Nitrous gone wrong!!!
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Teching In
Joined: May 2006
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Launching!
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 295
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From: Modesto, Ca
Wooow that sucks!!! happened on the dyno then i guess? looks like the bottle must have been in the trunk near the drivers side... So how does this happen exactly? I didnt realize how important a blow down tube is until now! so did the pressure relief not blow off? or did it not have any type of pressure relief valve on it? i thought all bottles had some type of of pressure relief on them..but holy ****..someone would have gotten killed for sure if they were in there
A blowdown tube is a NHRA safety requirement when you store nitrous inside the vehicle. Obviously that requirement is in place for a good reason.
Essentially the tube routes through a pressure relief value that opens once bottle pressures reach an unsafe level. Pressures can increase easily -- it often involves a full bottle in a car sitting outside in the sun on a hot day. A blowdown tube would simply empty the nitrous from the bottle (and vent it OUTSIDE of the car) and it would help avoid the devastation seen in the pics above.
At the end of the day, a $90 part would've saved this person a major headache.
Essentially the tube routes through a pressure relief value that opens once bottle pressures reach an unsafe level. Pressures can increase easily -- it often involves a full bottle in a car sitting outside in the sun on a hot day. A blowdown tube would simply empty the nitrous from the bottle (and vent it OUTSIDE of the car) and it would help avoid the devastation seen in the pics above.
At the end of the day, a $90 part would've saved this person a major headache.
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Brett Foote yes, I had one go off 5ft away from me on a Co2 tank. My point was it wont damage anything. wouldnt even have known it blew till he tried to open the bottle and nothing was there.
I have the DynTune Steel Braided Blow down installed. Hopefully if anything goes wrong with my system, that blow down will save my butt. 
When I had my Camaro a few years back, my pressure relief valve blew while my car sat in the parking lot at work. All the nitrous was routed out of the car by my blow down tube. It was kinda funny because my coworkers that saw it happen came running inside yelling "your car is on fire!". It wasn't of course. Thay had mistaken the huge nitrous plume comming from the bottom of the car as smoke. I'm glad I spent the money on the extra saftey equipment otherwise my car would have looked like that poor TA.
Usually when aluminum bottles burst most of them split down the side.
http://www.scubaengineer.com/picture...cuba_tankx.jpg
The burst disk is maybe .005 thick, i am almost sure that would have blew before a 1/2 thick aluminum would have. Every bottle valve made has a burst disk. Most bottles that burst is when they are hydrotested.
Very interesting.
Not saying it couldnt of happened tho.
http://www.scubaengineer.com/picture...cuba_tankx.jpg
The burst disk is maybe .005 thick, i am almost sure that would have blew before a 1/2 thick aluminum would have. Every bottle valve made has a burst disk. Most bottles that burst is when they are hydrotested.
Very interesting.
Not saying it couldnt of happened tho.
Last edited by Brad@NANO Direct; Oct 16, 2008 at 08:01 AM.
Staging Lane
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 82
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From: Houston
The burst disc didn't work, or this would not have happened. Even with a blow down tube, if the burst disc doesn't let go this will happen. Maybe the disc had blown before and they rigged it with a thicker disc. Besides, if you look at the disc that comes with the bottle, they are not rated to blow until 3,000 PSI.
An aluminum bottle that has been dropped or heated with a torch one too many times might not hold 3k. Be gentle with your bottles and inspect them often.
An aluminum bottle that has been dropped or heated with a torch one too many times might not hold 3k. Be gentle with your bottles and inspect them often. 
TECH Regular
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 440
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From: Alpharetta, Ga
I don't understand how this can happen. I am not familiar with nitrous tanks, but I do scuba dive and would assume the same technology is present on pretty much any pressure vesel. Scuba tanks are rated at pressures FAR beyond their max fill level, leaving the pressure relief valve a good margin between venting off excess pressure and destruction. Can you purchase nitrous bottles without a relief valve? If so, that would be the most idiotic thing I have ever heard of in my life.
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For this to happen it most likely had some type of outside influence. (multiple burst disks, heating torches, etc)
Last edited by Ray@Nitrous Outlet; Oct 16, 2008 at 01:15 PM.
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Its always best to remove the bottle if you aren't using it......this is a very, very rare occurrence. With a properly used bottle there is a built in rupture disk to prevent this from happening. The blow down tube is not to prevent the bottle from rupturing, its there to vent the discharge out of the car.
