LOX muffler....

[Jerry Gash]

Has anyone here tried these to reduce the noise from a venting tank?

http://www.alwitco.com/hp_male_sm.html

My wife just about pissed herself last night when mine vented at 2 am, so I gotta figure out a way to muffle it somehow. If nothing else I'll just make a muffler but thought these look like a pretty cheap way to go as well.

[Bro-crispy]

There is a lot of old info on the board, search for it . . . I'm in the same boat and read about 10 pages of posts last night . . interested to know if the car muffler would work though, interesting idea.

[Jerry Gash]

I read all of the posts about the DIY ones I believe. I just don't like the fact that that there would be a highly concentrated container of oxygen hanging off the tank. I guess this would essentially be the same thing but wouldn't be as big.

I emailed them and asked to see if they thought it would work on a liquid oxygen dewar so I will let you know what i hear back. They go for about $25+ shipping ebay.

BTW: these aren't car mufflers, they are just called ATOmufflers.

Here is another link to all of their products.

[Bro-crispy]

Gotcha- I only saw the link for a sec., and thought it said AUTO muffler. $25 is a steal.

I followed a link for another thread- http://www.specialtygasequipment.com/SGEcat.html - for an "official" LOX muffler and asked for a qoute for the 230 tank. They wrote me back this morning-

"The whisper valve will solve your problem. The cost of the 8636-O2-230 is $348.00. The optional wall mount kit 8636-O2-KIT is $172.00. Delivery is 1 day."


Pretty pricey . . . but I agree that the homemade mufflers sound a lil' sketchy (though I must admit I'm no chemist/physicist). If it was my own shop I'd do it in a second, but since I'm sharing w/ 3 non-glass folks, I don't want to freak them out or cause any trouble. Where did you find the ATOmuffler? What is it normally used for? Let me know what they say, I need to figure this out fast . . .

[Firekist]

ok.. i've sucessfully used a home made muffler using the thick steel wool.. the stuff that looks like ribbons of steel... inside of the clear hose you get at ace hardware.. the stuff that GTT oxygen lines used to be made of.. heh

you can also use the thick copper pads.. i have seen this successfully used as well. total cost is like 5 bucks.. works fine.

don't use the fine steel wool, or stuff that looks like pubic hair.. only the really thick stuff.

paint the outside of if, or run it into a coffee can with the brillo in it.. and make it look professional.. no more sketchy sketch. thick steel/copper won't do anything weird in oxygen.. that's what tanks are made of. steel.

hope you try this.. 172$ is redonkulous.

z--seth

[Bro-crispy]

172 is for the optional wall mount . . . $348 for the muffler . . .

[Jerry Gash]

Gotcha- I only saw the link for a sec., and thought it said AUTO muffler. $25 is a steal.

I followed a link for another thread- http://www.specialtygasequipment.com/SGEcat.html - for an "official" LOX muffler and asked for a qoute for the 230 tank. They wrote me back this morning-

"The whisper valve will solve your problem. The cost of the 8636-O2-230 is $348.00. The optional wall mount kit 8636-O2-KIT is $172.00. Delivery is 1 day."


Pretty pricey . . . but I agree that the homemade mufflers sound a lil' sketchy (though I must admit I'm no chemist/physicist). If it was my own shop I'd do it in a second, but since I'm sharing w/ 3 non-glass folks, I don't want to freak them out or cause any trouble. Where did you find the ATOmuffler? What is it normally used for? Let me know what they say, I need to figure this out fast . . .

OUCH! that's craziness.

[Chris Juedemann]

Rex solved this long ago for us.. demand 350 pressure dewars. You are the customer, raise hell about it.

Chris

[Jerry Gash]

Rex solved this long ago for us.. demand 350 pressure dewars. You are the customer, raise hell about it.

Chris

How does that solve the problem of venting noise? Sure it will vent less often but the tank is still going to vent. In fact a tank venting at 350 PSI could possibly even be louder.

[Firekist]

well, the 350 and 500 psi venting tanks are generally WAY better than the 230 tanks. they hold the pressure down way way better than most 230's.

however, yes, you can still get a bad one, or have some problems getting the pressure down, mainly right when you get it (the more full of liquid it is, the faster it can build pressure)

so.. yeah.. the good tanks aren't really a solution.
$348 is uber redonkulous.. i was just hoping i read the wall mount version was cheaper.. but no.. of course not. =(

__SETH narg

[Chris Juedemann]

The venting is nothing like the cheaps. Whatever you do, most steel wool is loaded with very flammable oil. Crack Brillo has to be safer than steel wool.

Chris

[Chris Juedemann]

I learned about the oil content of steel wool trying to make core vessels.. the Japanese stuff has almost none. It's really neat to light the Home Depot stuff on fire.

Chris

[Bro-crispy]

It's pretty disheartening to hear that the people's prescribed steel wool muffler is highly flammable. Yeah, I know, it's probably extremely unlikely that anything would happen, but . . . doesn't really seem like an apparatus that people should mess around with.

Why do you call it crack brillo, Chris? I looked that up and wiki is talking about smoking crack using steel wool . . . is that a common slang? I guess I need to get out more :o:

[Bro-crispy]

oops

[Bro-crispy]

The venting is nothing like the cheaps.
Chris

So with the higher pressure rating does it just vent less often, or is the sound actually less when it vents, too? That's aort of what it sounds like you're saying.

Also, why don't all tanks have a high pressure rating? Is a low pressure rating advantageous for certain applications? Or are they just cheaper tanks?

[Firekist]

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/stainless-steel-heavy-weight-scouring-pads-12-pk/stainless-steel-heavy-weight-scouring-pads-12-pk.jpg

this stuff, or the copper version is what works, and is what i tried to describe. go ahead and clean it when you get it.. whatever i bought were cleaned of any oil.

z--seth

[Dom]

Hey Jerry, why not just turn down the economizer? Ive been doing that with every single tank I get.

If it continues to vent, then the tank is bad. Send it back for a new one.

[Greymatter Glass]

I've only heard my 500 psi tank vent 2 or 3 times in 3 years. When it goes off it sounds like a big truck horn... but it pretty much never vents.

[Dom]

I can only imagine what 500 psi coming out of a 1/2 inch opening sounds like.

[Jerry Gash]

Hey Jerry, why not just turn down the economizer? Ive been doing that with every single tank I get.

If it continues to vent, then the tank is bad. Send it back for a new one.

Economizer is always closed, it's just when its 90-110+ in my garage that it really starts screaming. How often I work also makes a huge difference as well obviously. I just had another kid and am going to college full time so getting up in the shop has been challenging.

[Bro-crispy]

I asked around, I found 350 psi rating at two shops, no luck with 500 . . . It should be ok though. It definitely doesn't get to 110 in my studio! At least not yet. That sounds rough. I would think it would be cool in Iowa, this time of year at least.

[MPGB]

How loud is venting? I want to get lox but don't want to piss off my wife and possibly neighbors (anal deuschbags). Let's say it's in a garage with concrete walls how loud will it be standing on the other side of the wall?

[MPGB]

And roughly how long will it vent?

[Jerry Gash]

How loud is venting? I want to get lox but don't want to piss off my wife and possibly neighbors (anal deuschbags). Let's say it's in a garage with concrete walls how loud will it be standing on the other side of the wall?


It all depends. Sometimes my tank will just vent slowly and quietly, but when the temps come up it sounds like you just pulled the drain plug on a large air compressor which can last up to 20-30 seconds at times.