Old welding tanks.....

[total newb]

Totalgrandmainlaw bought a house and i have moved the majority of my gear into the large detached garage (by her request). I have found so much old shit hidden away but i finaly found something legitimately sketchy. I posted before about finding vials of "coramine", glass syringes and suture kits.
lots of very old parts books and playboy centerfolds.

the previous family owned this house since 1955ish and the old man was pretty much the center of the town. The local go to guy for everything from boat & auto repair, fix anything, and guy how kept this lil town going for a long time. House was moved up from the bottom of the lake before the dam was built and his great/grandson was the last owner.

Off in the corner of the property i found 2 old welding tanks 90% buried in the dirt. Well i finaly dug them out and beat the dirt filled safety caps off only to find the still have psi in them! The one must have been nearly new as it only has '70 stamped on it. The other started in '48 and the last date on it is '75.

They are both male rh thread so that tells me they are at least inerts. Ox/argon/co2. I held a lighter to them and got zero reaction. Contents stickers are both completely destroyed.

Anyway to determine whats in them?
Ill grab a regulator and check psi in a bit but holy shit.

Odds are ill just bleed them out and pull the valves off as i have full tanks of my own and they make good legs for anvil/vice stands/shooting gongs and other such nonsense

 

[not2hye]

Why not just go exchange them?
Never can have too much extra gas on hand.
I wouldn’t go punching holes in perfectly good cores.

 

[Donk]

Cream cylinder = Co2 in some colour codes

 

[bgaidan]

Why not just go exchange them?
Never can have too much extra gas on hand.
I wouldn’t go punching holes in perfectly good cores.

This. Arc3, arigas, etc. will take them as exchanges and re-hyrdo them.

 

[ChiScouter]

What is a Totalgrandmainlaw? first thing I would be inclined to do as already said is see if I could trade them in. A few years ago I exchanged a couple of acetylene tanks that had been sitting since the early 70's

 

[M92PV4U]

What is a Total/grandma/in/law? first thing I would be inclined to do as already said is see if I could trade them in. A few years ago I exchanged a couple of acetylene tanks that had been sitting since the early 70's

.

 

[Cryptictoy]

If the tank itself looks decent probably can get it hydro checked. From my research they are good for a 100 years from first stamp . You have 52 yrs yet and it will just get swapped out 100's of times and you probably won't ever see it again. What size is that? Guessing a #5 size 200+ cu/ft. So that should be about 200$ to buy just a tank.

 

[total newb]

I know i could take them in. One does seem to be a rental tank though.

They would have to be recerted obviously.

And if they are not o2/ox i could def use them up.

 

[2big bronco]

I know i could take them in. One does seem to be a rental tank though.

They would have to be recerted obviously.

And if they are not o2/ox i could def use them up.

Most place usually dont fill them, just exchange them

 

[total newb]

If the tank itself looks decent probably can get it hydro checked. From my research they are good for a 100 years from first stamp . You have 52 yrs yet and it will just get swapped out 100's of times and you probably won't ever see it again. What size is that? Guessing a #5 size 200+ cu/ft. So that should be about 200$ to buy just a tank.

They are taller than my tanks @215 or 275 and about the same diam.

 

[bdkw1]

Those aren't even that old. No swastikas either, lame. Just go exchange them for something you need.

 

[Drakeslayer]

Pics of totalgrandmainlaw

 

[[486]]

if they're way rusty,
wire wheel, paint, then rub some dirt on them and trade them in, pay the $15 hydrotest fee

if they're decent looking and not horribly pitted
trade them in and pay the $15 hydrotest fee

post a pic of the valve, or just look for what CGA number is stamped on it, then google that to get a list of likely gasses

 

[grumpy356]

Make a wind chime

 

[total newb]

;n212750]if they're way rusty,
wire wheel, paint, then rub some dirt on them and trade them in, pay the $15 hydrotest fee

if they're decent looking and not horribly pitted
trade them in and pay the $15 hydrotest fee

post a pic of the valve, or just look for what CGA number is stamped on it, then google that to get a list of likely gasses

What would the cga# look like?
are the # the only thing allowed in that given tank?

 

[total newb]

Pics of totalgrandmainlaw

But youre not texas blake?

 

[[486]]

What would the cga# look like?
are the # the only thing allowed in that given tank?

it's like CGA 540 for oxygen, 320 for co2, 580 for nitrogen/argon/helium
510 is the normal POL for propane and acetylene

all these are just by memory so they're probably all wrong
just google whatever number is stamped on the valve itself, toss in a "cga" so that you get properly related results

 

[Johann]

Make a wind chime

Those can be fricken LOUD! We had to take the circus hammer away from one of our camp mates one year because he kept beating on one of those at 3 AM.

Funny the first time though!

 

[total newb]

I found some that were already cut up last year and was wondering if they would be louder/different if the were sliced up the side with circle cut out . Long flutes/panels.

 

[gt1guy]

This may help.

Gas	CGA	Gas	CGA
Acetylene	510	Hydrogen Chloride	330
Air	590	Hydrogen Sulphide	330
Allene	510	Iso-Butane	510
Ammonia	240, 660	Iso-Butylene	510
Argon	580	Krypton	580
Arsine	350	Methane	350
1,3-Butadiene	510	Methyl Chloride	660
Butane	510	Methyl Mercaptan	330
Butenes	510	Monoethylamine	240
Carbon Dioxide	320	Monomethylamine	240
Carbon Monoxide	350	Natural Gas	350
Carbonyl Fluoride	660	Neon	580
Carbonyl Sulphide	330	Nitric Acid	660
Chlorine	660	Nitrogen	580
Cyanogen	660	Nitrogen Dioxide	660
Deuterium	350	Nitrous Oxide	326
Dimethylamine	240	Oxygen	540
Dimethyl Ether	510	Phosgene	660
Ethane	350	Phosphine	350
Ethyl Acetylene	510	Propane	510
Ethyl Chloride	510	Propylene	510
Ethylene	350	Silane	350
Ethylene Oxide	510	Silicon Tetrafluoride	330
Halocarbon-14	580	Sulphur Dioxide	660
Halocarbon-22	660	Sulphur Hexafluoride	240
Helium	580	Trimethylamine	240
Hydrogen	350	Vinyl Chloride	510
Hydrogen Bromide	330	Xenon	580

 

[gozuki]

Throw them in a beach bonfire.

 

[smurfblue40]

Why not just go exchange them?
Never can have too much extra gas on hand.
I wouldn’t go punching holes in perfectly good cores.

One summer I collected several #20 propane tanks from people just wanting to get rid of them. This was around the time of the new valve requirements, I had no problem swapping the old ones out.

Now I have eight tanks, two came with the camp trailer

Good thing we have a gas grill and smoker

 

[Filthy McChevy]

I've exchanged old CO2 Soda system bottles for welding gas bottles before.

 

[TRINDU]

Just exchange them. You know you can request whatever gas you want, right?

 

[total newb]

You understand i have more interest in using them structualy than i need them for containment. I only have a curiosity as to contents more than need whatever its contents maybe.

 

[smurfblue40]

You understand i have more interest in using them structualy than i need them for containment. I only have a curiosity as to contents more than need whatever its contents maybe.

Then I vote shooting gong

 

[[486]]

You understand i have more interest in using them structualy than i need them for containment. I only have a curiosity as to contents more than need whatever its contents maybe.

they craigslist quick at 150
you can get a lot of pipe for that money

 

[bgaidan]

One summer I collected several #20 propane tanks from people just wanting to get rid of them. This was around the time of the new valve requirements, I had no problem swapping the old ones out.

Now I have eight tanks, two came with the camp trailer

Good thing we have a gas grill and smoker

I amazed at how many people throw away propane tanks. My company does a lot of work at landfills and there are always dozens upon dozens of good tanks at the recycling centers - usually lots of new blue rhino tanks.


I got all my propane tanks free from various people moving or cleaning out old properties. I'd get old ones swapped out at walmart and then refill them at my local hardware store until they expire....then get them swapped again.

 

[not2hye]

I amazed at how many people throw away propane tanks. My company does a lot of work at landfills and there are always dozens upon dozens of good tanks at the recycling centers - usually lots of new blue rhino tanks.


I got all my propane tanks free from various people moving or cleaning out old properties. I'd get old ones swapped out at walmart and then refill them at my local hardware store until they expire....then get them swapped again.

This!

My dad didn't believe me that you can just go exchange them out of date.
The guy working at the grocery store dont care, and probably doesn't know how to read the date stamps anyways.

 

[bgaidan]

This!

My dad didn't believe me that you can just go exchange them out of date.
The guy working at the grocery store dont care, and probably doesn't know how to read the date stamps anyways.

Yep, and always pick through the rack to find the newest ones so I don't have to pay the "exchange" fee for as long as possible. That's why it costs like $28 for the exchange and $15 for a refill. You're paying for the inspection and re-hydro and for the ones they eventually have to scrap.