Exploding scuba tank kills one - Florida

[DandyDon]

Don, you can have my spare valves if you pay shipping (flat rate box). I have two from when I scrapped my tanks.

Thanks. They do have value. I once had to pay for a rebuild on my pony, but I have been more careful with it since. I really have too much stuff now, but I would think that a shop might trade you for them. If one had several, one could probably order new tanks without valves. Finally, the brass would have junk value.

 

[ktomlinson]

Thanks. They do have value. I once had to pay for a rebuild on my pony, but I have been more careful with it since. I really have too much stuff now, but I would think that a shop might trade you for them. If one had several, one could probably order new tanks without valves. Finally, the brass would have junk value.

They are yoke valves and I prefer the thermovalves that convert from yoke to din. The offer stands as long as I have them. A funny story about scrap... I took my two tanks up to the scrap place and gave them to the guy that weighs them...he gave me a ticket to take to a booth to be paid. When I get to the booth the guy tells me I'll be getting like $23. I argue with him a few minutes telling him it's close to 60 lbs of aluminum and finally tell him I want my tanks back. So then I go back to the guy that weighed them and tell him that I want them back, he gives me a really crazy look, digs them off the top of a scrap pile and gives them back to me. I later looked up what aluminum was going for and found it would have been an ok price...I haven't been back I am thinking about making chimes as Rick Murchison suggested.

 

[DandyDon]

:laughing: If you had several tons of the same grade, you could get more yeah.

I guess a 6351 tank could be safely converted into a portable air tank for tires, 500# or so? What do shop compressors go to now; I forget? Just too heavy to carry around for such. I carry a little compressor that plugs into my car to air up tires as needed. Now you can get them that can air tires, camping mattresses, and beach toys.

 

[Jax]

Not sure I'd want to risk Sustained Load Cracking even with a lousy 150psi from a workshop compressor.

 

[Notso_Ken]

http://www2.tbo.com/news/breaking-news/2011/sep/13/fatal-scuba-blast-ruled-accidental-still-a-mystery-ar-257503/

Initial medical examiners report seems to rule out 100% oxygen. At least one "expert" not happy about the online speculation...

Gresham said he keeps statistics on scuba cylinder failures and since 1972, he knows of 21 aluminum cylinders and 56 steel tanks that have ruptured for one reason or another.

21 Al and 56 Steel? Interesting. Now, how about that overfilling practice?


ken

 

[Jax]

21 Al and 56 Steel? Interesting. Now, how about that overfilling practice?


ken

:lol: Jump to conclusions, much?

 

[USFishin]

It also didn't state if the steels that ruptured were rusted out or not.

 

[RedCash02]

From Spearfishing Planet:

How much energy is there in a filled scuba tank

I do not know the veracity or accuracy of this document.

I skimmed through it and it seems valid. A physics professor derived this in a class I took and came up with something like 1.25 to 1.5 sticks of dynamite per tank, which agrees well with this result. He's a Nobel laureate, so I tend to trust his basic physics.

As far as the aluminum vs. steel rupture numbers, it's hard to glean anything from it. Yes, there are currently a lot more aluminum cylinders in service, but the oldest working cylinders are going to be steel. I don't want to get into the overfilling debate because it might not be relevant here, but I do study metals for a living and I'd be much more hesitant to push the limits on an aluminum alloy than a steel.

 

[Thalassamania]

I've often heard it said to be roughly equivalent to a stick of dynamite.

 

[Rick Murchison]

...I guess a 6351 tank could be safely converted into a portable air tank for tires, 500# or so?...

This question comes up from time to time w/r/t tanks that fail hydro. The short answer is "NO. UNSAFE." While I feel like most of the time it could be done safely, the time that it *isn't* safe is the time it'll bite, and once it's failed hydro it can be in anywhere from a very weakened state to a "no flex" state that'll take pressure with no problem right up until the time it shatters. In the case of a 6351 tank my advice would be "only so long as it continues to pass Hydro and eddy current testing."
Rick