Torching bottles.....BAD IDEA.........Please step inside

[Tony Shepherd]

I just want to take a minute and preach about torching bottles. I do not want anyone especially my LTX family getting hurt or killed. If you are currently putting a propane torch to your bottles, PLEASE STOP!

I will admit over the years I have torched bottles here and there to get the bottle pressure up to par. Little did I know how stupid that was. I knew back then it was dangerous to hold the torch in one spot but I had no clue of the consequences of torching even with the method I was using. My method was to torch with constant motion never staying in one spot. Even then it can anneal the material and cause a weak spot in the bottle.

These are very important words by Mike Thermos....... "“You can anneal a bottle after a number of times by putting a torch on the bottle. At 350 degrees, that bottle will start to soften. I don’t know how many times it will take, but the bottle will actually explode on you.”

Guys the amount of energy in these bottles is enough to blow the roof off of your home. Most of you know the dangers of this bad bottle heating process but for you that don't please take my preaching serious. Use electric bottle heaters, or hot water boxes, or convert to a push system such as NANO.

If you have bottles that have been heated by a torch, please dispose of them and purchase new ones. It is not worth the risk.

Be safe!

Tony Shepherd

[Phstratton]

I agree with this. 100%

[BLK95-Z]

Good advice. I read a story last year about a guy getting hurt pretty bad when a bottle exploded under his workbench.

here it is http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/nitrous-oxide/1241954-help-blake-walk-again-2010-a.html

[Tony Shepherd]

[QUOTE=BLK95-Z;192264]Good advice. I read a story last year about a guy getting hurt pretty bad when a bottle exploded under his workbench.

here it is http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/nitrous-oxide/1241954-help-blake-walk-again-2010-a.html[/QUOTE


Blake is a local guy. Hated to see it happen to him. His situation really turned on a light for alot of nitrous users.

["NO SHOW"]

Couldn't agree more Tony, as a huge fan of N20 and Nitrous Outlet! Nitrous can be as safe or dangerous as the user.

[BlueBottleZ]

Heres a few pics!6603660266016600

[joelster]

Heres a few pics!6603660266016600

The back story on this particular car goes something like this:

The bottle that was in this car had previously been in a truck that caught on fire. The bottle was compromised because of that. Similar to using a torch on it, the bottle was weakened. The bottle was filled and simply sitting in the hatch area out in the sun. Noone was in the car. The interior was hot enough to get the pressure pretty damn high and BOOM!

[TSAEB]

with tony statements and the pics i think i wont even stand next to a person who is doing this .....shoot since my bottles are used...it makes me think should i just by a new bottles. .

[DMBlack]

Is there anyway to tell if one has been heated that way by looking at it? Mine has no "burn" marks or anything and just was re-certified when I had it filled last. I personally have never even seen it done in person but I will definitely stand clear now.

[TSAEB]

from what i read not at all....thats why they say to get it certified or just buy a new one.

[joelster]

Another thing to remember is this guys. Most of us have 4th gens in here. If you fill your bottle up it's at 1000psi or a little more. If you leave it in the hatch area out in the sun, it will go wayyyyyyyyyyy up. There was a post a guy made on ls1tech, where he said his would go up to around 1500psi after being out in the sun all day. Not sure on this claim but it does make sense. Our cars are big greenhouses out back. I wouldn't want to spike a bottle to 1500psi if it had been heated with a torch, ever.

[96LT1355Z28]

A man I'm proud to have known lost his life last year due to a nitrous bottle exploding when he picked it up at an ADRL race. His son in law was the driver and he was a crew member and part owner of the team, he picked up the bottle from the warmer inside the trailer and it exploded. This was a "profosinal" race setup where strict safety rules are in place and accidencts can still happen. Please remember the valve isn't a handle!

http://valdostadailytimes.com/homepage/x563634748/-Freak-accident-causes-death-at-race-track

[zooguy]

Heres a few pics!6603660266016600



hey ummm....... you left you gas cap door open there


but this is enough to make me stay away from spray

[AChotrod]

Never torched a bottle but see plenty of guys doing it. I always thought they were crazy including T-Shep. You getting new bottles Tony??? :shiner: JK But thanks for the reminder!

[turtle]

great k ow im scared to use the used bottle that i have oh yeah i looked and couldnt find the cert date on my zex bottle this sucks

[Underworld Defender]

Heres a few pics!6603660266016600


wow thats some nasty carnage.

[black heartbeat]

I gotta be honest i'm a complete novice to nitrous, my motor was built to handle nitrous and i was thinking about eventually putting a kit in myself. Really good information thanks man

[CamaroRacing12]

ive been around some knowledgable guys who've done this and known its actually illegal, the same night anothe rone of their bottles blew the valve off luckily far away from us on the trailer.

[Tony Shepherd]

Never torched a bottle but see plenty of guys doing it. I always thought they were crazy including T-Shep. You getting new bottles Tony??? :shiner: JK But thanks for the reminder!

I am getting new bottles.

[AChotrod]

Cool cool now I can park next to you for a photoshoot and not worry........:claps:

[Tony Shepherd]

Cool cool now I can park next to you for a photoshoot and not worry........:claps:

:D

[Robsquikz28]

yep definitely scary shit

[jakesz28]

Good post Tony. Just to feed a little extra thought into this, if you don't mind.
Another thing is never over fill a bottle. Yes you can get 11 or maybe even 12 pounds of nitrous in that 10 pound bottle but the problem of the sun and heat can make the pressure in the bottle climb. If your lucky it might just pop the burst disk if it was installed correctly. But a few bottles have made it out into the public with 2 burst disk stacked together. Some places always check this in every bottle they sell for safety reasons. Others are just pushed thru as fast as they are sold.

[Gumby]

A man I'm proud to have known lost his life last year due to a nitrous bottle exploding when he picked it up at an ADRL race. His son in law was the driver and he was a crew member and part owner of the team, he picked up the bottle from the warmer inside the trailer and it exploded. This was a "profosinal" race setup where strict safety rules are in place and accidencts can still happen. Please remember the valve isn't a handle!

http://valdostadailytimes.com/homepage/x563634748/-Freak-accident-causes-death-at-race-track

That would be this incident?

http://dragracingonline.com/agent1320/2010/1320-xii_4-42.html

Exploding nitrous bottle not cause of fatality at ADRL eventThere has been considerable speculation regarding the tragic fatality at the just completed ADRL National Event at South Georgia Motorsports Park this past weekend. Contrary to what is being written DRO has managed to piece together a least some accurate information. First no bottle exploded and their was no heating of the bottles with a torch. What is known was that the bottles were in a standard heating device- all of the bottles involved have been recovered in one piece. the victim had removed them from the unit and was transporting the bottles to the race car. While carrying the bottles he dropped one and damaged it resulting in the Nitrous venting off. In an attempt to recover the first bottle he dropped the second and somehow broke the valve off of the bottle creating a rocket projectile which hit and fatally wounded the crewman. Our deepest sympathies to all involved

[ZOHAN]

same goes for bottles that have been powdercoated by someone other than the bottle maker. i had one done and then learned that it shouldnt be done by the guy that fills my bottles with co2. they did the test and it came out fine, but he said once it has been heated to a certain temp it weakens the integrity. so just another thing to think about, not only torching bottles, but buying a powdercoated bottle or having it done.

[bowtienut]

Having about 25 years experience in the aerospace industry, with a lot of exposure to metals failure analyis and designing for fatigue life, I'd take the warning of this thread one step further:
If you suspect a bottle has ever been heated with a torch, empty it and destroy it. A one-time pressure test in attempt to recertify it is not sufficient in my mind. As pressure goes up and down in the bottle, those microcracks mentioned in this thread from previous torch heating can progress with each pressure cycle.
Does anybody here know how high of static pressure they test the bottle to for recertification? If it's only 2000 psi or so, from what I know so far, that's not enough of a test.