> I'm not especially keen on gas station air
> compressors, since most of the ones around here either
> don't have dryers in the air lines or never bother
> emptying the water out of them (you do _not_ want any
> moisture of any kind in your tire air). I have a
> generic air bottle that I fill at my tire dealer or
> the event site, which is generally dry and yields
> consistent pressures. I only see about 2 psi increase
> at autocrosses.
This leads into a question I've been meaning to ask for some time:
What do safety policies at autox events/race tracks say about high
pressure gas cylinders? Basically, I have an opportunity to use
small 2200 psig cylinders intended for portable medical oxygen use or
helium ballon filling, and some 0-45 psig regulators that are
intended for use with these cylinders for helium balloon filling. It
is simple to slap a hose and air chuck on them and fill them with dry
nitrogen. They have a DOT stamp on them (though I'm not sure exactly
what it means) and I'm sure the people that use them (for medical
reasons or for parties) carry them in their cars regularily. As part
of my job I have performed drop tests, etc. on this combo and am
pretty sure it is quite safe. The size I have access to at the
present (medical "E" size, if that means anything to you), would have
a capacity about 5 times that of my 5-gal portable air tank filled to
its max 125 psig.
Are there any current rules about this? How do people feel about
this? Have any related accidents set a precedent?
Brian Naumann
brn6604@geocities.com
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