LAPD blast containment truck fails, seventeen people injured 6

[jrs87]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...illegal-fireworks-LA-goes-terribly-wrong.html

Someone did not read the manual.

 

[RedSnake]

Are there ISO standards for IED's?

I guess you could refer to ISO 25947-3:2017.
ISO 25947-3:2017
Fireworks — Categories 1, 2 and 3 — Part 3: Minimum labelling requirements

/A

“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.“
Albert Einstein

 

[byrdj]

Hope these guys are a little safer

https://www.wral.com/it-could-get-l...troyed-today-in-hillsborough-quarry/19812217/

 

[TugboatEng]

The difference in tone between the stories is remarkable. In California news, fireworks are "unstable" and "IED". In rural America, fireworks "deteriorate" and get "removed".

 

[dik]

I remember the gender reveal party and the 80 lbs of Tannerite (sp?) recently... can't ever have too much fun... as kids we had a crate of railway torpedoes... lots of fun...

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

 

[waross]

Some guys get all the luck. We never got railway torpedoes, just the occasional fusee flare.

Bill
--------------------
Ohm's law
Not just a good idea;
It's the LAW!

 

[spsalso]

For the railroad illiterate, a railroad "torpedo" is a device that is attached to a railtop. When a locomotive or rolling stock hit it, it explodes so as to make a loud noise. They can be used in multiple.

It is a warning device, not infrequently used to warn of a "difficulty" on the route ahead.


From "The Consolidated Code of Operating Rules" (1959):

"The explosion of two torpedoes is a signal to immediately reduce speed to twenty (20) miles per hour...keeping a close lookout for train or obstruction."


spsalso

 

[dik]

and three of them in a row... 'really warns', we found out... we also had a dozen or so fusees... and if you clamp a torpedo on a fusee... it just burns, we found that out too... we were clever kids and still have all our limbs. Only casualty was one kid lost his eyesight from rocket fuel...

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

 

[FacEngrPE]

This is a safer alternative
2 H[sub]2[/sub]O + CaC[sub]2[/sub] => H[sub]2[/sub]C[sub]2[/sub] + Ca(OH)2

H[sub]2[/sub]C[sub]2[/sub] + spark = BANG

 

[byrdj]

This is a safer alternative

Not all the Time !
Substituding FFG when one runs out of Bangsite worked OK in the cannon for a few bangs. Running out of fuse taught me a lesson for life.
"If first time, test the components seperatly"

Just seeing the ad gave me a cold chill, the beard hides all the specks embedded

 

[dik]

When I was a kid, I used to have a carbide lamp... old miner's lamp... and remember the toy carbide cannons from back then.

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

 

[waross]

The carbide cannons that I remember were in shops and were connected to acetylene torches.


Bill
--------------------
Ohm's law
Not just a good idea;
It's the LAW!

 

[dik]

Never had one, nor knew anyone that did... I recall the ads in some magazines... Popular Mechanics, maybe... don't recall...

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

 

[JStephen]

On the "Beyond the Press" youtube channel, he's done some acetylene explosions, and I seem to recall hearing there that mixing acetylene and oxygen and then igniting made just an unreasonably loud bang, a lot louder than would be expected from a little gas igniting, as in earsplitting deafening loudness.

 

[Demented]

Oh it makes a good boom. The deafness in my left ear is partially from acetylene explosions.
I learned the hard way a few years ago, always make sure no one in the shop has PTSD before you start having fun with solo cup cannons.

Precision guess work based on information provided by those of questionable knowledge

 

[spsalso]

You're my kind of people.

But perhaps at a safe distance.


spsalso

 

[RedSnake]

You guys and your toys, sigh...

/A

“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.“
Albert Einstein

 

[Compositepro]

A 1/4" NPT pipe about 2 ft long makes a good cannon or machine gun when you insert an oxy-acetylene torch (adjusted to a neutral flame) in one end. If you place a pilot light at the other end it will fire like a machine gun, with the rate of fire determined by the flow rate and length of pipe. If you use a push-button spark igniter instead of a pilot light it fires in semi-auto. It sounds just like a real gun. You can buy commercial versions that are used in movie production, for thousands dollars each.

 

[waross]

Carbide Acetylene Gas Generator.

The units that I remember were similar except that rather than the round chamber on top there was a quarter turn valve about 3 inches in diameter that controlled the water flow.
Gas pressure stopped the water flow. As the pressure dropped, the water flow resumed.

Consequently, acetylene, if initiated by intense heat or a shockwave, can decompose explosively if the absolute pressure of the gas exceeds about 200 kilopascals (29 psi). Most regulators and pressure gauges on equipment report gauge pressure, and the safe limit for acetylene therefore is 101 kPagage, or 15 psig.[

Eventually the water valve would start to leak and the pressure would build up until the generator became a bomb waiting for a trigger.

Bill
--------------------
Ohm's law
Not just a good idea;
It's the LAW!

 

[oldfieldguy]

Acetylene cannons used to be pretty common hereabouts as deterrents to birds during the rice harvest.

When I was in high school one showed up at the industrial arts (remember that?) class for some work. Naturally we had to test it. It made quite a racket - small howitzer level noise - and we 'tested' it multiple times.

In today's world, I cannot begin to imagine the impact of such a thing at a school. Back then? Just another day.

They weren't that effective at their intended use. After a few blasts, birds seem to differentiate between the acetylene cannon and a farmer with a shotgun, and go about their business accordingly.

Another interesting bird mitigation technique involved flying a light plane (J-3 Cubs worked well) over the fields to roust the birds. You could tell whose plane was used for this by the dents in the wing's leading edge.

old field guy

 

[itsmoked]

I had one of those BIG BANG cannons. I remember being impressed by the design in that you really couldn't screw it up. The enclosed volume and ignition mix couldn't be screwed with enough to exceed the structural limits unless, of course, you used 'other chemicals'. Lost mine in the hedge, found it a couple of decades later.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com