Respect Compressed Air

Another scary explosion
 

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Pressure uncontrolled is a dangerous enemy. Several years ago I was trying to remove a pin from a Komatsu loader. Oxy torch with large heating tip. Got it really heated up and was getting ready to try and bang it off. Heard a bang, the grease fitting on the end of the went off like a bullet, buried itself in a 3/4 inch sheet of plywood. Scared the you know what out of me. Captive pressure not respected can be a killer.
 
My dad once told me a similar story with water. He was a brand new apprentice pipefitter working on a Dow Chemical plant. They were bleeding water out of a system that had a 10" cap they had to remove to do their job. The guy he was working with walked away for a bit, and he saw the 0-25psi gauge drop to near zero and started unscrewing the cap. Next thing he knew, he was pinned to the wall on the opposite side of the room and couldn't breath, then the site foreman pulled him out of the stream of water. This was back in the days of "well, hope you learned your lesson" and work carried on.

Edit: Or another one of his stories along the lines of British Steel's: somebody in his highschool welding class dropped a compressed gas cylinder unloading it out of a truck, sheared the valve off and they watched it punch through a foundation wall of a house under construction in the field next door.
 
Experience is something you get right after you needed it......:big grin:
 
Had a Boss that would not send 2 men on a job when only 1 was needed. Had a small job come up on a Sunday night and did not want to call factory labor in for a 10 minute job,4 hour call in rate. He tripped a switch and a cylinder closed pinning Him in an akward position where He could not release it. Had to stay in that position for 8 hours till morning shift came in. Adjusted His attitude quickly, not hurt just embarrased.
 
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