H2Andy
Contributor
say, what's the capacity of those cats at 3000 psi?
i have eight of them ... might as well start using them
Proper way to store tanks?
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say, what's the capacity of those cats at 3000 psi?
i have eight of them ... might as well start using them
SparticleBrane
Contributor
H2Andy
Contributor
is that O2 enriched poo?
I was told that the reason you should store your AL tanks at either 500# or full pressure is that at full charge, in a fire, the burst disk will go before the tank fails. At 500# a tank failure is also low risk in a fire. Its the 50% full tanks that don't reach burst disk pressure before the tank fails that are the high risk cases.
Does this hold for steel as well? I would think that the brass valve would melt before the steel tank failed and so would act like a burst disk?
Does this hold for steel as well? I would think that the brass valve would melt before the steel tank failed and so would act like a burst disk?
spt29970
Contributor
I store my tanks full because I dive year round and I want them ready to go. If I were going to leave them for 4-6 months, I would drain them, although I don't understand what is magic about 500psi. I would drain them to around 100-200psi. This is low enough that there is no danger in case of a fire, but not so low that shops would require a new vis.
It holds true for steel tanks too. A steel or aluminum tank will fail at a lower temperature than the valve will fail unless the seat melts first.
There were some early burst plugs that would melt at fairly low temperatures and protect a half filled tank but I haven't seen those burst plugs used for 30 years. They didn't reliably burst by pressure like they were supposed to.
NorthWoodsDiver
Contributor
During my PCI course last weekend the instructor talked about an incident where a tank blew with about 400 or 500 psi in it while in a fire on a boat. It was the only tank to blow as all others had the burst discs go first.
That was enough of a reason for me to store tanks full or with 40psi as 40psi is what is legal according to DOT for transport (commerically) without hazmat regulations getting involved.
That was enough of a reason for me to store tanks full or with 40psi as 40psi is what is legal according to DOT for transport (commerically) without hazmat regulations getting involved.
pollywogg
Guest
Just to be safe, I store my tanks at full service pressure(plus 500-700 PSI )right next to the fireplace. This ensures that the tanks stay dry and the air I breathe is nice and toasty. The overfill ensures that nothing gets inside the turny doohickeys... Sometimes, when I want to take extra precautions, I drain my tanks and get them filled with O2. That way I know the gas inside is really pure. I'm kind of a stickler for safety like that. Some call me meticulous, but no length is too far for safety.
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