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Re: CO2 Setup advice -- How to get Gas--The M3 Aluminum tanks



Joe Kopanski said in part:

> The tank I bought from M3 is aluminum.  Weight empty is
> 14.5 lbs.
> Weight newly filled is 24.5 lbs (today!).  It is stamped:
> 
> DOT-3AL1800 B038816 CATALINA CLIFF DIV. 11 6 99 10# CO2
> TC-3ALM124


Unless I'm wearing the wrong decoder ring today:

The tank is tested according to DOT Spec for Industrial Gas
Tank, made of aluminum, up to 1800 psi service (probably
tested at about 3000 psi; it was tested per DOT
requirements on November 6, 1999 (Under DOT regs, a tank
may be filled only if it has been tested within the last 5
years.) The service pressure, measured in bars is stated as
M124.  That's stated in the part of the stamping that says
that the Tank meets Canadian (Transport Canada) spec
TC-3ALM124.

Catalina made the tank.  The tank also says that it is
intended for up to 10 pounds net weight of CO2, which is
confirmed by the tare and gross weights that Joe measures
for a filled tank.

I would have expected the tare weight ("TW14.5") to be
stamped on the tank, but you can't have everything.

Sounds like good tank for about $70, especially since it
holds 10 pounds of CO2 instead of the five pounds that a
steel tank of comparable tare weight would hold.  I would
expect an aluminum tank to fatigue sooner than a steel one
-- but I'm not sure about this.  Hardly matters, since we
gardeners deflate our tanks so slowly, it would probably be
years and years before enough inflates/deflates would cause
enough fatigue that a tank to fail a pressure test.

Scott H.

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