the tank in the horizontal posision. That's a long way from being an explosion hazard if it's laid down. The proffesionals at the welding supply store know their shit about the safe care and handling of all of their materials. They've helped me lay tanks into mt P/U hundreds of times.(chocked so they don't roll)
I discussed this thread with an old WW2 Navy shipfitter that stops by the shop a few times a week to sit and chat. He laughed his ass off about the BS that apparently has become gospel over the years. One particular comment said it all: "Do you think we had fucking time to haul up tanks on a cart and chain them in fucking place after we just been hit by a fucking torpedo and have to patch the fucking ship before we all fucking drown! They laid horizontal on the fucking deck with a couple of Deck Apes holding them from fucking rolling while Im trying to fucking patch the fucking bulkhead" Jesse is 84 years old and hasnt lost a bit of his "old salt" And as long as my gas suppliers dont complain they will still be on the back seat of the car secured with the safety belts. IMO its a lot safer than some vertical setups Ive seen in pickups. Plus they dont get fucking dropped off the bed when unloading for staged or unstaged photo ops. Yes ventilation is important as gas seepage into a closed area can ignite from a cigarette, lighter or any arcing/sparking contact.
Down in Florida, I used to put my tanks on the floor in the back of my Festiva and the vendor there never said a word. I don't do that anymore for 2 reasons: the place I use up here in IL won't let me transport the full tanks that way, and it's probably a stupid thing to do. Why chance it?
Last time I picked up tanks in Ballard (Seattle) they asked if I had a truck. "Sure," said I. They didn't ask if I brought my truck... Many eyes were rolled as I threw the tanks in the back of my Geo Metro. Joke them if they can't take a screw. I was told that acetylene bottles will spit some acetone if you try to use them before they've 'settled' after moving. Never had that happen, but I had my cutting torch spit acetone while trying to cut thick plate with a little tiny set of bottles (like the smallest ones you can get) on my torch set. I called dad up and asked WTF was going on, and he told me that it was acetone being brought out of the little tank by too much flow for the size of tank, and to go get real tanks. Or a sawzall. In 1991-2 I worked as a janitor cleaning at Central Welding; they had a big tank in the back with a big crack in the top where the valve would screw in. Something let loose with enough force to make that tank (about 1/2" steel) split open about 1/4" wide. I wonder where that valve ended up... I think about it every time I have a tank riding 'shotgun'.
i did a lot of searching today on the inet....i found of many documents from osha, msds, safety organizations, companies and educational policy and procedure acrobat files......most said to transport upright, secured and not to lay down.....NONE said why not or what would happen.....one article claimed that after being horizontal that the tank had to sit upright for 30 minutes....much shorter time than my welding book claimed....... i don't mean to beat a dead horse, i really want to know....... i saw a guy today hauling some tanks around in the back of his welding truck ....no caps, regulators and ready to go......very dangerous in a wreck but it would be a real pain to change caps and regulators every time you went down the road...
If you gotta lay them down make sure they are on the passenger side of the truck bed. I've been to many accidents and seen things driven thru the cab and into the driver. Try not to face any thing towards the front of the car for that matter just imagine what happens if you get rearended and that stuff is facing you. I've seen some freaky shit. Even saw a fiberglass truck bed cover drive thru the cab and kill the driver. Just a thought to keep in mind. Later, rustfarmer
The Jalopy Journal
