I work for a steel fab company that manufactures ASME code-stamped pressure
tanks, and I spend a
good part of my time doing pneumatic and hydrostatic pressure testing. Believe
me, don't fool
around with unknown, jury-rigged pressure tanks. All ASME tanks are tested at
1-1/2 times their
code-stamped working pressures. I have seen first-hand some exciting ruptures
and there are
industry stories that would scare you to death. One of our customers in the
offshore oil drilling
industry was pressure testing to destruction, a pipe with caps welded on the
ends. They had
installed what they considered sufficient safety precautions. The pipe finally
let go at 30,000 psi
(!!), blowing one end-cap off. The cap went through a 6" concrete wall, a 3
foot thick dirt
barrier, and then through one of the employees cars. Hydrostatic pressure is a
lot safer (though
not fool-proof) due to the fact that water, unlike air, cannot be compressed.
A failure results in
an instant drop of pressure, but catastrophic ruptures can still happen.
Bottom line is, don't build your own pressure tanks out of water heaters, oil
drums, etc. Unless of
course you need your 15 minutes of fame and probably a column in the local
newspaper.
Wally / Templeton MA
53 3100 rod project
72 Chevy Malibu
> I would be suspicious of the same risk. Normal city water pressures are
> around 60# & compressed air for shops usually runs around 125# (give or take
> 10-15#). So it is about double. I also have no real world experience with
> this, just speculating.
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