In the mid 70's I got my own torch, and became a passable oxy/acet welder for things like exhaust, and at the time became fair at cutting. (Not so much anymore, LOL) In my HVAC days, of course used one a lot for brazing. I HAVE NEVER REALLY KNOWN THE ANSWER TO THIS............ I realize acetylene must be used upright, but sometimes you must transport it lying down. WHAT IS THE TIME necessary to leave a bottle upright before use? 1 minute? 5? 5,000,000?
........And that says........ Acetylene cylinders must be transported and stored vertically. If acetylene cylinders have been found laying on their side, allow them to stand in an upright position for at least 30 minutes before use. Acetylene cylinders contain a porous mass and liquid acetone that dissolves the gas. An upright position gives the liquid acetone time to settle back into its correct place in the porous mass. This prevents the release of solvent which can quickly vaporise and lead to problems that affect both safety and quality. So factoring in the "CYA" formula, that means maybe 5 minutes LOL
I always let my acetylene bottle stand for as long as possible after transporting in a horizontal position. One hour or a day if possible.
I rarely need to do this. In my earlier years, I rarely transported them, and the bottles were always in a cart. In my HVAC days I used a little "suitcase" setup, and it was always vertical in the service van.
I always found it fascinating that an acetylene bottle holds more acetylene once you have the porous mass and acetone in there.
Just watched a video of a guy taking a bottle apart. The material inside is diatomaceous earth. Interesting stuff.
I did not know that, and I’ve been using oxy-acetylene for forty years. Don’t know how I missed that tidbit.
We use food grade DE to feed the cats mixed with their food. Nary a flea or tick and it makes their coats shiny healthy and smooth.
The information is readily available by just doing a simple search. There is NO excuses for transporting, storing acetylene bottles in the horizontal position Used improperly a Oxygen/Acetylene welding burning setup is extremely dangerous
My buddy used to have an antique acetylene generator. Used water and carbide to make the gas. He would fill these giant baloons with the gas, tie off the ballon with a 30 sec fuse then light it off...big explosion. The problem was his shop was one mile from the airport in the flightpath. The FAA was not amused.
I bet. When I got out of the Navy at 26, in 74, there was still an old guy in my home town with a little shop. He had a HUGE acetylene generator. "Somewhere" I still have an old miner's lamp
I carry mine flat, 10 min. is plenty to use them. I remember a time when I must of used one right away, It just spit out a little liquid gas then acted normal . Lot of guys will mount them on a 45 and they will work fine. On my truck they`re vertical, and my oxy`s are horizontal.
