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I know that a lot of us here own cutting torches.I also know that we can get real lax when it comes to handleing them.Besides the obvious danger of compressed gasses in a steel cylander,ther are other things to consider.
Oxygen vigorously excellerates combustion;
Let me relate to you an incident that happened to me as a teenager.My dad had me cutting scrap to haul in one summer.I had cut #1 heavy iron from a pile for about 3 days. Since we a large pile of junk to remove the torches were left at the pile with the regulators attatched. The forth day is was a little misty out and my oxygen cylander needed changed.No big deal, I got a full bottle and screwed on the regulator.My dad had owned the set of industrial regulators for years and I was good at using a torch.Not much thought was given to what I was doing(had changed tanks a thousand times).When I opened the valve on the bottle,the regulator exploded. It launched me, about 120 pounds soaking wet at the time, over a pickup truck.Burned my right forearm and the landing gave me a few lumps.After picking myself up off the ground I could see the regulator was self distructing before my eyes. I had the ability to shut the tank off,but before I got it turned off the tank had already been impinged by the the flame,approximately !/2 ".
It was later determined that the diafram in the regulator had failed,combined with the dampness.A real tragity was averted,but only by dumb luck. To this day I get edgy around torches during wet weather.I still have that regulator somewhere over on the homestead,going to have to look for it.
Oxygen vigorously excellerates combustion;
Let me relate to you an incident that happened to me as a teenager.My dad had me cutting scrap to haul in one summer.I had cut #1 heavy iron from a pile for about 3 days. Since we a large pile of junk to remove the torches were left at the pile with the regulators attatched. The forth day is was a little misty out and my oxygen cylander needed changed.No big deal, I got a full bottle and screwed on the regulator.My dad had owned the set of industrial regulators for years and I was good at using a torch.Not much thought was given to what I was doing(had changed tanks a thousand times).When I opened the valve on the bottle,the regulator exploded. It launched me, about 120 pounds soaking wet at the time, over a pickup truck.Burned my right forearm and the landing gave me a few lumps.After picking myself up off the ground I could see the regulator was self distructing before my eyes. I had the ability to shut the tank off,but before I got it turned off the tank had already been impinged by the the flame,approximately !/2 ".
It was later determined that the diafram in the regulator had failed,combined with the dampness.A real tragity was averted,but only by dumb luck. To this day I get edgy around torches during wet weather.I still have that regulator somewhere over on the homestead,going to have to look for it.