Pressure pot test underway

[firewhatfire]

I was given a pressure if I would dig it out of the weeds behind a barn. Figured it was worth the price so I crawled I the briars to retrieve it. Replaced the pressure gauge and added a nib to fill it. Bought a new seal(wrong size). Bought some mold max and poured one. Have it sitting after tighten everything to see how it holds pressure. What do y'all think? I put it next to a milk crate to show its size. I think it's a binks.

 

[Marko50]

Take a sand blaster to it and you'll find out for sure. There should be a manufactures information plate somewhere on it and it will give all the test data on it.

My pot looked just like this one when I got it. One sandblast later and it looked brand new. Great find!

 

[sbell111]

Buy the correct seal for it.

 

[rblakemore]

Be really careful!! Looks like it may be weakened from age and possible corrosion.

 

[BJohn]

Be careful, a huge amount of corrosion. especially around the ball valves. You might what to replace all the hardware and give a really good cleaning,

IMHO I would not be using it till that was done,

 

[BSea]

If it holds air, I'd replace the valves, and call it good. Maybe replace the seal if you think it needs it. But have a seal blow isn't catastrophic.

 

[Curly]

You should always fill the vessel to the top with water before doing a test on an unknown pot. If the pot does let go there is less air inside to expand, therefore reducing the explosive force.

 

[BSea]

You should always fill the vessel to the top with water before doing a test on an unknown pot. If the pot does let go there is less air inside to expand, therefore reducing the explosive force.

That's a good idea. In fact if you can submerge the whole thing then seal it before adding pressure, that would be ideal. There would be virtually no air in the pot when pressurized. That how they hydro scuba tanks, and if one bursts, there is no danger. And they pressure test them at 5/3 the rated pressure, or 5000 psi or more for most modern scuba tanks.

 

[firewhatfire]

well the test turned out to be terrible. I ended up replacing all the fittings on the lid. I cut the seal out and re-poured a new one and now it is finally holding pressure. I set it at 44 lbs and it stayed for 3 hours before I relieved it.

Thanks for all the great tips, the next one i will use most all of those listed.

I wasn't smart enough to on this one.