Acetylene Bottle Life?

[Shwoody]

I wound up with an old oxygen and acetylene bottle a while ago. They haven't been used since the 80's or 90's. Thought it'd be nice to have a spare set so I went to swap them today and the first shop said I'd need to have them sent off for hydro-testing and I'd have to pay that fee up front. The second place didn't require the hydro fee up front and he said the oxygen bottle would likely pass so I left it with him. He said the acetylene would probably fail and might be confiscated due to the age and a little rust. The tank was manufactured in the early 70's. He told me those acetylene tanks are good for 15 years and then need to be re-certified and that is typically only done one time.
Is that accurate? I've never heard that before and have seen other old acetylene bottles still in use. Should I clean the rust off and try another shop or give up and turn it into a mini bbq or something?

 

[The Cobbler]

pretty sure I've been given B Acetylene tank refills that were 40 plus years old . I technically own the tanks but they just get exchanged and the supplier deals with certifications

 

[PCustoms]

15 year cert intervals sound correct.

I found a tank I need to take in and get swapped...hoping that I "own" it as it was part of a foreclosed property sale 8 years ago and the company hasn't been in the area for 20.

 

[Shwoody]

Yeah I've always heard 10 years for most gas bottles. I'm more concerned about it only being able to be re-certified once though. That would make a lot of bottles obsolete. Maybe he was mistaken? I once swapped out one of those old style acetylene bottles (with the shroud around the valve instead of the threaded cap) and didn't have a problem.

 

[speed bump]

I've seen acetylene bottles from the 50s. For a long time nazi remarked bottles (turned them into a diamond) were a big thing to hunt down.

Looking at my bottles my oxygens first stamp is 81 and my acetylene had its first stamp in 10.

I've always heard about places charging for a hydro test but the three gas places I deal with (general distributing, AWG, and Air gas) don't care, they swap bottles and go. Unless your distributor is short on bottles (apparently there is a pretty decent shortage going on) I am surprised they are being picky.

 

[Firebrick43]

I have seen really old bottles from the 50's as well with no issues. If worried about rust, sand it lightly, put a little ospho on the rusty areas and paint it.

My local place charges for hydro test if you haven't bought a certain amount of refills over that time, as they should. They are in business to make money not be a charity.

 

[Shwoody]

Speedbump, they usually don't give me any trouble either if the bottle is relatively recent. Guess it's just because these were so far out of date.

Firebrick, they probably still make plenty of money charging people $170 to refill an acetylene bottle. I don't mind paying the hydro test fee on old bottles like that, just didn't want to pay the fees up front and then be told that the bottle failed and they condemned it.

 

[Jason280]

I've seen tanks that have been recertified half a dozen times or more, quite a few that were pre-WWII. I can't remember how old my oldest is, but I think its over 50-60 years old. I've never had any issues getting one retested, they simply charge you the hydro fee and swap a new(er) tank.

 

[PCustoms]

I've seen acetylene bottles from the 50s. For a long time nazi remarked bottles (turned them into a diamond) were a big thing to hunt down.

I've heard this before, but never heard why there were so many marked bottles in distribution in the US.

 

[speed bump]

I've heard this before, but never heard why there were so many marked bottles in distribution in the US.

War booty, tanks pressure vessels aren't easy or cheap to manufacture. Not to mention removing a countries industrial capacity down to the little pieces makes it a lot harder for them to think about waging war in 25 years when they have a bunch of young able bodied men again.

 

[rlitman]

War booty, tanks pressure vessels aren't easy or cheap to manufacture. Not to mention removing a countries industrial capacity down to the little pieces makes it a lot harder for them to think about waging war in 25 years when they have a bunch of young able bodied men again.

LOL, no! Linde used a ******** on their cylinders before the war to identify their owned tanks. They were stamped into windows later on, but these were all made and used in the US. Cylinders made in Europe have metric connections and couldn't get filled in the US.