R
Robert LaLonde
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Boy do I feel stupid.
Some years back my dad brought a bunch of gas bottles over to my shop. Mostly owner bottles from his hardware store after he closed down. One was an extra large acetylene bottle I could have sworn he said was full at the time. Well he was over visiting yesterday, and he said it was empty this time around.
I decided to check. Pulled off the safety cover and cracked the valve.
I was just going to turn it right back off, but my dad put his hand in front of it just as it went POW! We both jumped, and the valve didn't get turned off. Flame was bouncing off the side off the corner of the shop and licking around the valve. I ran through my options in my head, and ran in the shop to grab one of my welding gloves and turned off the valve.
We were fortunate. My dad only got first degree flash burns. The flame didn't melt through the metal of the shop but if it had burned much longer it would have. The metal is warped. Made for an exciting Easter afternoon.
What pains me is I knew better, and the only reason I had not checked the bottle before is, because its a pain to go take the regulator off my current working bottle and walk it out there to check it the right way.
Some years back my dad brought a bunch of gas bottles over to my shop. Mostly owner bottles from his hardware store after he closed down. One was an extra large acetylene bottle I could have sworn he said was full at the time. Well he was over visiting yesterday, and he said it was empty this time around.
I decided to check. Pulled off the safety cover and cracked the valve.
I was just going to turn it right back off, but my dad put his hand in front of it just as it went POW! We both jumped, and the valve didn't get turned off. Flame was bouncing off the side off the corner of the shop and licking around the valve. I ran through my options in my head, and ran in the shop to grab one of my welding gloves and turned off the valve.
We were fortunate. My dad only got first degree flash burns. The flame didn't melt through the metal of the shop but if it had burned much longer it would have. The metal is warped. Made for an exciting Easter afternoon.
What pains me is I knew better, and the only reason I had not checked the bottle before is, because its a pain to go take the regulator off my current working bottle and walk it out there to check it the right way.