Dave : Wow ! I never even gave a thought to welding ( oxy - acetylene )
WITHOUT the regulators ...... I guess you proved it could be done ......
with the resultant NEGATIVE results ! I did, however, have a somewhat
similar experience, back in the early 60s ...... I had to gas weld some item
for one of the four 55 / 56 / 57 Chevs I was running at that time, and, after
making sure the regulator screws on both tanks were backed out ( a VERY
WISE idea ! ), I slowly opened the valve on the oxygen cylinder, and .......
there was a DEAFENING roaring sound, and my oxygen hose blew
completely apart ...... which I noticed only after I had jumped backward
about six or seven feet ( never did figure out how I did that ....... must be
the adrenaline thing ). There was no fire or smoke, but my poor mother
came running out into the garage, yelling frantically, and was as much
or more scared as I was ...... I couldn't really hear her, and my ears were
ringing and my hearing very poor for about two days afterward ! After
we both calmed down, and she again voiced her outspoken opinion on
my hobby of altering and racing cars, I ventured over to the now empty
oxygen cylinder, shut the valve, and when I turned in the regulator screw,
there was no resistance at all ...... the ( rubber ? ) or fabric diaphragm in
the regulator had ruptured as it received the pressure from the cylinder,
and this created all the excitement . The only loss besides two days of
my hearing ( and maybe five years scared off of my life ! ) was the regulator
and about 25 feet of the double "siamese" oxy - acetylene hose ( the
"good stuff " ), and I had already gotten eight years service from this outfit
...... it had been my 20th birthday present ! I never had that regulator
rebuilt ..... got brand new ones, which have served me well, into this year .
The long term result is I remember that whole deal EVERY TIME
I start to turn that regulator screw in ........ for 37 years since !
Bruce ..... a few miles west of you
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