[Milsurplus] loooooong-term tube storage ...

[Eric Jones]

de N4TGC Eric

Storing tubes in an inert medium is easier than it sounds - but I'll start with
a harder method, since that was proposed: a good air conditioning vacuum pump
can achieve 29+ACI- of Hg, and it can be made from nothing more than a surplus
refrigerator compressor. I used one for years til I could afford the real thing
... and a refrigeration shop will have both dry Nitrogen (used for pressure
testing systems, and excluding Oxygen while jointing tubing) and R-22 (the most
common +ACI-Freon+ACI-) to refill the evacuated vessel.  Aye, there's the rub: what DOES
one use as a vessel to withstand 15 lbs/sq+ACI-?+ACE-  Cut a refrigerant jug open and
weld a batch of tubes inside?+ACE-

I've stored grain by simply bleeding CO2 into the bottom of the barrel until a
lit match held on top goes out from lack of O2.  Being heavier than air and
readily available as a welding gas, CO2 was my 'drug of choice' til I found a
cheap Nitrogen cylinder w/ regulator at a pawn shop.  While wagging a bucketful
of tubes to a HVAC shop and paying them to fill it with N2 sounds crazy, or
likewise to a welding shop for CO2, it's a lot simpler than making a re-sealable
vessel that can be pumped down and re-charged ...  e