oxy/propane/acy

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Hey Tom , looks like you're well on your way to a new way to spend money . Have fun !

I went a full on propane torch route. Then dumped it all and came back to acet. Propane takes longer to heat. Behaves very differently than acet. Same regulator, different hoses for propane. Propane hoses will handle both, but acet hoses won't handle propane. Not much cost difference if any. Everyone swears by what they have. For me, it's acet over propane, and that comes from using both.

Steve

I've seen here that acetylene regulators can be used with propane and that may be the case but having spoken to a couple of people in the UK the advice was don't do it mainly from a liability point of view. One guy was in technical at a company that makes/supplies welding kit and regulators and reading between the lines of what he said it would be OK but as a maker having to deal with product liability they can't say that. The other guy makes and supplies a number of welding related items and just said if you have a problem and are found to be using an acetylene regulator for propane you're likely not insured, unfortunately the times we live in, good thing propane regulators are cheap.

Thanks Snag! guess you got my email about the cnc plasma table, I hope I can figure out how to set it up!

thanks, the biggest thought was because of the size of owner tanks we can get filled, and drawing too much acetylene too quickly

Point taken thanks

wrote

Is there some limitation where you live? The scale of your work will dictate the size of the tanks you will need, as otherwise, you will have to stop and go get the tanks filled. Sometimes it's weekends. Sometimes, it's Christmas, etc. They always go out at the worst moment.

and drawing too much acetylene too quickly

Acet STAYS at 4# in my shop. Turned on and off as it is needed. Probably using more to purge the lines than I save, but I don't leave it on overnight as I once did. Again, if you're doing that much cutting, you will have to have a good supply of either. Propane takes longer to heat, and like Gunner, I could never get it right. Acet/oxy, I can set right in about eight seconds. Up or down on O2 with the thickness. I was a little amazed when the guy in the video says, "Oh, maybe I should have turned it up on this thick stuff." Hello. You can cut 1/4" with 4# acet, and cut 2" with

For the cost of a 600, and a 1000, and the compressor that runs them, that is a lot of gas.

But I still want one. Just a smaller one. I have no plasma envy.

A couple of pennies for the pot.

Steve

I used my acet reg for propane. Not for long, but I did. I got the different hoses, and now they're good for acet, too, so just have longer hoses, which is good, because one took a dump right after I hooked them up (the old one), so I had extra. Ernie, what do you say about the regulator to use?

Steve

not sure if I would run into it or not, but heating with a rosebud enough to glow larger steel and tubes I'm told it is something I should be concerned about, - not to exceed 1/7? of the tanks capacity per hour, - which means when the tank is getting empty I have a worse condition correct? , or am I missing something, if so I have been told this by a few people and a welding supply

the tanks we can get filled as owner tanks are only that small (2ft ish? tall), not much bigger than the plumbers tanks, I've never used small tanks before so I really do not know what to expect, and it is about 30 miles on way for me to get them filled, I would buy the larger tanks used, but they will not fill them so, I just figured I would do propane/oxy heating,and the little cutting I will do with torch

the full size tanks, (about mid chest high) in the shop where I worked can only be delivered by their truck, what a bunch of bs IMO

not sure if it is a law, but they all do it here in Georgia

Between the folks here and over at RCM I think there's enough talent to help you over any humps you find . I know I've learned a lot just by lurking ... though when I can answer a question I will . You might also look at the yahoo groups , there's probably one that is specifically aimed at CNC plasma cutter tables .

wrote

That's messed up. I thought they were archaic here in Utah, but that's messed up.

Steve

Yes, there is a good yahoo group for cnc owners, even to the point of limiting membership on some to actual owners of CNC to keep down the banter among those who just want to talk. Still, when I was interested in going into this, they were an enormous amount of help and information.

Steve

I have used Acetylene regs for propane for 25 years. I have the advice of the best regulator repair shop in Seattle, that it is fine. Victor and a few other companies are now making official LP gas regs for torch cutting. They use an Orange color code.

They did it to make Safety officers happy. I prefer Chemtane, Flamal or Propylene for cutting heavy plate. They carry heat further into the plate than Acetylene could ever dream of. Stuff under 1/2" is a toss up between LP and Acetylene.

' see why I am looking at propane, I'm concerned about the 1/7 tank draw thing, never worried about it at a shop, heck, I never even knew about it then! but I'm doing everything myself these days so I'm learning stuff I never knew I wanted to learn

I'm not an expert, but my understanding is that the maximum draw does not change as the tank is emptied. The reason that there is a maximum is to avoid drawing acetone ... to allow enough time for the acy to un-dissolve from the acetone. The rate that it can un-dissolve might be related to its concentration (tank "fullness"), but I don't think that it's significant.

Bob

ok, something I'll need to look into further then