Will cutting brass with steel cause a spark?

[brino]

I find them too useful to just recycle as well.

To empty them I:
1) put on a connector/regulator that I cut off an old barbecue grill that had rusted out
2) put it outside, open the valve and let it sit that way for a few weeks
3) unscrew the existing valve from the top of the cylinder. Some are easy, on others I have first closed the valve and then cut off the handle/valve guard to be able to turn the valve out more easily. That hardest part is holding the tank, I don't have a vise big enough, but a ratchet strap can help.
4) once the valve is out I still let it sit outside for a period, I'd rather be safe than a statistic.

Admittedly, the first one I let sit outside for a couple years without the valve, then filled with water and emptied before I could convince myself it was safe to cut into.
Even then it felt so wrong to make that first cut into it with the angle grinder!
They really hold that smell of propane for a long, long time.

Years ago I used one for a chain guard on the go-kart I made for my kids. 3/4 of an old 20lb propane tank was perfect, welded it to an old hinge.
I used another one with firebricks just stacked in it and a door cut into one end to heat steel with a homemade propane burner for pounding/bending.
I thought I had pictures of both the above, but spent a bunch of time looking and couldn't find them........

More lately I have made a "lifetime jack-o-lantern":

That one was done with a plasma torch.

Somewhere I have a few sketches for some planned little (almost individual) wood-burning fireplaces for use on the patio during cool events.
These would be 20lb propane tanks with a hinged door and chimney. I keep collecting old tanks, someday I will build those.

Brian

 

[pmsmechanic]

Another thing to keep in mind is that propane and natural gas are only explosive between 5% and 15% mixed with air. Above or below those levels it won't explode. (So I've been told.) You can smell Mercaptan at .0005%, so there is a wide safety margin there.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I see quite a few of these around:

Here's a more practical use:

 

[The Lazy Dog]

I have some old propane tanks I would like to get rid of but they have to be opened. I am thinking of cutting the valve off with my Sawzall, but really don't care to blow myself up.
Another option is to perforated them with my .308, but that may not go as planned either.

Thank you

A tale of caution. I’m a career firefighter/paramedic on the East Coast. A few months ago we responded to an explosion at a metal fabrication shop in town. Although it was not propane but an empty home heating oil tank that they cleaned beforehand. The fumes and heat ignited inside the tank and it exploded with some very devastating injuries. The patient who was cutting & obviously closest most likely will lose his arm below the elbow. The second patient was 8’ away and was also injured but not as permanent. Why take the chance?

Although shooting it from a distance seems safer.

Out here you can turn old propane tanks into scrap (metal recycling) yards and get some money in return.

 

[panamaguy]

I have some old propane tanks I would like to get rid of but they have to be opened. I am thinking of cutting the valve off with my Sawzall, but really don't care to blow myself up.
Another option is to perforated them with my .308, but that may not go as planned either.

Thank you

Fill it with water before you try any method

 

[rlmnky]

I have a 300 yard shooting range in my back yard and I’ve used the 308 method many times. Even with a full tank the only way you can get the propane to ignite is with an external flame (road flare). Even tracer ammo won’t ignite the gas until the tank is perforated and the escaping gas achieves the proper fuel/air mixture. I also taped 2lbs of tannerite to a half full 20lb tank this summer and put a 175 grain 7mm PRC round through it. The tank was perforated and the explosive launched it 20 ft in the air but no ignition. Just be certain that you use proper safety protocols when using firearms.

 

[rtrsam]

Many years ago, I was reading an industrial safety journal about some poor fellow who was using a drill press to drill holes into old oxygen cylinders to prove they were empty for disposal. He encountered a cylinder with a busted valve handle and no way to get it open. He went ahead and drilled a hole in it: it not being empty it exploded and killed him and blew out the wall of the shop.

As I was reading it I thought, should have taken it out and shot a hole in it (a viable solution for many problems), but then thought that’s not something anyone would ever recommend.

Nope. That’s exactly what this trade rag safety journal recommended: take it out and shoot a hole in it from a safe distance.

 

[Grandpa W]

I know that this way is real boring, but I just removed the valves on my old tanks by unscrewing them.

 

[sawtoothsam]

I witnessed a motorcycle repair once regarding a gas tank: it was filled with water to dissipate the fumes and then welded. Once complete, it was drained and dried.

 

[dcarman]

Sounds like fun, the 308 that is. I have converted a few in my day to air tanks, fuel tanks and yard art. propane will gasify if the temp is above -40F and the pressure is released. Open the valve and let off the pressure and unscrew the valve. Or knock it off with the big hammer. I have unscrewed the valve then fill it with water and cut holes with a hole saw and weld on new pieces to convert a 200 gallon one to a fuel transport tank. It worked great for many years. My son is still using it.
Remember propane is a colorless odorless heavier than air gas. The smell you associate with it is generated by the stink oil added to the gas so leaks are detectable with your nose. The stink oil coats the inside of the tank and will be there forever if you don't rinse it out with diesel fuel or some other solvent, or burn it out.