Very old welding oxygen and gas bottles

[JasonF]

Hello all, I'm clearing my late Father in-law house and in his garage there's a welding gas cylinder and oxygen cylinder, they are massive very rusty and about 5 feet tall, don't know if they are empty, any advice please. There's no way I'm taking them to the tip, any companies you would recommend in the Birmingham area would be great.
Thanks Jason

 

[Mottie]

You normally find that those bottles are rental. Do you have a BOC depot near you? They’ll take them back.,

 

[Nozzle]

Is the "welding gas" cylinder maroon possibly with a white collar? If it is it's acetylene and the cylinder needs careful disposal. Defo take it to BoC (or whoever's name is embossed) perhaps your local welding supplies dealer might take it away. Protect it from heat exposure and don't let it fall over.

 

[Burnerman]

Typically BOC bottles are black (maybe with a white collar) for oxygen, and maroon for dissolved acetylene.
Crack the cylinders open with the square key if you have one.
BOC will take them back.
John

 

[JasonF]

These 2 bottles must be 50 years old and completely rusty, no paint on them and way to big and heavy to fit into my car. They both have 2 guages on them both on zero. If I new they where empty I would cut them up with an angle grinder. I've turned the T shape key at the top and nothing but there another valve which needs a square key

 

[Burnerman]

I'd be inclined to remove the gauges Jason - the gas company won't want them anyway.
Then, the square key can crack the bottles open.
Personally, I wouldn't cut into any gas bottle!
John

 

[JasonF]

Thanks John, to be honest I'm not to happy messing with them, because they can be so dangerous and my wife caught me messing with them today and went mad so I think we are going to try and find a company to collect them. I've also got a massive old cast iron air compressor 4 ft high 18 inches diameter and it weighs a ton, but I'm happy to deal with that with an angle grinder and hammer, got rid of the motor and pulley thing today with the scrap metal man and yes that was mega heavy, they don't make them like this anymore
Thanks all Jason

 

[jj4091]

BOC is a nationwide company. Give them a call

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

I would advise they still need handling with the utmost caution. I recall we were clearing an old Transport Yard some years ago, I'd got off the Excavator for my Lunch break and the Boss's Son jumped on. He caught an old (we think) CO2 Bottle that had been buried among some other rubbish, and damaged the valve.

The Bottle shot across the site like a rocket, before burying itself several feet into an earth bank. It was just sheer luck it went in that direction, avoiding a Colleague who was standing nearby and the Main Railway line that passed the site!

 

[Lower]

Old acetylene bottles are still dangerous, even when empty. The acetylene was dissolved in acetone so the acetone will still be in the bottle and old acetylene bottles can also contain asbestos as part of the matrix that the acetone was absorbed into. Whatever you do, don't try to cut it up!

 

[JasonF]

Thanks all, I'm not going to cut them up, just going to have to pay a company to take them away

 

[noseall]

Thanks all, I'm not going to cut them up, just going to have to pay a company to take them away

PHEW!