welding on air tanks (pressure vessels)

["Armand Eshleman" <aje1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 10:18:57 -0500
From: farna@xxxxxxx
Subject: Re: OT: 4.7 knowledge
To: mail@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Message-ID: <ADVANCES62k7V1vHGJZ00000118@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Hey Mark, have you ever considered draining the air tank and welding the
hole up?


snip

Whoa there, that may not be a good idea !!! Remember that tank is a pressure
vessel and as such a label (metal tag) is affixed to the tank certifying the
tank for safety. When a person welds on that tank it becomes an uncertified
tank unless the weld is done by a pressure vessel certified welder.
Personally I wouldn't mess with the old tank. Rust has a way of weakening
the metal all over. You would probably just chase the bad spot all over the
bottom of the tank. Especially if it is a horizontal tank. Believe it or not
folks these things do blow up and do spread shrapnel when they go. Be
careful if you chose to ignore the safe way to deal with this, at least
don't expose your family and friends to the danger. Only pressurize the
"patched tank" and use it when you are alone that way you're the only one
that suffers. I used to work as a certified pipe welder. I did not have a
"R" stamp for pressure vessels. I have had others ask me to "patch" their
tank for them and I refused and gave the same advice as here. If you aren't
certified to weld on a pressure vessel, DON'T. Imperfections in your weld
may result in a weak spot or stress raiser which could lead to an explosion.
I don't know about you but I like my body parts exactly as they are -
unmodified.

Be careful, it's difficult to drive an AMC without your legs, etc.

Armand


snip


On March 17, 2006 mail@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

>   Now back to the Ambassador, since I've got the Truck situation in hand.
I have all day to weld, as long as the hole in the tank of the compressor
stays small enough to allow me to use it. I'm going to run this afternoon
and look for a bulletin board paper to see if anyone has any blown up
compressors for sale, if not I will likely buy the 30 gallon tank Frank
pointed out to me. Anyone else know of tank sources? Google and dogpile
searches all point to complete compressors. When you try for compressor
tank.
>
> Thanks for allowing me this place to ramble!
> --
> Mark Price
> markprice242ATadelphia.net
> Morgantown, WV