filling Oxygen tanks

Bruce,
The $40 is for the labor. the cost of the O2 is small. Filling your own
is risky if you have not been trained in high pressure gas handling.
Michelle

Bruce McFadden wrote:

Santa's wife has decided that she would prefer that I fly with oxygen
even below 12.5K and especially at night. So I've been given a tank et
al. I was shocked today when I had it filled at Merucry Air. It is a
415 L size D tank. Because the pressure in their filling tanks were a
bit low, they could only fill my new tank to 1700 lbs, not to a fully
topped off level of 2000 lbs.
They charged me $40 flat fee..... a discount they said because it is a
small cylinder. That seem really steep to me.

Is this about right fur filling an O2 tank. I've heard that it is OK to
have the tank filled at other places such as with medical O2 or welding
O2. Is that OK?

Bruce McFadden Birmingham, AL
PA32-260 N5594J

Oh yeah,
I take mine to work and fill it on a break :-)
Michelle

Bruce McFadden wrote:

Santa's wife has decided that she would prefer that I fly with oxygen
even below 12.5K and especially at night. So I've been given a tank et
al. I was shocked today when I had it filled at Merucry Air. It is a
415 L size D tank. Because the pressure in their filling tanks were a
bit low, they could only fill my new tank to 1700 lbs, not to a fully
topped off level of 2000 lbs.
They charged me $40 flat fee..... a discount they said because it is a
small cylinder. That seem really steep to me.

Is this about right fur filling an O2 tank. I've heard that it is OK to
have the tank filled at other places such as with medical O2 or welding
O2. Is that OK?

Bruce McFadden Birmingham, AL
PA32-260 N5594J

Aviation oxygen is also guaranteed for a particular maximum moisture
level -- premise being that it would be 'a bad day' if there were excess
moisture and if it froze (impeding oxygen delivery) while at the
higher/colder altitudes.

Other than that, I'd agree that these three sources are, for most
practical purposes, identical aside from the cost.

Some more details including regulatory citations:

http://www.avweb.com/news/columns/182079-1.html

-Dan

(Wondering if Santa is going to deliver a plane that will allow me to
finally start worrying about needing supplementary oxygen. Probably not,
but one can dream. :-) )

On Sat, 25 Dec 2004 09:36:29 +0000 (UTC), Dan Foster
wrote:

Aviation oxygen is also guaranteed for a particular maximum moisture
level -- premise being that it would be 'a bad day' if there were excess
moisture and if it froze (impeding oxygen delivery) while at the
higher/colder altitudes.

Other than that, I'd agree that these three sources are, for most
practical purposes, identical aside from the cost.

Some more details including regulatory citations:

http://www.avweb.com/news/columns/182079-1.html

Although he recommends storing the tanks laying down, some regulations
may require storing them upright and safety chained to prevent falling
over. It's certainly handier than with the tanks laying on the floor.

One thing he didn't mention about transportation: Never, move or
transport a high pressure cylinder without the screw on cap in place!
I don't even move them around the shop without that cap in place. It's
really good protection for that high pressure valve. I certainly would
want it in place any time I was not using the tank(s) if they were
laying down.

I don't do that much flying at altitude, but once the tanks got down
to 1000 PSI I could use them with the welder and cutting torch. With
the Cutting torch or "Rosebud" tip you go through O2 in a hurry.


-Dan

(Wondering if Santa is going to deliver a plane that will allow me to
finally start worrying about needing supplementary oxygen. Probably not,
but one can dream. :-) )

If you fly at night, or above 5 or 6,000 feet it might be worth while
considering now. :-))

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

Roger wrote:

Although he recommends storing the tanks laying down, some regulations
may require storing them upright and safety chained to prevent falling
over.

Any idea why upright is a good idea? I've always heard it's safer, but never
heard a reason why that would be true.

One thing he didn't mention about transportation: Never, move or
transport a high pressure cylinder without the screw on cap in place!

Neither of my tanks (neither acetylene nor oxygen) has provision for a cap.
Unfortunately.

George Patterson
The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.

G.R. Patterson III wrote:

Roger wrote:

Although he recommends storing the tanks laying down, some regulations
may require storing them upright and safety chained to prevent falling
over.


Any idea why upright is a good idea? I've always heard it's safer, but never
heard a reason why that would be true.


One thing he didn't mention about transportation: Never, move or
transport a high pressure cylinder without the screw on cap in place!


Neither of my tanks (neither acetylene nor oxygen) has provision for a cap.
Unfortunately.

George Patterson
The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.
Storing tanks upright puts the thickest part of the tank (the bottom)
exactly where any moisture will settle. Thus giving the tank a much
longer life span against rusting thru.

rocky wrote:

Storing tanks upright puts the thickest part of the tank (the bottom)
exactly where any moisture will settle. Thus giving the tank a much
longer life span against rusting thru.

Ok -- thanks.

George Patterson
The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.

On Sun, 26 Dec 2004 00:27:29 GMT, "G.R. Patterson III"
wrote:



Roger wrote:

Although he recommends storing the tanks laying down, some regulations
may require storing them upright and safety chained to prevent falling
over.

Any idea why upright is a good idea? I've always heard it's safer, but never
heard a reason why that would be true.

One thing he didn't mention about transportation: Never, move or
transport a high pressure cylinder without the screw on cap in place!

Neither of my tanks (neither acetylene nor oxygen) has provision for a cap.
Unfortunately.


I didn't think they could sell them without them.
Tanks have had to have that provision for years. OTOH there are a lot
of lost caps floating around... some where.

The acetylene and Oxygen tanks on my welding cart both have the caps,
but you'd never be able to put them on with the regulators in place.
Still, when in the cart they are pretty much protected even if the
cart were to tip over. Hasn't yet.

If the Acetylene tank were laying down I think I'd have a problem with
all the acetone coming out the torch tip.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com
George Patterson
The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.

Roger wrote:

I didn't think they could sell them without them.

I don't remember what they call the sizes of my bottles. The acetylene is about
32" high and maybe 7" or 9" diameter. The oxygen is shorter but about as fat.
Neither has the threaded collar for a cap.

George Patterson
The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.

"Roger" wrote

I didn't think they could sell them without them. (caps)
Tanks have had to have that provision for years. OTOH there are a lot
of lost caps floating around... some where.

I *think* tanks with a guard around the valve, (so a blow sideways can not
knock off the valve) are still legal. I have an old acetylene tank like
that.

If the Acetylene tank were laying down I think I'd have a problem with
all the acetone coming out the torch tip.

Correct. Acetylene is actually dissolved in acetone, so as you use the gas
and the pressure gets lower, the acetylene "evaporates" or "comes out of
solution" to come out the tip as a gas. If the tank were on its side, you
would get acetone coming out of the tip.

There is also another difference in the tanks, between Oxy and Acety.

The Oxy tank is a big open container on the inside. The Acety. is like a
metal honeycomb, or metal sponge, with the acetylene and acetone in the
little cells. I think it has something to do with providing maximum surface
area of the liquid, allowing the acetylene to come out of solution at rapid
flow rates.
--
Jim in NC