CO2 blow up

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

Hey all, went back and got another fill, talked with guy that did filling, he openly admitted to filling with 15lbs!!!! OUCH I have a stinkin 10lb tank!!!!

Now I have 10 and life is good....and I am not paranoid about it blowing!


Wheel soon.
Jason
 
Red97XJ said:
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

Hey all, went back and got another fill, talked with guy that did filling, he openly admitted to filling with 15lbs!!!! OUCH I have a stinkin 10lb tank!!!!

Now I have 10 and life is good....and I am not paranoid about it blowing!


Wheel soon.
Jason
Click to expand...



he actually remembered??? interesting, hey at least he admitted he screwed up...luckily there weren't any injuries or anything from his little mishap
 
yep, suprised me to. I may sound like a goof, but I still plan on going there for my fills.... even though they screwed up, they admitted and made it right, and were VERY cool the whole time.

The other place in town has never filled my tank, when I went in there they acted like I was wasting there time, and were rude.

Later,
Jason
 
I read the whole post and was thinking it was MOST likely they overfilled it. When I take my tanks in (Big Air Systems) I ALWAYS take a scale with me. Filling CO2 is much more of an art than other gases. The guy that takes it from me on the dock is ALWAYS complaining how much a pain in the a$$ it is to fill CO2. And yes, they did overfill my tank once! (I do it myself, now -- after using CO2 for many years.)

My recommendation to EVERYONE - weigh your tank absolutely empty. Take it to the fill station, drive around the block and WEIGH it FULL. Putting 15 lbs of CO2 in a tank rated for 10 lbs is VERY dangerous. I'm glad that the guy owned up to the mistake ... and he learned a valuable lesson, as well. The burst disk system works, but don't stick around with CO2 in a closed vehicle or IN YOUR BASEMENT or IN YOUR GARAGE or ANY closed area!

Also, you were very WISE to get out of the Jeep ... stop, roll the windows down, open the liftgate - the whole nine, STAY OUT until the CO2 is replaced with air. If you stayed in the Jeep and "enjoyed" the fog, you wouldn't be here to speak of it.

Good thinking ... and opportune time for us to share info that is EXTREMELY important to use CO2 as safely as possible!
 
HAPYMUDY,

This is probably the looserest question I have asked yet, but I will.

I assume that my 10lb tank should wiegh 10lbs more full? ( I know it is 16.4 empty with regulator) Is there any pressure that won't allow actual 10lb in wieght?

Thanks!
Jason
 
Few things:

Yes, Jason ... if your tank is rated as a 10lb tank (should be stamped on the top of the tank) it is designed to hold 10lbs of liquid CO2. If the tank were see-through, when it is full it would be about 66% (two-thirds) full. Your system needs the head room to handle the gas and pressure.

So your tank empty is 16.4 lbs, it should be 26.4 lbs if properly filled. And CO2 is often used as an industrial-strength fire extinguisher. If you were in a pinch and had a fire you could use your CO2 to help extinguish a fire, as I understand it. (I've never done it, but I'd try it if I had to!) It works because it is heavier than Oxygen and will displace Oxygen, the fuel the fire needs to burn.

The pressure inside the tanks is GREATLY affected by an overfilled tank AND high temperature. Another good tip, try to keep your CO2 tank as cool as possible. Room temperature is good. ;} -- remember, in a closed car with the sun beating on it it will quickly get to well over 110! When you have an overfilled tank and high temps you can almost guarantee the burst disk will pop.

CO2 is an awesome and powerful tool. It works! But as a tool you need to understand and respect its power. But man, does it work fantastically to air tires, reseat beads and run power tools -- and it's portable, too! (I have a kit in my garage for rotating tires, blowing out the garage floor and filling tires on the snowblower.)
 
I have a quick and hopefully not too silly question. Is it required that a CO2 tank remain in an upright position, or may one be at liberty to mount said CO2 tank in whatever position is applicable?
 
To put a point to the question...the rupture disc failed from hydraulic displacement...the temperature of the tank was nowhere near high enough to cause the vapor pressure to get that high...the liquid in the tank expanded to the point where there was no room in the cylinder at all...at that point the weak link was the rupture disc....and it did it's job....if the disc had been removed and plugged off (some morons actually do that) the vessel itself would have failed...and the result would have been deadly. BTW...the exact same thing will happen with a nitrous cylinder.

Regarding bottle position...straight up, no dip tube unless you have a heat exchanger for vaporization.
 
MudDawg's all over it ..

Remember, a CO2 tank gets its energy from Liquid CO2. When you express the head gases (if the tank is right-side up) you get loads of "air power."

You can mount a CO2 tank in any fashion you wish (just be SURE to MOUNT it securely -- you don't want it flying around in the case of an accident or off-road maneuver. There's ANOTHER way to be killed!

Even though you can mount it any way you wish, it should always be right-side up when you use it, or you will get liquid CO2 instead of gas when you open up the valve. The only caveat to this is if you have a syphon tank (which you very likely do NOT have) which simply means there's a straw-like hose device that sucks everything up from the BOTTOM of the tank. Picture a bottle of Windex, it is a syphon bottle. But in the case of CO2, this Syphon will draw from the BOTTOM of the tank, which is liquid --

Hope that helps.
 
HAPYMUDY said:
You can mount a CO2 tank in any fashion you wish (just be SURE to MOUNT it securely -- you don't want it flying around in the case of an accident or off-road maneuver. There's ANOTHER way to be killed!

Even though you can mount it any way you wish, it should always be right-side up when you use it, or you will get liquid CO2 instead of gas when you open up the valve. The only caveat to this is if you have a syphon tank (which you very likely do NOT have) which simply means there's a straw-like hose device that sucks everything up from the BOTTOM of the tank. Picture a bottle of Windex, it is a syphon bottle. But in the case of CO2, this Syphon will draw from the BOTTOM of the tank, which is liquid --

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...


Actually your supposed to carry and use the cylinder in an upright fashion,
This is a department of transportation law. Also it's a saftey precaution for the cylinder. If your tank is laying down it is possible for the saftey to blow and the CO2 to actually freeze the hole for the saftey therefore eliminating it. I have seen this happen to 2 CO2 cylinders personally. Both cylinders ruptured because the saftey was not functional due to the fact that the cylinder was laying down. The gas inside boiled off faster than the cylinder could relieve it's self.


It wasn't pretty......
 
So your saying if I run my air hose from my tank to a blow nozzle, it will put a fire OUT? Seems like it would FEED the fire!!??? How am I wrong? Please help me.

Would everyone agree if properly filled, that it is ok to leave full tank in summer sun closed up vehicle all day? I assume it will get to 140-150 in cabin?

Yes, my tank is stamped 10lb. ..... but that is only good if ya READ it!

Later,
Jason
 
Red97XJ said:
So your saying if I run my air hose from my tank to a blow nozzle, it will put a fire OUT? Seems like it would FEED the fire!!??? How am I wrong? Please help me.

Would everyone agree if properly filled, that it is ok to leave full tank in summer sun closed up vehicle all day? I assume it will get to 140-150 in cabin?

Yes, my tank is stamped 10lb. ..... but that is only good if ya READ it!

Later,
Jason
Click to expand...

CO2 is an inert gas .. it will not burn and will not feed a fire. CO2 is used to extinguish fires because it displaces Oxygen, which a fire needs to burn. As indicated, I have never used a CO2 tank to put out a fire, but if I didn't have any other alternatives, I would certainly try it!

I won't agree. I would NOT want to leave a CO2 tank in an enclosed area where it will be 140 degrees. Remember, it's not "blowing up" in the sense that it is an explosion, the pressure inside the tank will likely burst the safety disk until all the CO2 is gone. It is dangerous and, at best, you'd lose all your CO2 and have to go back to the refill station and get a refill. Please re-read all the safety precautions in this entire post. You may be missing something.
 
CO2 is really only a temporary fire fighting solution, first it has no cooling affect, so it will displace the oxegen, but as soon as the oxegen replaces it's self, the fire will reflash. It's really only good in an air tight enviorment. We used it in paint lockers and such.
As far as storage, one of the coolest things I saw in the Navy was when a bottle fell over and became a missle. Was cool cause no one was hurt and the size of the dent in a 1/2" steel bulkhead was cool.
Just my 2 cents.
 
thigh19 said:
CO2 is really only a temporary fire fighting solution, first it has no cooling affect, so it will displace the oxegen, but as soon as the oxegen replaces it's self, the fire will reflash. It's really only good in an air tight enviorment. We used it in paint lockers and such.
As far as storage, one of the coolest things I saw in the Navy was when a bottle fell over and became a missle. Was cool cause no one was hurt and the size of the dent in a 1/2" steel bulkhead was cool.
Just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...



Actually........

Co2 has a very high cooling effect. Liquid discrarge turns directly into what we call snow. This is a very fine dry ice mived with condensation from the atmosphere directly around the discharge. Temprature of this snow is Variable from -50F thru -130F. Unless there is a source of ignition the fire will not reflash.


As far as using a tank as a fire extinguisher.

This will only work in two occasions.....

1. a concentration of 25% is achieved in the desired area and held in place
(total flood application to those in the fire business)

2. Direct liquid application. This is done either by inverting the cylinder or by the use of a siphon tube. (fire extinguishers use siphon tubes)

Most liquid apps. use some sort of diffuser setup to keep the force of the expanding co2 from spreading the fire/media. A lot is done by some sort of nozzle application.
 
thigh19 said:
As far as storage, one of the coolest things I saw in the Navy was when a bottle fell over and became a missle. Was cool cause no one was hurt and the size of the dent in a 1/2" steel bulkhead was cool.
Just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...


You should see a gas that does not have to convert from liquid to gas once the valve is removed...

I've seen video of an o2 cylinder going about 300ft straight up in the air.
Also seen nitrogen cartridges go thru cynderblock walls!! That's fun!
 
Been looking into CO2 tanks now im not so sure i want one as its a DD and take my 2 year daughter and wife on trail rides, i may stick to my little crappy air tank .LOL
 
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