growin up, we always had this thing in the back corner of the shop just wasting away.. a couple years ago i decided to pull it out and attemt to clean it up and possibly use it.. well i got it pulled out but never done anything else with it.. couple months ago i started trying to locate carbide for it but that stuff is few and far between.. what do you fellas think i oughtta do with it ? for anyone who doesnt know what it is, its called a carbide generator or acetylene generator..

WOW Old not sure on that one looks like an ol generator, or water pump

There is a collector's marked for those old machines.

The biggest problem I see with trying to use it is simply that the water/carbide waste mixture may have rusted out the tank. I would want the system pressure rested before trying to use it, even though it is a low pressure device.

Another concern with trying to use it is getting quantities of carbide! I am sure this is a small problem as carbide is still produced for helmet lamps, but the cost of using generator may outweigh buying bottles of gas.

There are some carbide flares that may be located with about 5# of carbide inside a metal canister. The flare was used by pulling the rings off the end, which opened small holes, and the whole canister was put in a bucket of water, the gas lit for light and signal.

Phil

I am not sure if I would try using it myself, sell it to a collector and use the money to buy modern equipment.
I do remember the carbide being sold in small cans when I was much younger it was sold at the mercantile store in the town where I grew up.

It's Calcium Carbide, not carbide and the things can be darned dangerous. Acetylene will degrade to carbon and hydrogen gas with only a little provocation, there's a reason there's a red zone at 15psi on an accet guage. Accetylene is stabilized in the tank by first mixing it with acetone, what it does I don't know and secondly by filling the tank with a porous media, used to be high air entrained concrete and now is a ceramic wool like stiff Kaowool to prevent it sloshing. Even at pressures below 15psia without a stabilizing element a sharp shock like banging on the tank or torch handle can cause it to spontaneously degrade with a LARGE energy release. The energy released is more than enough to cause the carbon and hydrogen gasses to ignite for a secondary explosion and fire.

Try your local welding gas supplier, they generate accetylene with calcium carbide and water as it's FAR safer to transport than the gas. You used to be able to buy it in any hardware store for your carbide lamps but I think batteries have taken that market and I don't think you can still get a carbide cannon.

Frosty The Lucky.

What you have there is a BIG BOMB! :unsure: Something that will put you on the 6 o'clock news or may be even national. Be careful with it, if you decide to try and use it.

We had one,not like that one, where I went to college at Ferris State University in Michigan. It made gas for our oxy- acetylene stations which there were 20. OSHA made the school take it out the first year I went there because of how dangerous it was.

What you have there is a BIG BOMB! :unsure: Something that will put you on the 6 o'clock news or may be even national. Be careful with it, if you decide to try and use it.

We had one,not like that one, where I went to college at Ferris State University in Michigan. It made gas for our oxy- acetylene stations which there were 20. OSHA made the school take it out the first year I went there because of how dangerous it was.

Harold: Have you seen the calcium carbide generator in the blacksmith shop in Scottsdale? Acetylene was piped all over the shop in the day. Scary big old thing out back, closed down decades ago by the city as I recall.

Frosty The Lucky.

Not all old tools are good tools, some technologies have been superceeded for a reason!

I think if it worked before...why not? crank it up , whats the worst that can happen ?, use some kind of safety precautions, like wear goggles or ear plugs...maybe an apron or something. Use one of those bar-b-Q lighters to check for gas ( bar-b-q lighters have that extra length in case something goes wrong ), Oh yeah, keep a bucket of water nearby...just in case...... and wear a hat,.....lol

I think if it worked before...why not? crank it up , whats the worst that can happen ?, use some kind of safety precautions, like wear goggles or ear plugs...maybe an apron or something. Use one of those bar-b-Q lighters to check for gas ( bar-b-q lighters have that extra length in case something goes wrong ), Oh yeah, keep a bucket of water nearby...just in case...... and wear a hat,.....lol

Are you making a joke Larry or do you just know nothing about acetylene? I'm hoping for bad joke, if not I'm glad we're not neighbors I don't like picking up the debris when someone checks the gas in the car with a BBQ lighter.

Frosty The Lucky.

Your right, calcium carbide is getting dang hard to get. Seems there are only two plants left in the US that make it, and one of them has been down (fire, who knew?). If you are wondering, that's why your acetylene is costing so much more. If Larry H saw the pics of the little Toyota making the rounds in the welding supply world he might think different about the stuff. Seems a goob left a tank in his Pathfinder over night, the next morning he gets in it and smells acetylene. Thinking is was a good idea to rool down the windows, (power of course) BOOM! There wasn't much left, but somehow he survived. Back to the generator, I haven't seen one that small in a long time. Not that I've seen that many any how. It belongs in a museum.

i hear alot of people say theyre dangerous. i cant deny that as a fact, but most of the old welders around here say its all in how you maintain them.. clean em often and keep a close eye on em .. considering carbide is 8 dollars a lb i probably wont be using it anytime soon.. depending on what theyre selling for i may let it go. itd give me a couple extra bucks and a little more room in the shop

You guys are making me lmao, Bad joke ? I thought it was pretty funny....especially the "wear a hat " part, and yes I do know a little something about acyt. If we have to start adding disclaimers to our posts things will deteriorate rather quickly. Remember
"tongue in cheek" ?

Larry, you forgot the most important bit " Have a mate with video-cam stand a good distance back filming the process" then in event of catastrophic failure "post on you tube" :D :D

@gator13 "it's all in how you maintain them" missed your first picture did you? :P :D

Want an all expences paid holliday off the coast of Cuba? Stick that thing in a bag and try to take it as baggage on your next flight :ph34r: :D

Clean it out, stuff a light bulb in the upper canister, and put it out by the road with your house number on it.



Give it a couple years and some crazy blacksmith will try to buy it and complain on the internet about your lack of respect for old equipment.

Lewis

Ian, of course! thats why telephoto lenses were invented ! ! ! ...I say throw caution to the wind and go for it, after all haven't we evolved in technology to the point where this is infantile knowledge ?. actually I saw an infant who knew a lot on that funniest video show......he wuz a smart un . neva seen a rugrat start a mowa wit a clothes pin,.....git it ?

Clean it out, stuff a light bulb in the upper canister, and put it out by the road with your house number on it.



Give it a couple years and some crazy blacksmith will try to buy it and complain on the internet about your lack of respect for old equipment.

Lewis

not a bad idea

i love all you other guys.. youre awesome

Clean it up and give it a designated spot in the shop for memorable purposes our give it to a museum of done kind.... I know Hobart Institute in Troy, Ohio has a mini museum with old welding equipment like that in a gallery upstairs

-Hillbilly