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Old 31st Jul 2008, 13:09
  #806 (permalink)  
Blacksheep
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...powerful enough not just to hole the skin nearby...
Or in one case where the shut-off valve was jammed and a chap tried to release the oxygen pressure by loosening the valve stem with an adjustable spanner, the blast was powerful enough to break the chain vice, take off his arm, embed the cylinder cap in the workshop wall and in addition, the temperature generated by tearing the cylinder apart melted the inner surface of the cylinder and fused the threads in the cyclinder neck.

But the fact remains that gas bottles do not spontaneously burst; they do so when they are being interfered with in some way, during handling or charging. This cylinder was sitting in its stowage out of the way of any normal "interference".
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