co2 tank went boom at family reunion

[Robert65]

When I take a CO2 tank for exchange or refill, it's wrapped in a blanket, stuffed in a duffel bag in the back of my car. This ensures it can't roll around, which would worry me more than having it on its side does. And, most importantly, it's straight to the shop and straight back home, never riding around in the car.

 

[Brooothru]

It's not illegal to transport tanks in a passenger vehicle, maybe frowned upon. I've always transported propane, argon, and CO2 tanks inside my SUVs. In the summer I'll keep the A/C on and make sure the tank exchange is my final stop. The propane and CO2 tanks are small enough to stand upright but my argon tank has to lay horizontal.

I can't afford to buy a truck just for transporting tanks, and if they ever tell me I can't transport tanks in my car for brewing or welding, you might as well just put me in the ground now.

Even having a 'truck' is no guarantee. Several years ago the mini 2½# CO2 bottle I keep in my kegerator needed filling. There's a gas supply place about 10 minutes from my house where they used to fill bottles (now the local branches of the company get all their fills from a central distributor site outside Baltimore). I hopped into my crew cab pickup and headed to get a refill.

The process involves hooking up and pumping gas until the total weight equals the tare weight of the bottle + the weight of the gas. Sounds easy enough. Except when the bottle (2½ # tank, remember) won't balance upright when the fill mechanism gets attached. Then it becomes kind of a guessing game as to how much gas has really been loaded. So, after wrestling with this tiny beast for awhile, the guy doing the fill guesses that it's full enough. When I go to strap the now full bottle in the truck bed I find that my tie-down straps are missing, and since I'm not gonna let that sucker bang around loose in the bed of my truck, I tuck it securely behind the driver's seat and head home.

Did I mention it was a hot summer day? Well anyway, the A/C was blasting with the windows rolled up tight as I entered the Interstate for my short drive home. Sometime after about 70 MPH I heard a loud 'POP', saw some interior fogging and felt the hot interior temperature suddenly drop. I knew at once the OPD/burst disc had done its thing. I also knew my time-of-useful-conciousness was limited in this current situation in a small volume cabin saturated with CO2. Thank goodness for electric windows. I gang-mashed all the switches, hit the emergency flashers and pulled off on the shoulder. Thank goodness it was also an hour or so before rush hour traffic which would have made this maneuver a bit more problematic.

The bottle was obviously over-filled, and the high temperature was enough to push the internal pressure past the bursting point. No ill effects, other than feeling a little light headed for a minute or two. But that could have just been the adrenalin. The gas supply dealer replaced the disc, performed a hydrostatic test on the bottle and refilled it all for free. I now just do bottle exchanges. And I now always strap down the empty that I'm taking back to exchange in the bed or in the trunk. That way I always know there's a strap to tie the new one down.

Lesson learned.

Brooo Brother

 

[Robert65]

^^^^
Buy 5# tanks. [emoji482] glad you're ok bro.

 

[50calshooter]

Happens all the time in summer. The tanks have a pressure relief valve in them. When the gas heats up it expands and the valve releases the pressure. I've had them pop off so long they almost emptied. Always got a replacement refund because of the amounts I bought from the supplier.