Acetone in Acetylene Regulator, Hose & Torch

erikmannie

erikmannie

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Note: in order for this to make sense, we are reminded that an acetylene cylinder has acetone in it. When the pressure gets below 20-25 psi, the acetone will exit the cylinder, which is never a good thing.

Today I was O/A welding, & I failed to monitor the pressure of the acetylene cylinder. I will never make this mistake again! While I was welding, the pressure was getting down near to 0 psi.

What happened was my flame went out. I had never had this happen before, so I shut everything off immediately. I smelled what turned out to be acetone, so I disconnected the welding nozzle, torch, hose & regulator. All of them had very small amounts of acetone in them, but the regulator had a significant amount, (up to 5-10 mL of acetone). It was not a fun time pouring acetone out of an almost new $200 Victor Edge 2.0 regulator.

Has anybody ever had this happen to them? I did a big Google search, & I got varying results.

Now we have all learned that you should never buy a used regulator!

I left everything taken apart, & I am letting all of the acetone evaporate out of everything before I use it again. I have a T-rated hose, so I am not so worried about the hose.

I have another torch cart, so I’m using that now.

Like I said, I’m going to wait a very long time (at least a month) before I use any of the components that were exposed to the acetone in order to give the acetone every chance to evaporate out of every nook & cranny.
 
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Everybody should learn from my mistake & not operate an acetylene cylinder when the gauge is in the red. Any pressure reading under 25 psi & you are being unsafe.
 
I don't think you need to wait a full month, but a few days might be wise. As long as you don't smell acetone anymore you should be ok
 
One idea I have is to connect the regulator that was contaminated to a full acetylene cylinder in order to use acetylene (say, at 10 psi) to purge any acetone remaining in the regulator.

I would not connect the hose for the above, although I could use the same idea to purge the hose, torch & welding nozzle (one at a time, moving away from the regulator (i.e. hose first, then torch, & finally the welding nozzle)).

Another idea is to phone either ESAB (who owns Victor) or Baker’s Gas (where I bought all my O/A equipment). I am quite sure that ESAB would know how to handle this.

I learned in my Google search that this situation happens a lot to people using rosebuds.

Let’s all remember to keep an eye on the pressure in the acetylene cylinder! Red means stop!
 
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I called ESAB who put me on with Victor tech support. They said that without a doubt the regulator needs to be rebuilt because the acetone may have damaged the diaphragm(s) or seals. To put this regulator back into service could be a safety/explosion hazard.

The tech guy recommended that I ask my local welding supply to find somebody who will rebuild the regulator.
 
erikmannie said:
I called ESAB who put me on with Victor tech support. They said that without a doubt the regulator needs to be rebuilt because the acetone may have damaged the diaphragm(s) or seals. To put this regulator back into service could be a safety/explosion hazard.

The tech guy recommended that I ask my local welding supply to find somebody who will rebuild the regulator.
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Expensive lesson. Sad to hear that.

I think this can also come about from overdrawing from a tank by using a rosebud that is larger than the tank can handle. To run rosebuds I have heard of people using a manifold with multiple tanks, so that the individual flow rates of the tanks are not exceeded. Please check that out, if you are using a lot of acetylene. I believe the setting is 1/7. So if your rosebud uses x, your tank size needs to be rated a minimum of 7x the withdrawal rate, or acetone will be drawn into your regulator. If not, you need a bigger tank, or you have to manifold it with other tanks.
 
Pretty much what WobblyHand said, evidently acetone is used to stabilize the acetylene, so not only would their be an issue with the regulator, but the tank could also become unstable. Something I never knew about, I had an O2 and acetylene tank but gave them away when I moved, a bit too temperamental for me to hold onto. Acetone should be used in a well vented area and I use a charcoal respirator, when I am using it in the garage, I would be curious if it is vaporized when welding.
 

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I anticipate that a local regulator rebuild will be expensive because I live in the Bay Area (Sonoma County) where most things are very expensive.

Does anybody know of a competent source of regulator rebuilds? I would rather ship it out in order to not overpay for the job.

A lot of people would put the contaminated regulator back into service & hope for the best. It would probably be fine, but I would rather be safe than sorry.

Also, I deserve to pay a stupidity tax for not paying attention to the pressure in the cylinder.

A few days earlier, I ran an *oxygen* tank down to just about 0 psi, & that is fine to do.
 
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