Co2 Cylinder Markings – Co2 Tank Markings [CryoFX]
Everything You Need to Know About Co2 Cylinder Markings & Co2 Tank Markings
What’s up guys! Welcome to the CryoFX Youtube Channel. In this video today, we’re talking about Co2 cylinder markings. In other words, Co2 tank markings. When you get these cylinders, you always wonder what the markings on top of them mean. Well, guess what? We’re going to decode those decryptic messages right here on this video. So that you walk away, and you know exactly what you’re looking at, and how to determine what you need to determine. So without further ado, let’s jump right in and get talking about these.
What I’m going to do is we’re going to bring the camera up close, and show you these, as I talk about them. You can’t see them from there. And spoiler alert, that tank is not what we’re going to be talking about today. That’s for my custom car that’s getting built, but that’s on a whole other video; a different channel possibly. Thus, that is a nitrous tank. We’re not going to talk about that here anyways. We’re talking about this tank, these tanks, and of course this big mama over here. This is the bulk tank, not a doer, and right in, five, four, three, two, boom. That’s right guys!
Two Co2 Cylinder Marking Lines
Jumping right in here on the close-up, what we have is as you see; there are two different lines of information on each tank. Generally, they’re going to fall into one of these two lines, and nice, and neat lines, but some tank manufacturers just don’t do that. So you might see markings all over the place like we’re showing you right now. However, we’re going to talk about these two lines as if they were nice, neat, and perfect.
TC Stamp
As you see the first line says TC, which means “Transport Canada.” This is a Canadian Stamp. This is the indication that that line at the top is for Canada or Canadian reference.
DOT Stamp
Underneath that, you have DOT which is the “Department of Transportation.” That’s a United States Regulatory Commission that regulates all transportation. If you haven’t heard of them, don’t get a fine by then, let me tell you that.
Moving forward, we’re going to kind of jump as we move forward between both of these. At the top and I’m going to reference some of these. They may not be the exact alphanumerical codes or numbers. But in general, we’re going to cover these so that you can reference them, and explain exactly what they are.
DOT-3AL Tank Stamp and Details
The next set after the TC, or the DOT, is going to be a 3 ALM next to TC, which means “Three Aluminum.” It’s just a manufacturer. It’s required by the regulatory commission. It means manufactured material; the same correlation for the United States Stamp would be 3AL.
However, some of these are going to have 3AL, 3000 3AL, and another set of numbers. Those numbers themselves are the working pressure of the tank at room temperature. So, it’s what the tank can handle safely, that’s basically what it means.
You also have your steel tanks. On the steel tanks, you might have something like ICC, which is a composite material. You might have something else that dictates and says that it’s steel. Again, this is going to be an alpha numeric number (typically with numbers and letters) – alphanumeric.
Working Pressure of Co2 Tank Stamp
You have your working pressure which we already discussed on the TC upper line. You’re going to have a number. Some of the numbers are going to say 207, or they’re going to say some other three-digit number. Canada rates their pressures in bars, not psi. Make a note of that. If it’s on the TC line, it’s going to be labeled in a three-digit number most likely. Unless it’s a nitrogen tank, or something else, that’s a whole different video.
However, those are going to be measured in bars in the United States. We don’t measure in bars; we measure because we got to be different right. We’re good! We measure in psi. That’s why on the aluminum, it says 3,000, some may say something like 2,265.
Some might say something else. There’re many different tanks. We’ll show you some pictures here and show you those. Regardless, that notes the pressure that it can handle at room temperature. Please make a note of that, not the pressure that the tank will output at, but the pressure the tape can handle, and it’s required by either DOT or TC.
Co2 Cylinder Number
You also have a serial number for the cylinder. When the manufacturer makes Co2 cylinder markings generally, they’re going to put a serial number on it. We have the manufacturer’s name and of course the manufacturer number. Luxfer is a manufacturer name.
Other companies will put their names on the cylinder if there’s a name that shows up. Catalina Cylinders may do the same thing. The name will show up and you’ll recognize the name as it’s all alpha. Yes, they’re all alpha characters as a name normally is.
When you’re looking for the manufactured number, it’s going to be an alphanumeric number. It should normally be “M with 4 to 5 digits. Those4 to 5 digits signify that that is a manufacturing number, and that is a number that is unique to the manufacturer.
Co2 Tanks Hydrotesting Tests And Periods
You also have a number, a number, a letter, and then two numbers again-alphanumeric. That’s going to be the first month, year, two-digit month, the two-digit year that the cylinder was hydrotested. Generally, that alpha code inside there is relevant to the person that’s doing the hydrotesting.
On one of these tanks, we have a 12a 87; this tank right here means that this tank was first hydrotested on month 12 of the year 1987. So, if this tank is being sold anytime within five year period of that first hydrotesting date, that is an okay tank and that can technically be refilled.
Now, these tank facilities that fill these tanks; look at all the different markings on the tank and we’re going to get into those in a minute. So stay tuned! I got a special case with this one right here. However, they look for the newest hydrotesting date video on hydrotesting later on this channel. Or somewhere else on this channel, not here, we go in-depth on that.
Hydrotesting and Tank Safety
The hydrotesting just certifies that, that tank is safe, that the tank can handle the pressure, and all that good stuff. Now, if a company sees a tank that is out of hydrotesting date, they will not fill your tank. You have to go get a hydrotested cost, which is determined based on different facilities. It can range anywhere from 30 to 100. I’ve seen it all over the place.
So, what is the special case? Not this tank, but with this tank, the special case is this; this tank as you can see here, we have a lot of different numbers on it. You have 4-57 4-52 1-18, which means that was month one of 2018, which could have meant a lot earlier. The reason why is, if you look farther here 4-25 4-4 5-31 5-36, that means this tank was hydrotested back in 1925.
That tank’s been around longer than I have. So it’s pretty unique. I believe that the first hydrotesting date on this was somewhere around 1925. Anyways, as you can see here all the different stamps, the steel tanks are normally going to have more, because they’ve been around steel or composite. They’ve been around a lot longer than these aluminum tanks.
Why You Shouldn’t Paint Your Co2 Tank
The aluminum tanks, any scratches, any dents, any cracks if you paint it, they might reject the tank, because you painted the tank and they can’t see stretch cracks or stress fractures or any discrepancies with the tank. So, those are just some things to look out for. You want to make sure it’s hydrotested. You want to make sure that it’s within five years of being hydrotested. So, if you see tanks online for sale and they’re super cheap, probably not hydro tested and that’s why they’re cheap. Be aware of that!
What is Co2 Cylinder S80?
The other markings that you may see on a tank, some of them may be like an S80, which is another alphanumeric code, and all that means is aluminum 80 cubic feet. Some of the tanks may have markings in the tanks that on this, are the tanks you wouldn’t see in the tank. They might have markings on the tanks that tell you what the cubic feet of the tank are or how much cubic feet of gas it can hold. Those are different markings that are on the tanks we kind of covered the general gist of them here.
Beverage Co2 Tanks vs. Regular Co2 Tanks
Some of the other markings – asides Co2 cylinder markings – that we didn’t cover yet, which you may see are the B20 or a B and another number. The B means “Beverage.” That the tank is certified for beverage use only with Co2 tanks. Some tanks are certified just for beverage use and it’s just the impurity of the gas that’s in it.
There’s some special handling that goes along with that, of course on another video. You may see that! B20 would signify a Beverage 20-pound tank. Another identifier you may see is a U18 or some other alphanumeric code like that. What that means is, that the output threading on the tank itself U18 is a specific output thread.
How To Tell If A Co2 Tank is Empty
Last but not the least, one of the other more important markings on a cylinder and our bonus tip for this video, when you’re searching for how to tell if a co2 tank is empty. Or how to know how much Co2 is in a Co2 cylinder. You can do that by yourself!
Tare Weight
The easiest way to do that is you find Co2 cylinder markings that you have. It will have a T with a number or a TW with a number. That is the Tare Weight of the cylinder when it is empty with the valve on it. All you need to do is find that letter T and then the number or a TW and the number after it.
Put the tank on a scale and whatever that weight is, is the total weight of the cylinder, Co2 cylinder, Co2 tank, on a scale. Then, you take that number, minus the Tare Weight of the tank, and that’s how much product you have left in the cylinder. As a note here, some of these may have KG after the number, which means that’s weight in kilograms.
Co2 Dewar/ Co2 Bulk Tank Markings/ Co2 Dewar Ports
Now that we’ve discussed the high-pressure Co2 cylinders or the high-pressure Co2 tanks; we’re going to also talk about the Dewar tanks. What you call a steward, but they’re Co2 bulk cylinders. You have a couple of different reference markings on the top.
Normally, they’re not going to be on the Co2 cylinder markings itself for the bulk tanks. They’re going to be on a plate. That plate’s going to be on the tank itself on one of these arms, and of course, you’re going to have some tags that are on the top of each port coming off.
You have your vent port, your liquid port, your gas port, and your pressure building system. The pressure building system is a valve that you turn open or closed that comes from out of the tank and back into the tank. All that does is allow the pressure to build itself on the tank, another video not on this one. So on this particular tank, we’re going to reference those different types of valves on top and the different markings.
We’ll have some pictures on the screen here that you can see now, and some other cylinders that are similar to this. You have the plate that shows the Tare Weight so that you can determine how much product is in this tank as well as when it’s filled. Likewise, the serial number, the manufacturer, and any other warning labels that come with it.
Markings on Co2 Cylinders Overview
The markings that are on these Co2 cylinders regardless if it’s the bulk tank or any of these other cylinders. High-pressure Co2 cylinder markings more importantly are going to have labels. They’re all going to have labels. These high-pressure cylinders may have a marking that says DS, D, S, or ST. All of those mean Siphon Tube, Dip Tube, things like that.
Adductor tube, AT, you may see something like that. That’s stamped on the neck itself, not necessarily on the bottle. The reason being is, that if that valve is replaced the valve is actually what has the siphon tube in it as you can see here, you may see some of those markings on here. Somebody may write it on there with a paint marker so that you can be notified of what that is.
All tanks are going to have a label on them, and that label is going to say what type of gas it is. If you remove that label, that’s a big problem. The reason is they can’t take your word of what gas was in it. They’re going to have to do some procedures to clean the tank out and make sure that the right gas is in it. If the places that you’re taking the tank to are following a very strict protocol, then that’s what they’re going to do.
Otherwise, they’ll just take your word for it and I don’t want to put words in anybody’s mouth. They’ll look at the valve and then they’ll just take your word for it. However, don’t rely on that just like you shouldn’t rely on taking a painted tank and getting it filled. You want to be safe, definitely not sorry.
Conclusion – Co2 Cylinder Markings
Alright, guys, that’s it for this video on Co2 cylinder markings and Co2 tank markings. I hope that you have a better understanding of exactly what these markings mean, what references they indicate, and of course more importantly the different types of tanks, and all that good stuff.
If you have any further questions, please leave a comment in the comments section. If I didn’t catch that, I’m glad you did. Leave a comment in the comment section below and do me a favor. If you like this video, hit that like button, subscribe button, and of course notification bell, so that you are notified every time we do a new video on this channel. Until next time, this is CryoFX!