Propane Tanks - Brass

This is how I recover the brass valves from discarded propane tanks, ONLY USE A PLASMA for this task as an oxygen flame has too much unused gas left. The plasma uses compressed air making a cut like this safer.

When you cut the top ring off, cut away from the tank, those new safety valves will not permit evacuation of any propane when the hose is disconnected.

If there is any great amount of propane left inside the tank it gets put aside for use, elsewhere.

After hitting the valve with a hammer after a couple of turns you may hear some gas hissing, leave the tank aside until the gas has evacuated before removing the valve entirely.







Regards
Gustavus

Is it possible to remove the valve without removing the guards...i don't see myself putting a flame to a propane tank:}

TETANUSCOWBOY prune your mail box, it is full.

Yes you can remove the valve without removing the guard. When an old tank is re-certified they do a hydrostatic test the tank is filled with water after the valve is removed then taken up to one and half times its normal working pressure. They measure how much the tanks expands under pressure, if by chance the tank would burst during the test no harm comes from pressurized water escaping.

Regards
Gustavus

Why not evacuate gas with a hose attached to tank. I would rather work with no gas present.

I'm not advocating this procedure, if your not comfortable doing this job leave it for others or dispose of the tank at your local recycle depot. All the propane fill stations will accept them when the date has expired.

Working in an explosive atmosphere you use brass hammers, the valve in this case is brass so I'm comfortable using a metal hammer.

Regards
Gustavus

how about using a sawsall and cut the valve off just above where it goes into the tank, will that give you access to fill the tank with water for the rest of the destruction ?

olddude the sawsall works fine, you do not want to use water unless you can recycle it to another tank your working on, the stink in propane is a man made substance added to the gas as a detector to alert people of a leak, same with natural gas the stinky is added.

I've seen older tanks with an inch of this oily stinky stuff laying on the bottom, get it on your clothing or the ground it's there for months and you'll be tracking it into your house and truck which will stink so bad the dog won't even ride in the truck.

Regards
Gustavus

thank you for the reply gustavus I'm still new to this so I think I'm going to avoid the flame till I feel comfortable with it ... but leaving behind brass for somebody else to claim I don't see that happening =)+ very cool thanks again

Tetanus Cowboy

Tetanus Cowboy I have tried to reply to your question in a private message you sent me twice, your mailbox is full. Please do some maintenance, you will not receive new message from anyone until you make room by deleting old messages.

Take no offense here, it is a nuisance to take the time to reply only to have the message come up mailbox is full.

My reply to your tantalume question, it is not worth as much as you think, it is less than $50.00 a pound, there is a tantalum mine in Manitoba they ship the concentrates to a company in he U.S. for refining.

Tantalum is used in capacitors as an oxide or sheet, it finds uses in the lab made into crucibles and other vessels, industry uses it in foils, sheet, tubing and plate. It is easy to recognize by the gray surface oxide is none magnetic and it is highly resistant to acids.

I've only had in my possession a few pounds which came from some very large and heavy vacuum tubes used on the dew line up north in the early detection radar system not enough to bother trying to find a market for.

I realize this is off topic, but I did not want you to think I was avoiding your question, then I'm out the door making my trip to the scrap yard some 3 hours away and will not be home until late afternoon tomorrow.

Regards
Gustavus

The "stinky" stuff that's put in propane and natural gas is called mercaptain.

Isn't there zinc on the attachment on the tanks as well ?

Originally Posted by CMHN

I am reading this thread for the first time and got chills. The little bit of brass that is on these tanks isn't worth the explosion that can happen. Is $2.00 worth of brass worth your life?

Taking a torch, sawzaw, or a plasma cutter to a tank is very dangerous. The gas can leach into the metal and stay there which can lead to fire, explosion, or worse.

Leave this to the more experienced scrappers, or better yet, leave it to your local gas company who has the tools necessary to evacuate the gas, remove the valves and dispose of the old tanks properly.

My local scrap yard wont even take a propane tank, even if the valve and all the gas has been taken out.

Sorry if I am rubbing somebody the wrong way here, but I would hate to see some newb take a torch to a propane tank and blow themselves up.

Its not worth the risk, pressurized tanks are very dangerous, and flammable gas is extremely dangerous. Stay away.

My last load of non ferrous I sold had 400 lbs of yellow brass removed from propane tanks, In my original post I did say that this job should not be attempted using an OXYGEN TORCH.

Use only a PLASMA TORCH because this torch cuts with a very low oxygen content.

The scrap business is a dangerous trade, if your not willing to pay attention to what is being said your in the wrong business. We are constantly coming into contact with items we have no knowledge of their construction for instance those brake pods from trucks with air brakes can kill you if handled improperly.
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Airplanes have weird hydraulic fluids that remove paint and human skin, then there's accumulators charged with nitrogen. The list is endless.

I'm sure that Piston Ring could add a few things to this list,

I have one to add.

Against my better judgement I cut through the springs that hold open a chest freezer lid. (Instead of unbolting it like I had on a previous freezer) I knew it had tension on it, but I kept my legs to the side and the lid was partly open to relieve some tension. I was on the grass, it had rained recently so I figured when it rocketed out, it would hit the soft ground and be done.



No, that thing rocketed out, bounced off the ground and slammed into my shin. It hurt like a m*^&$%$%

Might not apply to many here. I merely was cutting the lid off so I could use the freezer as scrap bin.

Take it from someone who works with a torch day in and day out. I would never cut on a tank that contains any kinda explosive hazard at all. All tanks should be brought into the yard with a 1x1 foot hole into them. Propane, acetylene, gas containing tanks, full hydraulic tanks. I don't so much care about charged hydraulics lines or cylinders or accumulators charged with nitrogen or air. The key to cutting accumulators is placing something so heavy on top of them that they don't take off back at u when u cut into them. Sometimes they are so charged with air or nitrogen which neither is flammable that the whistle is so loud when you cut a a hole in it you have to take of running away from it till all the gas is out of it then just cut them in half and into the HMS pile they go. I also have cut huge cylinders charged with unleaded gas in them that came off a locomotive from the railroad. I got cute with it one day and made my cut into the bottom of it. I though I had already cut across the top and had the crane pick it up and drain it. Wrong a seven foot flame shot out of it burn the first layer of my skin off on my right arm. Just goes to show you no matter what you think you know about what you are cutting and what kinda gases there are in something you should always always check them or else you risk your life. No one in there right mind should be cutting on anything explosive. They have companies that specialize in the removal of hazardous material from combustible containers and they will pay you for the gases to and sell you back your scrap. By the way I also am not right in my mind lol.

Found this online and has some good information in it Guidance for the Identification and Control of Safety and Health Hazards in Metal Scrap Recycling

http://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSH...-recycling.pdfhttp://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSH...-recycling.pdf

Anyone who works in the metal scrap recycling industry—employers, employees, safety professionals,and industrial hygienists—should read this publication. This guide can help you identify andmanage the hazards associated with exposure to
various metals and processing chemicals and with related processes and equipment used in metal scrap recycling operations.