I am posting this information because I found zero information anywhere on the internet. I contacted two shops that sell cascade ASME cylinders and they were no help. I also showed to my Hydro guy a photo of where my cylinders were leaking and no one had any advice for me. This is just a continuation of my scuba compressor and tubing threads. I really appreciate all of the help many of you have given me on my cascade and compressor installation. I am almost finished. When I purchased my compressor the seller told me these ASME cylinders go with the compressor if I want them. I just have to load them up. It was only another 1000lb-ish to add to my trailer. Well I wasn't going to let them go. Upon getting them hooked up I discovered they both leaked, right here.
I asked around both LDS and my hydro guy showing him this photo. My question was. Is this a pressed in flange or threaded? I tried and tried with a 36" pipe wrench and cheater bar to both tighten or loosen this flange/bushing. Still not knowing if it was a knurled flange or threaded bushing. One suggestion was to "weld it up", which I gave serious consideration to doing. I was able to remove the 1" MNPT bushing. That was clearly threaded. The flange just left me stumped. It was not moving no matter what heathanistic forces I applied. No one else seemed to know either. So I left the cylinders to rot and moved on with my life. Fast forward to this weekend. I watched a video of a stuck bolt on youtube and how an impact socket on an impact gun worked when no other cheater bar method had. So I decided to do what any reasonable person would. I went and purchased a $70 50mm 1"drive impact socket, a $25 HF 1"-3/4 and 3/4-1/2 adapter, and $300 Milwaukee impact. To my utter amazement. It literally spun off faster than you can say "i knew it would". I was so happy. Hours of research and hitting brick walls was over. I had my answer and I knew they were repairable. I am posting this information and photos so anyone else down the road will stumble upon this information. I wish I had found this information months ago.
Well now that I got the 1-1/2 MNPS x 1" FNPT bushing off it was time to service the cylinder. There was a couple spots of rust inside with a lot of surface rust along the entire inside. The previous owner told me he never hooked it up to the compressor and just filled scuba tanks directly from the compressor. Both model 330 Kunkle Valve Co. pressure relief valves were off the cylinders leaving the cylinders open to the elements. Not good I know. At first I wanted to devise a way to tumble. Again, my hydro guy and LDS were no help. So I devised a way to add wheels to the top of my portable welding table. I them used an old fan belt connected to a 3" cylinder I chucked up on my lathe. I filled the cylinder up with about 3 gallons of large 3/4" triangle ceramic media I had laying around and let her rip.
The alignment hassle along with the 400# weight of the cylinder proved to be more of a hassle than it was worth so I gave up. I moved on to a stainless steel 1/4 whisker brush I made. This worked much better and made short work of the rust in the cylinder. The one large spot is now mostly a stain on the more than 1" thick cylinder neck. I installed new 90A Durometer, Round, Black, 1-3/4" ID, 2" OD, 1/8" 224 Buna-N O-Ring (for reference) into the now clean cylinder(s).
I hope this information helps the next person going to fix a leak on one of these old ASME cylinders.
I asked around both LDS and my hydro guy showing him this photo. My question was. Is this a pressed in flange or threaded? I tried and tried with a 36" pipe wrench and cheater bar to both tighten or loosen this flange/bushing. Still not knowing if it was a knurled flange or threaded bushing. One suggestion was to "weld it up", which I gave serious consideration to doing. I was able to remove the 1" MNPT bushing. That was clearly threaded. The flange just left me stumped. It was not moving no matter what heathanistic forces I applied. No one else seemed to know either. So I left the cylinders to rot and moved on with my life. Fast forward to this weekend. I watched a video of a stuck bolt on youtube and how an impact socket on an impact gun worked when no other cheater bar method had. So I decided to do what any reasonable person would. I went and purchased a $70 50mm 1"drive impact socket, a $25 HF 1"-3/4 and 3/4-1/2 adapter, and $300 Milwaukee impact. To my utter amazement. It literally spun off faster than you can say "i knew it would". I was so happy. Hours of research and hitting brick walls was over. I had my answer and I knew they were repairable. I am posting this information and photos so anyone else down the road will stumble upon this information. I wish I had found this information months ago.
Well now that I got the 1-1/2 MNPS x 1" FNPT bushing off it was time to service the cylinder. There was a couple spots of rust inside with a lot of surface rust along the entire inside. The previous owner told me he never hooked it up to the compressor and just filled scuba tanks directly from the compressor. Both model 330 Kunkle Valve Co. pressure relief valves were off the cylinders leaving the cylinders open to the elements. Not good I know. At first I wanted to devise a way to tumble. Again, my hydro guy and LDS were no help. So I devised a way to add wheels to the top of my portable welding table. I them used an old fan belt connected to a 3" cylinder I chucked up on my lathe. I filled the cylinder up with about 3 gallons of large 3/4" triangle ceramic media I had laying around and let her rip.
The alignment hassle along with the 400# weight of the cylinder proved to be more of a hassle than it was worth so I gave up. I moved on to a stainless steel 1/4 whisker brush I made. This worked much better and made short work of the rust in the cylinder. The one large spot is now mostly a stain on the more than 1" thick cylinder neck. I installed new 90A Durometer, Round, Black, 1-3/4" ID, 2" OD, 1/8" 224 Buna-N O-Ring (for reference) into the now clean cylinder(s).
I hope this information helps the next person going to fix a leak on one of these old ASME cylinders.