EFFECT OF HIGH TEMPERATURES ON GENERATORS.--As the temperature amongst
the carbide in any generator in which water is not present in large
excess may easily reach 200 deg. C. or upwards, no material ought to be
employed in the construction of such generators which is not competent to
withstand a considerable amount of heat in perfect safety. The ordinary
varieties of soft solder applied with the bitt in all kinds of light
metal-work usually melt, according to their composition, at about 180 deg.
C.; and therefore this method of making joints is only suitable for
objects that are never raised appreciably in temperature above the
boiling-point of water. No joint in an acetylene generator, the partial
or complete failure of which would radically affect the behaviour of the
apparatus, by permitting the charges of carbide and of water to come into
contact at an abnormal rate of speed, by allowing the acetylene to escape
directly through the crack into the atmosphere, or by enabling the water
to run out of the seal of any vessel containing gas so as to set up a
free communication between that vessel and the air, ought ever to be made
of soft solder--every joint of this character should be constructed
either by riveting, by bolting, or by doubly folding the metal sheets.
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