has anyone here had a co2 tank failure?

[Metalheadfrommars]

i do admit im a little nervess of my tanks. should i be this worried?

 

[bracconiere]

i haven't in my 15 years...someone else i remember saying had thier's in a hot car and it blew the PRV.....and someone else said someone died because someone had a tank on it's side and it blew, went like a missile and hit someone....

 

[doug293cz]

Don’t leave it in a closed vehicle on a sunny day, and you should be fine. (Over heating can cause the rupture disk to blow out, releasing all of the CO2, and ruining the tank. This is actually a safety feature to prevent more catastrophic failure.)

You might also want to strap the tank to something to prevent tip over, and damage to the valve.

Brew on

 

[tellyho]

Do you get it hydro tested every 5 years?

My CO2 guy tells me that failures are seldom catastrophic. Usually a pinhole leak.

 

[doug293cz]

i haven't in my 15 years...someone else i remember saying had thier's in a hot car and it blew the PRV.....and someone else said someone died because someone had a tank on it's side and it blew, went like a missile and hit someone....

Regular compressed gas (nitrogen, oxygen, etc.) cylinders can become missiles, but a CO2 tank is less likely to do that as the internal pressure is lower, and as the CO2 escapes, the tank cools rapidly, thus dropping the pressure even more.

Brew on

 

[Metalheadfrommars]

cool ty everyone. this may seem stupid question but is it ok to lift a 20 pound tank buy the valve its so hard to grab it by bottom of the tank. also how much presure is the outlet of the co2 tank valve?

 

[Metalheadfrommars]

i do the trade in so my tanks are pretty much checked every 3 months or so

 

[bracconiere]

Regular compressed gas (nitrogen, oxygen, etc.) cylinders can become missiles, but a CO2 tank is less likely to do that as the internal pressure is lower, and as the CO2 escapes, the tank cools rapidly, thus dropping the pressure even more.

Brew on

i think the missile was either oxygen, or acetylene....something to do with welding.....

 

[bracconiere]

is it ok to lift a 20 pound tank buy the valve

that's the way i always carry it....

 

[Metalheadfrommars]

true story as a kid i watched jaws. the part that scared me was the tanks i mean it killled jaws. jaws did not scare me the next day i was swiming in the ocean. but i always thought about the tank

 

[bracconiere]

lol, good one!

 

[day_trippr]

cool ty everyone. this may seem stupid question but is it ok to lift a 20 pound tank buy the valve its so hard to grab it by bottom of the tank. also how much presure is the outlet of the co2 tank valve?

I always pick my tanks up by the neck.
As for pressure available at the cylinder valve, it's a function of fill volume and temperature...

Cheers!

 

[ba-brewer]

true story as a kid i watched jaws. the part that scared me was the tanks i mean it killled jaws. jaws did not scare me the next day i was swiming in the ocean. but i always thought about the tank

The Myth Buster tested that, no explosion. They tested the missile thing by breaking the valve off of a larger oxygen tank I think and I believe it punched a hole in a cinder block wall.

 

[day_trippr]

I saw that episode, it was a freaky big cylinder (torpedo like) and it did indeed shoot right through the wall.
Impressive for sure, but not unexpected...

Cheers!

 

[ba-brewer]

That is why Jamie always wore khakis.

 

[hjblwme]

I work with O2 tanks Dailey and they ride in our bumpy truck. Occasionally they will come loose and the head will be leaning on the wall bouncing down the road. They are safer then we give them credit for.

Yes if struck on the head they can become missiles. The general rule is to store them vertically and protect the head. Under normal use they will not have any problems. Standard testing/rating is to test them at nearly twice the pressure that they are filled to for service. Meaning a tank rated for 2500 PSI service is tested to 5000 PSI. If you use a rental/swap they are legally required to inspect and ensure the certification is up to date.

 

[WBB]

My 20 lb tank came with a carry handle. Similar to this.

https://www.amazon.com/Cylinders-Ca...329889&sprefix=co2+tank+carry+,aps,141&sr=8-2

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

More likely to have a regulator diaphragm failure.

 

[VirginiaHops1]

I had a failure when my handsy 6 year old turned the knob on my new tank before I had a regulator on it and emptied it. Not so much a tank failure as just a general life fail

 

[Qhrumphf]

With CO2 and normal use the bigger danger is a leak and being suffocated by CO2 (say leaning down into a CO2 flooded keezer)

If you were to lop off the valve with a sledgehammer, yeah, wouldn't be pretty. Apart from that level of abuse, respect the tank and you'll be just fine.

 

[bkboiler]

In general these tanks are designed such that the wall thickness begets a leak prior to a catastrophic failure. This is a part of the ASME pressure vessel code.
It has to do with the fracture toughness of the material.

The tanks could obviously be made thicker to hold more pressure but that would not strike the correct ratio of the geometry to satisfy this "leak before break" principle.

The reason the tanks are certified is to inspect for leaks and it is more or a "good measure" aspect than a "safety inspection interval". The time when crack inspections are mandatory for "safety" is when a critical flaw size will definitely result in catastrophic failure if sufficient load is applied (such as in aerospace this is common to perform such inspections on critical structure).

 

[bkboiler]

That being said, the threads are more sensitive... So hitting the valve can cause this failure catastrophically as others indicated...
A regulator cage doesn't protect against this, but chaining your tank to nearby structure so it will not fall over is a great idea!

 

[Jayjay1976]

i do the trade in so my tanks are pretty much checked every 3 months or so

So, you go through a 20 pounder every ~3 months, it sounds like you've been through several so far, yet you still don't know how to carry one??

 

[VirginiaHops1]

So, you go through a 20 pounder every ~3 months, it sounds like you've been through several so far, yet you still don't know how to carry one??

Sounds like he knows how to carry it, he was just inquiring if he was handling them the safest way. Reading comprehension is fun