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Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Gathering Material to build mini sub
At 10:17 -0500 4/21/02, Mark Steed wrote:
>I don't know if it has been mentioned here before, but I will
>include an experience I had with propane tanks. While converting
>one for use in an entirely different manner than submersibles,it
>was discovered that the propane literally seeps into the pores of
>the metal itself and is almost impossible to remove. The amount of
>seepage varies with the condition of the interior metal surface.
>The only way to effectively remove the stuff is to make a large
>enough opening in the tank (without sparks!) and once in a safe
>location, burn the stuff out. I was totally amazed by the force of
>the burning residue left in an "empty" propane tank. Any
>conversion,or for that matter,any work on propane tanks should
>proceed with extreme caution. I do not recommend it. Mark Steed
My dad converted a smaller (100 lb; the tall narrow ones) propane tank into a low-pressure air tank for a cannon to fire potatoes and stuff. I think what he did was remove the valve and fill up the tank with water all the way to the top before cutting the hole bigger and welding his 2" pipe to it.
Also, he's got a lifetime of experience with welding and inspecting high-pressure stuff - steam pipes and boilers and whatnot - and he doesn't fill his formerly-propane tank with any more than 40 psi air. I don't know what pressure a full propane tank usually holds, but I'm sure it's more than that. He's sometimes kinda reckless, so I take this as some measure of how serious this is. Something about how this tank was figured by engineers to do a certain thing and ANY use of it other than that is a whole 'nother unknown thing. Also, an old tank has been cycled lots of times: full, empty, full, empty - and cold, warm, cold warm - and there's no guarantee how much of even that original strength it still has.
--
David
buchner@wcta.net - MN, USA
http://customer.wcta.net/buchner