Hello. I bought a used arc welder today which included a box with assorted stuff. One of the things in the box was Victor O/A torch with cutting head and regulators.
I'd like to get it running but am wondering how safe it would be. Do I need to get it checked out by a service center first, or will any problems be immediately detectable (and I dont mean a firey death) when they are hooked up? TIA !
Hook 'er up, see how things go. You might check the o-rings between the head and body, sometimes they go bad.. other than that, if there's a problem you'll notice it and be able to decide if you want someone to repair it or if you'll just live with it.
Hook it up and fire it up. If the torch goes pop pop it's got dirt in the valves. If you can't cut straight with it then the regulators may need work.
Be *sure* when you first start out to momentarily crack the tank valve to blow out any crud, *then* put on the regulators, and put the hose onto the regulators and again briefly blow out the hoses, and only then put on your torch. Old O/A stuff can have a bunch of dirt and grit in it which you do not want to blow into your torch. Oh, and a set of flashback arrestors (inline check valves) installed on your torch will add a level of safety too. - GWE
A visual inspection first to see if any o-rings are cracked or missing. Make sure no oil or grease is present. Especially the oxygen side. If everything looks OK screw to the cylinders. Open valves S-L-O-W-L-Y. Check for leaks with soapy water. DON'T stand in front of the regulators when opening the valves. If the reg fails on the oxygen tank it could fly apart straight at you. After all that checks out set the regs and try the torch. ERS
A spray bottle of soapy water on the various connections should help you spot most potential problems after hooking things up. A lot depends on the condition of the various parts. If the regulators look like they've been used for soccer practice and the torch handle and tips look like they've been dipped in asphalt, you might want to let a pro go through the works. Another thing to look for is checked and cracked hoses. If it was at an auction, the set might just have been removed off the tanks and chucked in a box if the tanks were rented/leased. If there wasn't any dust on the bits, like they'd been sitting on a shelf somewhere, the outfit was probably removed from service and should be fine.
I bought a Victor outfit at auction, was from a gun shop going out of business. Everything worked fine except the twin hoses were old and checked, replaced them without even hooking them up, the #2 tip was worn to the point where the flame was irregular and about #3-sized and the acetylene regulator tank fitting had a nick on the plug. All items I got off the shelf at the local weld supply for a reasonable amount. Other than that, the regulators looked like new, the torch handle had some handling nicks but was in good shape. I figure the acetylene regulator picked up the nick during the auction setup and viewing, everything was just tossed loose in a box. The nick I found with the soapy water spray while purging the works and checking things out. Wasn't large, but it leaked.
One thing I've found is that the kit regulators are fine for the medium and large-sized tips but they don't work as well for the small ones because they don't regulate low pressure and flows very well. Seems to be a problem with most of the kits. So if you like to work with the small tips, like #0 and below, you might want to scare up some better regulators.
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