mordantly

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that business would be in a world of sheeeit if that happened today.

NorthernBrewer09

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Yeah the station wagon thing could work just roll down your window and keep it ventillated but i like the motorcylce thing better

medic4070

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Not to mention that a burst disk letting loose is damn near defeaning. When I was a firefighter, we had one let go on a 2200 psi SCBA tank. It was louder than hell, even from 50' away and around a corner! I'd hate to be riding in the car with one when it kicked off.

McKBrew

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People use CO2 tanks for filling tires, esp in off-roading applications (something I just recently learned).

I imagine people have them inside vehicles all the time in that application. Not saying there aren't risks, but they can be mitigated.

rageman

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Re: CO2 - Propane similarities: I used to do propane refills, and we would always help customers load the tanks into their cars, and would always advise customers to head straight home if they had a non-open vehicle (i.e., car/wagon/van) because of the risks of heating tanks. IIRC, we couldn't legally fill more than 2 tanks (80 lbs) unless the person was in a pickup due to orders from the fire marshal about explosives.

PV=nRT or no, I just would not pick up a freshly filled CO2 tank and leave it in my car any longer than to get it home. If it can kill you in your car, better not to leave it there at all IMO.

abledsoe

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So I am in the process of converting an upright fridge into a kegerator for a friend. Once its done I have to load it in my truck and drive it 3 hours to his house. Is it okay to leave the full CO2 tank inside the fridge in the back of my truck for that long of a haul?

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Bopper

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You should be fine. You only have to be concerned if its exposed to hot temps (i.e. trunk on a hot summer afternoon).

bja

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Same thing happened to me. They overfilled my 5 lb bottle, but it waited until I got home before it blew. I had it sitting next to my bar, and about 5 feet away from a 90 gallon aquarium. Luckily no one was in the room when it happened and nothing was seriously damaged.

TrickyDick

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Well now we know what NOT to do,

Can anyone speak to "best practices" In handling CO2 tanks?

I have a 5, 10 and 15 or 20 # tanks.

I keep next to kegerator. there are some other things around it, but its not chained to anything to keep it upright. Kids can mess with it if they wanted. Any way to safety proof this?

5# sits on storage shelf with Reg attached. 10# is in corner - haven't used for years since I got the larger cylinder. No reg attached but its full in corner of garage on a bookshelf.

Gets up to 100 degrees in my garage in summertime.

Use the 5# for cleaning and sanitizing kegs and stuff.

Always worry about a bad accident.

TD

triethylborane

Recipes 

Do keep water out of your CO2 tanks. CO2 forms carbonic acid in water, which will cause rust (not in aluminum tanks, however). It is hard for the customer to introduce water into the tank, but the filler can do so with "wet" CO2. If you are concerned, ask where his CO2 dew point is. Look for -64C dewpoint on the CO2.


Do have the tank visual tested every 5 years and hydro tested every 10. Decommission by drilling a hole in the tank. Just some of the basics, the cylinders are strong from really anything you can throw at it from the outside except for maybe a 7mm Rem mag or extreme heat, such as exploding gas cylinders:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/25/national/25stlouis.html


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNfHVSBNJ_Y

I saw the 2005 Praxair STL explosion. I worked at a chemical company near downtown STL and my co-worker, who had a loft on Washington Ave about 2 miles from the Praxair facility, told me to come up to the top of her loft building to watch the fire. I could feel the heat from the explosions.