CO2 tank sudden temperature changes

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worlddivides

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As some of you might have noticed from my previous threads, before starting to do kegging, I was paranoid in particular about the safety of CO2 tanks. Although I've come to be a lot more "reasonable" and realistic about it, I am still quite paranoid. I've been keeping both my keg and CO2 in the fridge, but in order to cold crash, I need to remove the CO2 tank from the fridge (I mean, fermenters are pretty big, so that's no surprise).

I know CO2 tanks are built to withstand crazy amounts of pressure and all that jazz, but even though it's September 20th, it's 97F (36C) here in Tokyo, and in Japan people don't keep the AC on all the time for all rooms. So I'm kind of worried about the sudden change from the 39F (4C) in my fridge to the 86-90F (30C to 32C) in my living room. I know they're supposed to be safe under 125F (51C), but no matter how much I searched on Google or Homebrewtalk, I couldn't find anything talking about the effect of a sudden and quick increase in temperature on a CO2 tank. That might be a sign that it's so safe that no one has ever bothered to even ask about it, or maybe it's just a difficult subject to search for.

I imagine there's no problem, but it is on my mind, so I wanted to ask. Especially since I'm going to need to remove my CO2 tank from the fridge every single time I need to cold crash a fermenter.
 
Referencing this chart and the X axis point "100% of Rated Fill" one can see that even if your living room was 120°F/49°C the internal cylinder pressure would still be below the minimum blowout pressure of 2200 psi for CGA320 valves.
1726802733853.png


BUT, CO2 cylinders in Japan use a different valve type designation, "JIS B 8246". I don't know if that style valve sports the same rated blowout device as the USA CGA320 valve and I am having no success in finding data on that. While I am confident you should not be concerned, that's something that should be investigated to provide extra assurance that nothing untoward is going to happen...

Cheers!
 
Thanks a ton. That's great info. And considering the CO2 tank is somewhere between 90% and 95% filled right now, that's also encouraging.

I looked up the JIS B 8246 spec sheet, and it says "The measurement temperature used to measure the working pressure of the safety device using copper plating was 60C plus or minus 5 degrees (131F to 149F), while when using other plating, it was 40C plus or minus 5 degrees (95F to 113F)." I'm no expert on this kind of stuff, but that does sound somewhat comforting.
 
Purely anecdotal, but my CO2 tanks have never leaked and they stay in my garage year round. The temperature can go from near 0C in the winter to 40C in the summer.

That being said, my friend once had a CO2 blow its pressure release valve while it was in his car (he had gotten it filled in the morning) and it got to close to 40C during the day. Of course the interior of a car can get well past 40C in the summer heat in SC.
 
To the OP. I would like to say to be careful when moving the tank around. I know a former brew club member who accidently knocked his 5 lbs. bottle over and broke the valve off. It broke his elbow after rocketing across the table. Find a holder to put it in or secure it with a chain or something to keep it upright.
 
Purely anecdotal, but my CO2 tanks have never leaked and they stay in my garage year round. The temperature can go from near 0C in the winter to 40C in the summer.

That being said, my friend once had a CO2 blow its pressure release valve while it was in his car (he had gotten it filled in the morning) and it got to close to 40C during the day. Of course the interior of a car can get well past 40C in the summer heat in SC.
Thanks. That's reassuring as well. Logically, I know they're designed for really hot and really cold temps. As I've mentioned before, I often see CO2 tanks outside in sweltering heat in welding shops, for example, so they definitely are made to withstand those temperatures, and I know the temps outside never get to the 51C temps that they warn as being where it gets dangerous. Maybe it gets that hot outdoors in Death Valley, but not in many places, though as you mention, something like a car can get really hot. I actually measured the third floor of my house at 44C last month when it was 35C outdoors. I don't store CO2 tanks or anything like that on the third floor, but I do store my kettle, all my metal equipment, and a decent amount of my plastic equipment there. "Heat rises" can actually be quite terrifying at times. I know this'll be the warmest part of the house in the winter, though.
 
To the OP. I would like to say to be careful when moving the tank around. I know a former brew club member who accidently knocked his 5 lbs. bottle over and broke the valve off. It broke his elbow after rocketing across the table. Find a holder to put it in or secure it with a chain or something to keep it upright.
While I don't secure it in the fridge (it's unlikely to fall over since it can't fall back, left, or right, and if it were to somehow fall forward (which really could only happen in something crazy like a super massive earthquake), I have it attached to a keg with the beer line wrapped around it, and it would fall forward, but with enough space that it might open the door but not fall out), I do secure it whenever I remove it from the fridge. I currently have it secured to the wall using a bungie cord. I tend to be pretty paranoid in general when it comes to CO2 tanks. Arguably unreasonably paranoid, but I'm definitely careful.
 
My next DIY project is provide a CO2 quick connect port on the collar of my keezer. For the last year I have just been using the CO2 for keg #2 of 6 with an extra long line I can use to carb up the fermenter. Works fine...
But it would be easier to have a QC post all ready to go so I wouldn't need to piddle about with the duct tape & spit solution.
 
I was paranoid in particular about the safety of CO2 tanks. Although I've come to be a lot more "reasonable" and realistic about it, I am still quite paranoid.
I'm hardwired to be highly empathetic and I've seen your understandable unease in many people throughout my life. I had a sort of advantage; I grew up in an old-school service station so I've learned the risks of ..well; almost everything empirically by doing tons of really stupid, ignorant, dangerous and potentially fatal sh*t as a kid. I strongly believe in Active Cognitive Therapy;
If at all possible, do yourself a favour and go to a scrapyard or find a 'free for removal' CO2 tank and throw it off a balcony to cement..if it breaks, you'll see how undramatic it really is (OH: Safety Note: Stay maybe 20' away for this..as long as it is a CO2 tank, even if the valve shoots off and hits you, it'll have run out of enough force to even bruise at this distance if it even makes it that far.) If it doesn't break: Dig a diagonal hole and bury it up to the neck and smack the neck off (pointing away from you) with a sledge hammer.... It's really not dramatic.
Take a look here: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=co2+tank+explosion
..the only dramatic ones are the little paintball/pellet-gun cartrdges subjected to fire and even those aren't as fun as an M80.
Mind you: Other gases can be extremely dangerous, and while I don't want to downplay the real risk, that of CO2 has been mostly mythical.
:mug:
 
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