Anybody seen MythBusters
 

I just saw the episode of Mythbusters on TV where they wanted to explore
the "myth" that when the regulator valve breaks off the oxygen tank it becomes
a missile and can shoot through a wall.

Now, granted - they always do these experiments under "optimal" conditions.
They took the oxygen bottle, laid it on it's side (they did add a bit of grease
to the ground underneath to cut down on friction - wouldn't be a fun show if
something didn't explode :-)). Then they rigged up something that dropped
and broke off the top of the canister (esentially replicating what would
happen if your oxy tank took a slam dunk header off your wall and the worst
case scenario took place).

Well...the tank didn't just go through the wall. It went through the cinder
block wall, AND also put a sizeable dent in the wall BEHIND the block wall.

Jesus Christ on a Bicycle. Totally freaked me out.
I'm keeping my Oxy concentrator.

This is why we ( safety conscious people) adamantly state you should keep safety cap on tank when it is not "connected" and if safety cap is off tank (connected) you should chain it to a wall or strap it to a pole so it can't fall over and break valve off....

Dale

Mind you that Dale is right about the safety but look at this in another way. I use torches to cut metal and we haul these things around all day and sometimes your unlucky and the chain on the cart gets loose and a bottle might fall (not very often) and these things don't just explode etc even if the regulator is on it. Mind you if it is acetylene well you don't need a spark to light it cause at 15lbs in the air it is combustable. A lot of people are scared to death for no reason at all and I do think it prevents many people from progressing sometime because of this. Use everything wisely and safely and everything will be dandy

Safety first but it takes a lot to rip the valve off of a cylinder! It can happen but if it was so easy you'd hear about accidents every day. I'm not telling you to try and pry the thing off but it is very hard in normal use unless you really hit the valve hard.

I don't have cable, but happened to catch this episode when I was down visiting my brother. Boy did that open my eyes. :shock: I use an oxycon here at home for my torch, but working in the ED, we haul oxygen tanks around all the time. This made me much more aware of how I am handling tanks when moving them and moving patients. And yes, I think I'll keep my oxycon here at home!
Carol

Love the show!!! My boyfriend and I have watched every episode Us geeks have to stick to gether. That little tank just went through that block wall like butter! They did mention if it went at the wall at an angle (more probable) the damage would have been different. Good to know you must respect your oxy!!! I think you might be able to check out the clip on mythbusters.com I just love to see a good explosion!!!!

If at first it doesn't explode, they try, try, again until they MAKE it explode.

The whole myth that firing a gun in an airplane would create a big hole and everybody would get sucked out turned out to BE a myth. They had to do all kinds of stuff before they got a really good disaster out of that one. I forget what they ultimately had to do, but poor "Buster" the crash test dummy did end up hanging out the side of this gaping hole in the side of a jetliner.

I need to see the exploding lighters show. I know it was on recently, but I missed it.

My dad used to tell us a story when we were kids about how a O2 tank went through a cafeteria wall @ the hospital where he worked when he & my mom were first married--guess they were unloading a truck & it fell off jusssst right & hit the curb...& took the top off the tank...he said you never saw so many people scatter so fast....

(I :love: Mythbusters!)

The secondary school I went to was what we term a "technical" school - ie its geared towards trade skills so we had metal workshops - motor repairs etc etc.

An O2 tank got dropped off the delivery truck one day and careered down the walkway between the workshops - 2 minutes earlier there was 80-90 of us standing out there where this torpedo bounced through.

It DOES take a lot - but when it goes you do not want to be there - it was a very sobering lesson for all us teenage - gung ho - "will never happen to us" lads.