From: David B (wdbtchr@excite.com)
Date: Fri Nov 11 2005 - 13:25:12 PST
I'm a stationary engineer and one of the things I hated most was looking for steam leaks. We run 650# superheat steam, which means a pinhole makes a whistle so loud you can't tell where the noise is coming from and the steam doesn't cool enough to form condensate untill it's about 20 feet from the leak. You take a straw broom and wave it up and down in front of you until it cuts the straw off. There's your leak. I've heard but never seen that it will cut human flesh like a razor.
I use a 500 gallon propane tank with my air compressor, but I purged it with 100 % nitrogen over night at about 6 cfm before welding a weldolet to the bottom for an auto matic drain valve. I also examined the inside of the tank with a fiberoptic scope before I selected it. It sits about 50 ft behind my shop building down on the farm just in case.
Makes sandblasting on the trucks a dream, dry constant air pressure. Hope to start blasting the M-37 this spring.
David B
1953 Dodge M-37
1965 Kaiser Jeep M-51A2
1967 Kaiser Jeep M-54A2
--- On Fri 11/11, MV < MV@dc9.tzo.com > wrote:
From: MV [mailto: MV@dc9.tzo.com]
To: mil-veh@mil-veh.org
Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 14:23:00 -0500
Subject: Re: [MV] repair compresser tank
In the US, pressure tanks used for low pressure compressed air are <br>rarely if ever tested on a regular basis. I am not sure why except that <br>the normal failure mode seems to be pinhole leaks due to corrosion which <br>will just make your pump run a lot more! High pressure welding type <br>cylinders have to be hydrostatically tested every 5 years or so <br>depending on the tank type and class.<br><br>Personally I get a lot more nervous walking around high pressure steam <br>systems than compressed air tanks.<br><br>I think that fear goes back to a stupid stunt I did to see just how hot <br>a small steam leak was - the guys in the plant were cooking hotdogs over <br>the leak (small valve cracked) and I decided to wave my hand over the <br>leak to see just how hot it could be. You only do that once. I gained <br>immediate respect for high pressure steam.<br><br>I live in a heavy Amish area and a lot of them use compressed air in <br>place of electricity. They have air
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Tue Jul 18 2006 - 21:31:54 PDT
powered fans, etc in their houses. <br> To minimize costs some of them use big propane tanks to hold <br>compressed air. Like 500+ gallon units. That way they can run their <br>gas powered compressors only once in a while, pump up the tank or tanks, <br> and still run the fans all day. Propane tanks don't have water drain <br>valves so I have no idea how they get the condensate out of the tanks. <br>I keep thinking that one day I am going to hear about a huge explosion <br>at an amish farm where a 500 or 1000+ gallon propane tank charged with <br>air has exploded and leveled the farm. It never happens and as far as I <br>can tell has never happened around here. I think they just rust <br>pinholes and the tank is scrapped. Knowing the amish pretty well I'm <br>sure that there are probably 50+ propane tanks within a couple miles of <br>my house charged up with 175 psi air.<br><br>Dave<br><br><br><br>noel shelley wrote:<br>> Hi Pete and the List ,<br>>
YOUR COMPRESSOR TANK IS A PRESSURE VESSEL<br>> read BOMB !!<br>> If the tank is so corroded that it has pin holes in it SCRAP IT .<br>> DO NOT TRY TO REPAIR IT !<br>> Compressor tanks should be regularly tested by a competent person and duly<br>> certificated .To satisfy ones self one could IF one has the knowledge and<br>> equipment carry out a hydraulic test BUT you will not have a certificate .<br>> IF the tank lets go , the failure to have a certificate leaves you wide<br>> open to allsorts of charges some CRIMINAL!!!!!!!<br>> THE FAILURE OF A PRESSURE VESSEL EVEN A SMALL ONE ,IS CATASTROPHIC , OFTEN<br>> RESULTING IN INJURY OR DEATH !<br>> <br>> PLEASE HEED THIS WARNING Noel<br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> ===Mil-Veh is a member-supported mailing list===<br>> To unsubscribe, send e-mail to <mil-veh-off@mil-veh.org><br>> To reach a human, contact <ackyle@gmail.com><br>> Visit the searchable archives at http://www.mil-veh.org/archives/
<br><br>===Mil-Veh is a member-supported mailing list===<br>To unsubscribe, send e-mail to <mil-veh-off@mil-veh.org><br>To reach a human, contact <ackyle@gmail.com><br>Visit the searchable archives at http://www.mil-veh.org/archives/
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