They rarely ask but if they do tell them you keep live bait for fishing and need to oxygenate the bait wells. (It's a legitimate use for 02!!!)

New or used tanks it doesn't matter. As to the regulator, harbor freight carries high flow regulators that'll work with the welding rigs.

Joe

As far as tank explosions, oxygen won't explode. By itself, it's not explosive. It's an accelerant. So if you run 02 in an enclosed area for a long period of time, then light something combustible on fire, the oxygen will make the fire burn many times faster and hotter then it otherwise would. That's why oxygen/acetyline (sp?) torches burn so hot.

The biggest danger with 02 is with a smoker, who saturates his clothing with 02 while using it, then immediately lights up, or worse, lights up while they are still running the 02. The clothing ignites like a roman candle. As long as you keep in mind that oxygen accelerates any combustible, especially in an enclosed area, you'll be fine.

If your 02 tank has a major leak, you'll hear it. If it's just a pinhole leak that you can't hear, there won't be enough 02 released to make a noticeable difference in combustion.

That being said, 02 tanks are pressurized at close to 3000 pounds. So knocking a tank over and breaking off the valve could leave you with an uncontrolled rocket that will easily kill. My tanks get delivered in a cute little steel "six-pack" that prevents accidental drops and tip overs.

Chuck, a regal member of this board, rolled his car in a crash leaving one of our CH conventions! Chucky was fine, and the numerous, unsecured, full oxygen tanks also survived. So it apparently takes a LOT to break the valves off!

Hope that helps.

Joe

First, I would highly suggest purchasing the 02ptimask setup available right though this site (click the Store link to your left). It creates a perfect seal, gives you the option of using just a mouthpiece, and most importantly, has a large enough reservoir to effectively abort CH. The regulator is also important, as you would ideally have one that goes at least to 25 lpm. As for explosions, they are almost always blown out of proportion and are a much smaller risk than you might think. Keep the flames out of the same room as your oxygen and you should be fine.

oil mixed with oxygen can explode, but you will never find a regulator that has been lubricated with oil unless it is one someone is trying to kill you with.  Those in the O2 business are not about to kill off their customers.  On the other hand, be sure you never use WD40 or any other petroleum product on the fittings or the regulator.  I know of no good reason you should.   If you are storing gasoline or petroleum in your home I would not suggest you also put O2 tanks in there, but if you are storing gasoline in your home you have far bigger issues than O2.  In short, I would not worry about it.

Jerry

Read all of this, and all of the info in the two links in the first document. It will take only a couple of minutes and your confidence level on the subject will climb!

Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or

If you have questions - ASK away!

Marc

Thanks Marc and Calico..Good info on those links. I've been reading a lot the last few days. The welding shop was closed on the weekend so I had to wait till today to get the Tank. I got a 40 cu ft tank for $125 and a regulator at the same place for $55.  I have a cheap $5 rebreather mask from Ebay that I wouldn't recommend. I'll probably  get the optimask , I just wanted to make sure I like the oxygen enough first. I didn't get a valve to connect the rebreather hose to the regulator so I just held the hose to the regulator as I turned the pressure on the regulator up and tryed to inhale through the mask at the same time. This wasn't working good so disconnected the mask and hose , put the cylinder on  a chair next to me and inhaled right out of the regulator. This time it worked..I did this for about 5 minutes turning the pressure up on each inhale filling up my lungs completely and holding my breath for about 3-5 seconds. I didn't inhale any outside air in between.... I felt a slight pressure for a few minutes after  like a shadow, but  different,  and then the headache, the shadow, the head pressure,  everything faded completely. Crazy. So far so good. I feel like I made a good investment with this, but I don't know for sure yet. Every time in the past I thought I found something that works it end up losing its effectiveness. But I'm really optimistic with this O2.  Sorry for the essay I didn't even realize I typed that much..

Great to hear your initial trials are positive. I was in denial after the first few aborts, I just couldn't believe something this simple could take away a curse that had dominated so much of my life.

What Lance was saying about the red bull, my saint of a wife/supporter can hear a hose slapping an E-Tank at a hundred yards. When she hears the 02 fire off she's at my elbow in amatter of seconds with a Sugar Free Red Bull on the rocks. I drink that down between breaths of air. It speeds the abort time, and seems to push the re-attacks many hours down the road.

Joe

I've been using the Oxygen a lot and i'm happy with it. I only had two bad days since I bought everything ,  but i'm still learning when, how much, how long too hold it in etc..  It seems like when its gonna work it works pretty quick. and its been getting the shadows/pressure too which is what I was hoping for.  I finished a 40 cu ft tank in about a week but i'm sure I wasn't being that conservative with it. I Just exchanged the tank for about 18 bucks.

The only thing I need is the female DISS fitting to connect the regulator to the hose/mask. I couldn't find the right size at home depot.

Hey Wimsey thanks.. I definitely feel my confidence growing now.

I have a thread here on the "Medications and Treatments" page called "Alternative High Flow o2 Setup (With Video)" It tells you everything you need to know about setting up welding o2 and even has a welding tank chart and video. I used it when diving and used a diving regulator which works great. However you can use the opti-mask with this too you just need a hose barb fitting at the tank regulator which is so simple!! I just added a video showing how easy it is to set up a welders tank.....Best of luck....Johnny