# EMT / Hospital Alum Oxy Tanks



## LX Kid (Mar 3, 2022)

I bought two aluminum EMT / Hospital / Home style tanks with one regulator and gage for $5.00.  The end of the regulator is missing flow adjustment knob.  I have a small home oxy/acet torch set that I use very little for hobby use.  When I run out of oxygen, in my torch set, is there a way to transfer the oxy to it?  One tank is full and the other is about 3/4 full.  Is there an adapter that I could use the aluminum tanks regulator with a oxy torch regulator?  Inquiring minds want to know!!!  LoL

Would I be "wrong" in thinking all I would have to do is make an adjusting knob and add an Oxy output pressure gage on the regulator?


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## Nutfarmer (Mar 3, 2022)

Unless you have a prescription for medical oxygen it my be hard to have refilled. Also medical oxygen is more expensive than shop oxygen


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## Winegrower (Mar 3, 2022)

True enough about costs.   Yet, it’s been studied and reported extensively that welding oxygen is exactly the same as pilot’s breathing oxygen, and it’s common to have some big welding bottles in your hangar and fill your portable bottles from that.    Because filling a bottle generates heat, you have to fill slowly so it’s important to monitor pressures during tge transfer…and if it’s hot, when it cools it won’t be as full as possible.


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## RJSakowski (Mar 3, 2022)

LX Kid said:


> I bought two aluminum EMT / Hospital / Home style tanks with one regulator and gage for $5.00.  The end of the regulator is missing flow adjustment knob.  I have a small home oxy/acet torch set that I use very little for hobby use.  When I run out of oxygen, in my torch set, is there a way to transfer the oxy to it?  One tank is full and the other is about 3/4 full.  Is there an adapter that I could use the aluminum tanks regulator with a oxy torch regulator?  Inquiring minds want to know!!!  LoL
> 
> Would I be "wrong" in thinking all I would have to do is make an adjusting knob and add an Oxy output pressure gage on the regulator?



I made an adapter  for a medical tank.  The tank was filled with a nitrogen mixture, pressurized to more than 2,000 psi.  I emptied the tank and painted it oxygen green.  The adapter was simply a copy of the regulator fitting with a standard oxygen fitting purchased from my gas supplier.  The photo shows the adapter below spare with a regulator above.  I filled it from my large tank.  It was best to fill it with a fresh tank as I then got a full charge in the small tank.


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## LX Kid (Mar 3, 2022)

Nutfarmer said:


> Unless you have a prescription for medical oxygen it my be hard to have refilled. Also medical oxygen is more expensive than shop oxygen


I don't have any intention of refilling the medical tanks and just want to use it till it's gone.  I would just pay for refilling my torch set oxy tank instead.


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## LX Kid (Mar 3, 2022)

RJSakowski said:


> I made an adapter  for a medical tank.  The tank was filled with a nitrogen mixture, pressurized to more than 2,000 psi.  I emptied the tank and painted it oxygen green.  The adapter was simply a copy of the regulator fitting with a standard oxygen fitting purchased from my gas supplier.  The photo shows the adapter below spare with a regulator above.  I filled it from my large tank.  It was best to fill it with a fresh tank as I then got a full charge in the small tank.
> View attachment 398998
> 
> View attachment 399001


That's an interesting idea!


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## LX Kid (Mar 3, 2022)

Here's what I have.  In the past 6 years I've only had to refill the acetylene once.  That shows how little I need to use the torch set.


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## vocatexas (Mar 3, 2022)

We all get complacent about all the pressurized vessels in our shops. An air compressor tank is a bomb, and it's only 120 to 180 psi. An oxygen tank is about 2200 psi. As a fire fighter I refill our breathing air tanks quite often. They too are pressurized to 2200 psi (some are 4500 psi). If you are transferring oxygen and have never done it before, do so VERY SLOWLY. As mentioned above, the tank will heat up. It should NEVER get too hot to touch. If it gets too hot, it can explode. Oxygen under pressure is much much more dangerous than atmospheric air. Be very careful; even your portable air tank can kill you. An exploding oxygen bottle is even more dangerous. In firefighting we use a cascade system and the bottle being refilled is contained in a blast cabinet, but we are still warned over and over that you can be killed if you aren't careful.


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## Bi11Hudson (Mar 3, 2022)

I have considered using a medical tank for use with propane in a torch. I don't need the heat of acetylene, the largest work I do is silver soldering or brazing middlin' sized items. I haven't gotten a 'round tuit' yet, I think medical O2 tanks have the same date coding as welding tanks. The cost of medical O2 is no real issue, I don't do that much work. O2 is dangerous. Above 21%(free air), you light a cigarette and your clothes flare up. Under pressure is not something I would want to fool with.

.


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## Nutfarmer (Mar 3, 2022)

The regulator you have will work with the torch . It is just calibrated in liters per minute. It's a flow regulator like on the argon bottle for a tig  torch. If I remember correctly it should be adjustable  from one liter per minute to about 15 liters per minute.


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## LX Kid (Mar 4, 2022)

Don't know why I'm even wasting time with these med tanks.  As I mentioned before I had refilled my torch set oxy about six years ago.  I did buy a new 3-in-one welder, MIG/TIG/Stick, as if I really needed it.  (Tool junky!)  Could the oxy be used with the TIG or does it have to be "oxy/argon" for it?  I'm not a welder, "obvious/y", but thought I would play around with learning a few basics to stick two pieces of metal together.  Ha


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## WobblyHand (Mar 4, 2022)

TIG = Tungsten Inert Gas.  Oxygen is NOT Inert.  Please read up on the process.   What you don't know can kill you.  No joke.  Noble gases like helium and argon are used with TIG.  Originally TIG was called Heliarc, since it used helium.  Improper use of oxygen can cause flash fires or explosion.  The inert gas shields the arc, protecting both the electrode and the work piece from oxidation.  Yes, protects from oxygen.


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## 7milesup (Mar 4, 2022)

As a point of reference, it should be noted that aviation oxygen is not the same as medical oxygen.  Medical oxygen has some moisture in it to help prevent nasal and throat tissue from drying out during extended use.  
To prevent freezing of the supply lines at altitude, aviation oxygen does not have any moisture  in it.


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## rwm (Mar 4, 2022)

If anyone tries to use Oxygen for TIG please make sure you get VIDEO!


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## LX Kid (Mar 4, 2022)

WobblyHand said:


> TIG = Tungsten Inert Gas.  Oxygen is NOT Inert.  Please read up on the process.   What you don't know can kill you.  No joke.  Noble gases like helium and argon are used with TIG.  Originally TIG was called Heliarc, since it used helium.  Improper use of oxygen can cause flash fires or explosion.  The inert gas shields the arc, protecting both the electrode and the work piece from oxidation.  Yes, protects from oxygen.


Good point!  Not gonna do that.


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## Bi11Hudson (Mar 5, 2022)

When O2 from a tank, high purity, comes in contact with petroleum products, the product usually explodes. When O2 comes in contact with *anything* flammable, there is usually a fire at least, some times an explosion. I once worked in a plant that had O2 feeding through a pair of sliding plates. The oil used for a seal was an* Oxygen safe oil* from an oxygen supplier. Regular machine oil was not allowed near the machine. Petroleum based oils are *never used on torch fitting* threads. They are always worked dry.

Oxygen is more dangerous than gun powder or gasoline. I use an O2 generator when I sleep. And I am a smoker. All in all, a bad combination. I never turn the machine on until my last smoke has been dead for a half hour. Even my dirty laundry is far from the machine. O2 is *not to be trifled with*. A leaking tank in the basement would be my biggest fear. The house would burn down before I could wake up. I keep my welding tanks and other such equipment in an outbuilding a hundred feet or better from the house. And 75 feet from the shop.

I wasn't going to respond here, but the OP seemed a little niave about gasses. I had to post this comment, for safety sake. It's the biggest reason I lack the "round tuit" for rigging my small torch.

.


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## LX Kid (Mar 5, 2022)

With all the advice I've received I'm starting to think maybe I should just release all the OXY from the tanks and make something from the metal or scrap it.  I have seen where these tanks are selling for $50-$60 on eBad.  Maybe someone will trade me an Oxy/Argon mixed tank for the two of them.


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## Firebrick43 (Mar 5, 2022)

Bi11Hudson said:


> Oxygen is more dangerous than gun powder or gasoline.


The first is defiantly not true, as its an oxidizer and combustible compound.  Some types of gun powder such as cordite and black powder are actually rated as low order high explosives by law and require special lockers if not bunkers depending on quantity for storage.  

The second is true in most conditions, but if atomized correctly, gasoline has more explosive power than Dynomite.  Luckily its not common /hard for it to get that finely atomized.


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## tq60 (Mar 5, 2022)

Visit local senior center, you may be able to trade tanks with some retired person who may need them and have something in their garage they no longer use.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk


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## Bi11Hudson (Mar 5, 2022)

Firebrick43 said:


> The first is defiantly not true, as its an oxidizer and combustible compound.  Some types of gun powder such as cordite and black powder are actually rated as low order high explosives by law and require special lockers if not bunkers depending on quantity for storage.
> 
> The second is true in most conditions, but if atomized correctly, gasoline has more explosive power than Dynomite.  Luckily its not common /hard for it to get that finely atomized.


The intent of my remarks was to illustrate that oxygen should not be handled lightly. Literally everyone knows, if no more than TV westerns, that gun powder is dangerous. And "gasoline on a fire" is a common colloquial expression. Free air is 21% oxygen. As a smoker, I am well aware that in free air, tobacco smolders. In an oxygen rich environment, tobacco will burn with a flame. The output of my O2 generator, 95%+, will cause tobacco to flare up when lit.

When I worked in the "Pipe Shop", a foundry, O2 was fed into the cupolas. During a reline when workers were inside the cupola, an oxygen valve was leaking. When a worker lit a smoke outside, their clothes flared up, and one worker was badly burned, class 3 burns. This inside a refractory lining that when in use had a high temperature, ~3000F, that melted iron. The only flammables during the reline were the men relining the cupola.

When employed by Leeds & Northrup, oxygen was used in the machines that made thermocouples. Part of the process was to bend glass tubes in an inverted "U" shape. O2 and natural gas. . .  A small flame, but if there was a leak there was a flare on the back side of the machine. Fortunately the operators were not in direct line of a leak, but it would frighten an entire section when it happened. Production went down the tubes for the rest of the day.

*Oxygen itself is not flammable. But*, it does support combustion. So much so that oil on an O2 fitting is literally an explosion hazard. Any combustable material that comes in contact with O2 and a source of ignition can go from smoldering to mild explosion. Cloth will "saturate" with oxygen and although no longer in an oxygen rich environment, will burn quickly when brought into contact with a source of ignition. re. The cupola reliners above.

I have had training for Oxy/Acet torches. Acetylene use has decreased radically since OSHA came along. Acetylene alone is an explosion hazard above a certain, very low, pressure. Just lighting a torch indicates how much O2 affects combustion. But acetylene is still necessary for the extremely high flame temperature. I don't use acetylene any more, mostly H2, propane, and natural gas. But these gasses still use oxygen for the high temperature flame. Don't trifle with O2, it is* as dangerous* as explosives.

*EDIT*: An afterthought| 1987, working in a mini-mill (steel), there was a major construction job going on. An outside laborer, not a mill hand, was connecting a jack hammer. Instead of air, he got on oxygen. When he pulled the trigger, the jack hammer struck twice, the second time it went through the roof. One of those once in a lifetime situations. . . A line down the side of the building had an old connector. He wasn't hurt badly, just a scratch on his hand as the hammer went aloft. But he will never forget. Nobody knows what happened to the jack hammer

.


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