co2 bottle blow out!

[vair]

An interesting co2 story:

Dropped buy a gas supply filling business today to refill my 5lb. bottle of co2 and they had a good laugh at the size of it, said they would fill it for free it was so small.
Went to the back and saw why they laughed they were filling huge bottles, massive tanks that needed a crane to move in. So they hook mine up he asked the size I said five lbs. he said no it’s ten lbs. So we checked the bottle and he came up with eight and filled it to eight even thou I argued it was five. Left being a bit freaked that the bottle is going to blow up on the drive home.
Drove home installed in the bottle and went back to work.
About three hours later my girl friend phones freaking out saying my co2 tank is exploding all over. I ask, did it explode or is it leaking, she says exploding get home!
Drive the five minutes home panicking from what bad results could come from this. Arrive home and the bottle is empty, frozen like ice in its bracket.
So my assumption is the bottle was over filled, when it warmed up from lights and such the co2 expanded blowing out the pressure safety valve on the bottle empting it very quickly freaking out the household.
Yea the girl friend is still pissed! Luckily no other damage caused.
So watch those bottle pressures.

Dave

 

[wade1]

It probably was a 5lb bottle. My bottle is 15, but they commonly fill it to 20, which I have gotten in their faces about... although I think it does little good.

Stick to your guns (and make them replace the seal if thats what ruptured) and next time don't let them overfill! It dramatically reduces the effective age of the tank as well.

Wade

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, this happened to me as well, while I was driving home on an Interstate going 65MPH.

As wade said, make sure they don't make the mistake again. They should at least replace the valve and recharge the gas for free, hopefully without the extra 3 lbs.

 

[bdelaney]

You might want to find another gas supplier that knows what they are doing. Maybe try a place that fills fire extinguishers or bottles for carbonated beverages. They are used to filling small bottles, and they will know how much goes into it.

 

[UnderGrad]

I recommend going to a paintball supply store... the one over here wouldn't overfill it even though I offered to pay him extra!

-AM-

 

[WRASSER]

vair,


8O it sounds like the safety valve worked which is good for her and you, it could have gone every where. unless you took it off there is the tag on the tank. 10 lbs. is the total weight of the bottle, with everything on it. there is another section that will tell you how much to fill it up at. i don't remember if it was 5lbs. or less of CO2, but it should tell you. and YES take it to another refill co., because they should know better. THANK GOD nobody was hurt,there was a possibilty if the vavle did'nt work it could have been a missle, or CO2 could have gone everywhere, yes it was only 5lbs., but you never know.

good luck


wrasser 8)

 

[krusty_krab]

Watch out on the paintball supply stores- some of them fill thier bottles with Co2 and oil, to keep the markers(guns) lubricated. You dont want that in your tank.

Caveat- I read about that maybe 4 years ago, and I dont keep up with paintball eq trends, so that might be different now- but still keep an eye on it.

KK

 

[Anonymous]

The oil in CO2 issue comes up very often...