Thread: Making An Upright Air Commpressor From An Old LPG Gas Bottle.

I have been toying with the idea of making an upright air compressor.
I have a old air compressor that has a buggered capacitor that they threw out at work, and of course this hoarder took it home.
The trouble and strife keeps whinging about it sitting in the carport, don't know why it doesn't bother me.

Here is a video similar of what I was thinking about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL7gUrrF1uI

The plan is to take the motor and pump off and mount it on an upside down LPG cylinder then plumb it up like in the video.

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I salvage this from the chinese air compressor that replace the Aussie one, the the motor failed a couple of month after the warranty run out.

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I think I have every thing I need except the copper pipe and fittings.

Any thought on what to or avoid?

I have used at least 8 LPG bottles and the only issue is getting rid of the gas odour and that requires a lot of flushing with water and air. One thing I would do is mark the bottle so it can be easily identified as holding air and not LPG because in an emergency call out the fire brigade they may mistake the cylinder as still holding gas. I was involved in a similar incident when in the firies and I can say that when in the middle of a fire incident things happen that normally wouldn't. On the smell problem maybe something could be added to the water or air, just a thought.

To quote the edged blade specialist dude on Forged in Fire "Eeit weeill Steeink!"

The smell is a very sticky mercaptan oil and if there's a skerrik of rust inside the tanks you will never get it out.

I got rid of the smell instantaneously by turning one into a natural gas forge - no smell at all after the first cookout - but that is unlikely to work for you.

MMM! I was thinking of turning one into a BBQ maybe not.

I used to work on a natural gas pipeline where we injected odourant into the gas for transport. Yeah it stinks, its carcinogenic effects are unknown, its highly flammable, extremely explosive and potentially neurotoxic just to cap it off...
I wouldn't be using an old gas cylinder thats had odourant in it for anything, especially not anything that involves cooking food...

Just curious how your insurance company would view the use of an uncertified air compressor tank? Personally I wouldn't do it but I don't have anyone to hold my beer.

Pete

Gas bottles are a pressure vessel under Australian definitions

It took a while but I got rid of all the smell. I wonder id some vinegar poured in and then topped up with water might not work.

Cylinders please! Not bottles. Milk comes in bottles or at least it used to.

Here is what one of the gas companies say about mercaptan.

https://www.gdscorp.com/blog/natural...gas-additives/


There a literally thousands of the out of date cylinders used as "choofers" in the caravaning community as as barbecues and camp fire heating units.
They use them to get around the open fire bans.

Grahame

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Originally Posted by Chris Parks

It took a while but I got rid of all the smell. I wonder id some vinegar poured in and then topped up with water might not work.

Mercaptal is a sticky oil so the chances of it being dissolved into or by vinegar are small but it's worth a shot. Probably will need a lot of vinegar which then has to be removed before use or some may end up in al the lines and fittings.

I have a 9L BBQ gas cylinder that I converted to portable pressure vessel about 10 years ago. It was filled with water and dish washing detergent and left in the sun for a day 7 times and the repeatedly filled with air every time I went into the shed for about 3 months but the air coming out of it still faintly stank.

These days it mainly get used to blow clear the 3m long 20mm Black poly water drain waste line from the coffee machine to the sink water drain. I can no longer smell the mercaptan but SWMBO's bloodhound nose can and when I'm doing this she sometimes says "can you please not fart in the kitchen"

WE used LPG bottles for compressed air for years when we were racing with no residual smell problems.

Ethyl mercaptan is the stenching agent. Ethanethiol.

IIRC can be smelled by humans in the parts per million range. Ie, well below the LEL of explosive mixtures such as propane/air. in other words, smelling 'gas' does not mean you are at risk of blowing up. It is purely a warning.
Ethyl mercaptan is so effective it is used in as part of evacuation systems in underground mines - they pump it thru the ventilation system to give an evacuation 'odour'- a sensory GTFO warning...

Originally Posted by Commander_Keen

Ethyl mercaptan is the stenching agent. Ethanethiol.

IIRC can be smelled by humans in the parts per million range. Ie, well below the LEL of explosive mixtures such as propane/air. in other words, smelling 'gas' does not mean you are at risk of blowing up. It is purely a warning.
Ethyl mercaptan is so effective it is used in as part of evacuation systems in underground mines - they pump it thru the ventilation system to give an evacuation 'odour'- a sensory GTFO warning...

Stench gas is waaaaay old school.. we don’t carry canaries any more either…
Technology has progressed a bit.

Seem to recall Tomato juice being touted as an effective treatment for mercaptan.
Havent tried it though.