Please read if you own nitrous.....

[Chris06GT]

Just wanted to give some info about an accident.....I do not know many details as to whom it was, but know a bit about what happened...

SGMP, (South Georgia Motorsports Park) has a big race going on this weekend......

A racer was heating a bottle, THE PROPER WAY, with a remote bottle heater that racer's use....Don't know if the bottle exploded or the valve fail, but the facts are the heating unit failed, and the bottle exploded, and it did hurt the racer bad enough, that he passed away....

I just want you guys to know, whether it's with a correct heater, or another source (torch, which is completely fucking retarded)....it can happen at any moment....

Watch the pressure on those bottles guys......

Chris

 

[mikeysgt]

damn that sucks. ive always been a little nervous about the whole nitrous setup on my car. especially since i installed it myself never having done anything like this before. luckily it all worked out great so far. i haven't used it in over a year since my last track outing and dont even carry a bottle in my car at all and never have except for track days. im actually selling my nitrous kit to a buddy of mine here in town next week. no use for it anymore no that im getting a house. little by little i'll save for a motor build and turbo setup down the line.

 

[J.Cagle]

Nitrous would make me nervous. I dont really have any desire to instal it on my car

 

[US-1]

I'd be willing to be large amounts of money that the bottle had been heated with a torch quite a few times before this happened with the blanket. Only way to weaken a bottle is with direct heat. And I've NEVER seen a blow off valve fail.

 

[Airborne2000]

I just got in from the races at SGMP, I live like 10 min down the road, its the track i run at. I heard they was some rough stuff yesterday there, The only thing that happend while I was there was the Qatar pro mod car hit the wall pretty bad but he was ok.

Drag racing has its risks to everyone that passes down the track. the big boys just have to really pray hard and never ever cut corners.

 

[Chris06GT]

I'd be willing to be large amounts of money that the bottle had been heated with a torch quite a few times before this happened with the blanket. Only way to weaken a bottle is with direct heat. And I've NEVER seen a blow off valve fail.

I'm with you on that one.....

 

[matt texass]

WTF happened to the rupture disk? They arn't that thick. +1 on the torch.

 

[mac10chap]

I'd be willing to be large amounts of money that the bottle had been heated with a torch quite a few times before this happened with the blanket. Only way to weaken a bottle is with direct heat. And I've NEVER seen a blow off valve fail.

I too agree...I ran nitrous quite frequently for over a year on my car and only heated with the bottle heater. Anyone who would torch the bottle to quick heat is fucking with disaster.

 

[Marc s]

I'd be willing to be large amounts of money that the bottle had been heated with a torch quite a few times before this happened with the blanket. Only way to weaken a bottle is with direct heat. And I've NEVER seen a blow off valve fail.

I'm with you SD, in the 30+ years I have been racing, I have never seen a bottle failure. I still have the same bottle in my 55 Chevy that has been in the car since 1979. That bottle has been heated (with a blanket) and filled 1000's of times.

The only nitrous related death I ever witnessed was caused by some idiot at the drags around 1990. He hooked his nitrous bottle up to a air mask and turned the bottle on to get high. The next morning, he was laddered against me in the first round and never showed up. We went into his motorhome and he was a dead. That bye run was cool though.

 

[psfracer]

I to am a little confused---the rupture disc in the blow off valve should have burst way before the bottle exploded.

I remember about 3 years ago, something like this happened where a guy left the bottle heater on when he pulled into his garage. Later that night the bottle exploded, which completely destroyed the car and blew the garage door off the hinges, broke the windows, and really tore up the interior of the garage also.

In any case, I thought the rupture disc in the blow off valve was to prevent this from ever happening.

 

[JimC]

If someone is using a torch to heat the bottle it weakens the bottle itself. You can then have the bottle blow at a lot less pressure than the rupture disc. And I agree, it wouldn't surprise me to find out that the bottle at SGMP, and maybe the one you heard about were both heated with a torch at some point.

 

[bigwilly43729]

Was the bottle in the same compartment as he was?

 

[irishpwr46]

almost definitely heated the bottle woth a torch and it basically annealed the bottle. no point in having a 1000 psi rupture disk if the bottle is only capable of holding together to 900

 

[BlownAway05]

The next morning, he was laddered against me in the first round and never showed up. We went into his motorhome and he was a dead. That bye run was cool though.

, but still fucked up.

 

[Airborne2000]

heres the artical:

http://valdostadailytimes.com/local/x563634748/-Freak-accident-causes-death-at-race-track

 

[19COBRA93]

Sounds like possibly the valves weren't screwed on to the bottle tight enough. Really without more information, it's anybodys guess, but from the info given, it doesn't sound like the bottle itself exploded.

 

[kdesigns]

http://dragracingonline.com/agent1320/2010/1320-xii_4-42.html

 

[JimC]

Thanks Keith - that article fills in some of the holes and makes more sense.

 

[Chris06GT]

http://dragracingonline.com/agent1320/2010/1320-xii_4-42.html

Thanks for posting that Kieth!! I read that a bit ago!

 

[chopstix]

I remember about 3 years ago, something like this happened where a guy left the bottle heater on when he pulled into his garage. Later that night the bottle exploded, which completely destroyed the car and blew the garage door off the hinges, broke the windows, and really tore up the interior of the garage also.

this one....

the story is he installed 2 burst discs and disabled the safty transducer on the heater in an alleged attempt to murder his wife

these are the other 2 instances of a bottle exploding I know of is this one...

...this person bought a used nitrous kit, the previos owners vehicle was involved in a vehicle fire.

And another instance of a kit being purchased used, the bottle was 10 years out of certification and had been heated with a torch countless times.
When this bottle exploded the owner lost his leg.


This is why you should have the bottle re-certified every 2 years, and never use a torch to heat bottles

IIRC the burst pressure of a nitrous cylinder in good condition is 7000psi...the burst disc should release at 1800psi