How do I get that red can?!

[klutzon]

Hi all,

I recently got Penumbra Overture, and I've been playing through it for the last few hours, thoroughly enjoying it, but now I've reached a point where I'm going in circles and it's starting to get on my nerves.

Spoiler below!

I'm past the spider section and have fallen into the storage room. I got the key, no problem, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to get past that steam which is blocking access to the red gas can! I see vents everywhere, but haven't yet seen a ventilation tool (like in the first Penumbra tech demo) to open them, and I haven't seen any gas valves. I'd assume that the whole purpose of the mechanical arm that you can move is to help you get up to the vent on the ledge in the mechanical arm room, but I can't get in.

I'm so embarrassed to ask for help with this, I'm usually a very good game player that's able to make it through almost every game without the need for a walk-through, and so far I've been fine, but I'm stuck now and I want to continue so badly, but I HATE walking in circles...

Help please!