It’s not a safety issue but one of cost/convenience.
Recently I put together this setup using a splitter from the tank, two rubber hoses, and two torches that I had been using with the 1lb tanks.
This has worked well for me but one day I found both my torches will not work. Both had been working 100% with no problem the time before so I investigated why this happened.
I am not going to go through all the gory details but the long and short of it is if you use this setup, NEVER leave the torches plugged in with full propane pressure in the line EVEN if you turn off the valve at the tank.
What I found out is apparently propane at high pressure is a solvent for rubber and leaving a high propane pressure inside the hose for extended periods of time (we are talking weeks not hours please) can cause some of the rubber or whatever is in the hose to dissolve into the propane gas and when you turn it on the next time, this material will deposit at the nozzle and clog your torches.
If you unscrew the front of the torches, you will see that the gas comes out of a very fine nozzle, something of the order of 5-10 thousands of an inch, so they are very easy to clog. The good thing is they clog instantly and so you won’t find it changing over the course of an anneal.
I soak the tips of my torches in acetone overnight and was able to clear them. You can try using a fine wire to do this but good luck finding one that thin. However I have found later on that one of my dog whisker is actually more than fine enough to do this. Mine was a cast off by my dog and not one that I plugged…
and of course I found this out after I cleared it with acetone.
The proper way to use this setup is after you are done, turn off the gas at the cylinder and let the torches burn until all the gas is gone. Then turn them off for an added security.
Hope this helps anyone using this setup.
Recently I put together this setup using a splitter from the tank, two rubber hoses, and two torches that I had been using with the 1lb tanks.
This has worked well for me but one day I found both my torches will not work. Both had been working 100% with no problem the time before so I investigated why this happened.
I am not going to go through all the gory details but the long and short of it is if you use this setup, NEVER leave the torches plugged in with full propane pressure in the line EVEN if you turn off the valve at the tank.
What I found out is apparently propane at high pressure is a solvent for rubber and leaving a high propane pressure inside the hose for extended periods of time (we are talking weeks not hours please) can cause some of the rubber or whatever is in the hose to dissolve into the propane gas and when you turn it on the next time, this material will deposit at the nozzle and clog your torches.
If you unscrew the front of the torches, you will see that the gas comes out of a very fine nozzle, something of the order of 5-10 thousands of an inch, so they are very easy to clog. The good thing is they clog instantly and so you won’t find it changing over the course of an anneal.
I soak the tips of my torches in acetone overnight and was able to clear them. You can try using a fine wire to do this but good luck finding one that thin. However I have found later on that one of my dog whisker is actually more than fine enough to do this. Mine was a cast off by my dog and not one that I plugged…
and of course I found this out after I cleared it with acetone.The proper way to use this setup is after you are done, turn off the gas at the cylinder and let the torches burn until all the gas is gone. Then turn them off for an added security.
Hope this helps anyone using this setup.
The saying "No good deed goes unpunished" applies here. What is your problem? Did you get out of bed on the wrong side this morning?
