Question regarding oxy/acetylene fittings in Australia

Jon,

You'll also want to check the bottle pressure that the oxygen is charged to. Some years back in the UK it was typically 200bar, then BOC upped it to 230bar, meaning lots of old oxygen regulators weren't rated for the new pressure.

Hmm, thanks for that heads up! And, measuring pressure in bar; maybe I ought to go ahead and sell the set and apply it toward the move...

Jon

Jon,

I don't know what pressure you get bottles filled to in the US but IIRC it can be lower than what we get here in the UK from discussions I have seen on RCM, no idea what they do in Australia but I would expect similar to the UK. 200 bar about 2900 psi, 230 bar about 3340psi. IIRC from the discussions on RCM you use a different bottle fitting. The oxygen, argon, argon/CO2 mix, and acetylene fittings I have all look like POL fittings. If your regulators are up to it then maybe you can get the bottle connection stems swapped.

I believe that they have their tanks upside down for proper orientation and have special fittings to accommodate this.

Rats! Now I have coffee spewn on my monitor.

Thanks for nothing, Ig.

technomaNge

Here is a listing of the CGA fittings, and what gasses each may be used for:

And this site has a series of photos of the various fittings. Note that the shape of the mating surface varies, the nut to secure to the bottle valve may be male or female, right-hand thread or left-hand thread, to make a large number of non-interchangeable fittings. (E.g. you do not want the same fitting on a tank for medical (breathing) oxygen and for ammonia. Lots of reasons for making sure that you don't mix up the regulators (including the "use no oil" for Oxygen regulators.

O.K. And *this* site shows cross-section drawings of the tank vale and the regulator fittings, with the proper use of each.

For example, the nose shape and mating cone are the same for oxygen and for fuel gasses but the threads are opposite.

Do any of these look like the ones in use in Oz -- or do they use a different system? At least, it is likely that the stems on the regulators could be replaced, since the first URL was a place which sold the stems.

Good Luck, DoN.

Well pressure will do me in if they run 230 bar down there, my oxy gauge tops out at 3000psi.

Did talk to a salesman at an engineering supply in Wagga, and was told they had a pretty good selection of quality inch hardware, drills, and taps in stock or could order. Won't matter for the gauges, but I've got a lot of air tools and other items with NPT fittings, so will be stopping by again and asking further questions about what is really available. They also sell welding equipment, so probably the place to find out what an oxy/acetylene rig is going to cost me.

Thanks,

Jon

A friend who served in the Australian army as an engineer in Vietnam, said one of his jobs was to make adaptors so the USA supplied oxy/acet tanks could be used with Australian supplied equipment.

Quite apart from being upside down, there is the added complication that we Aussies rent, not buy, our cylinders.

The big gas suppliers, AFAIK, won't touch a cylinder you "own". They do a strictly "swap-an-empty-one-for-a-full-one" business, and LPG bottles are going the same way. Fewer and fewer stations will fill "your" LPG bottle - most of them nowadays will only swap.

Now I could be wrong in terms of big biz - maybe they do buy and refill their tanks. We rent about a dozen bottles on a yearly rental basis. Not cheap, but it ensures that all cylinders are in good condition all the time.

In 30+ years playing with oxy, I've never seen an oxy/acet/argon bottle being refilled on the spot. Always a swap.

YMMV.

-- Jeff R.

I own my oxy/acetylene and C02 bottles, but not the specific bottles I have on hand. When empty, I take them in and swap out for full 'owner' bottles.

Leasing, or hiring a set, might be prohibitively expensive for the few times I'd need one. Might be better off cultivating a good relationship with someone that does keep a set on hand, swap off some services in exchange for access...

Thanks!

Jon

To answer your original question, oxygen spigot is male 5/8 inch BSP RH thread, acetelene spigot is male 5/8 inch BSP LH thread Australia wide. As others have said, you may be able to buy replacement spigots for your regulators. There are a small number of privately owned cylinders in this country (I have a set), but no swap facilities for them that I know of. I am only aware of one gas supplier which will fill them, and this involves taking them to and from the filling plant. There is also the cost of a ten yearly hydrostatic test/inspection.