Buy Acetylene Outfit for Both Acetylene and Propane?

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warmstrong1955
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Re: Buy Acetylene Outfit for Both Acetylene and Propane?

Post by warmstrong1955 »

Couple of quick pics. Might give you some ideas.
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RMinMN
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Re: Buy Acetylene Outfit for Both Acetylene and Propane?

Post by RMinMN »

I have a Smiths oxy-acetylene welding set that has the plastic knobs for adjustment on the regulators. They are still original knobs from when I purchased the outfit some 45 years ago but I have it in my home shop and take care to not bang on them. You shouldn't bang on the knobs anyway since they are hooked to the regulators which are somewhat delicate and have gauges with glass fronts. I wouldn't worry much about the plastic knobs and have that make the choice of rigs.
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SteveHGraham
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Re: Buy Acetylene Outfit for Both Acetylene and Propane?

Post by SteveHGraham »

My plan is to use propane except for flame-straightening, so I want to be able to put oxygen, a BBQ tank, and a smallish acetylene tank on the cart.

Now that I think about it, I have a MIG cart that would work well for this if converted.

Here is a great video about flame-straightening.

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Russ Hanscom
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Re: Buy Acetylene Outfit for Both Acetylene and Propane?

Post by Russ Hanscom »

Unless you are planning on doing industrial quantities of straightening, the effort and cost of maintaining an extra set of tanks, regulator, and tips, and switching back and forth, is not really worth the effort. At least that is my take.
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SteveHGraham
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Re: Buy Acetylene Outfit for Both Acetylene and Propane?

Post by SteveHGraham »

Far as I have been able to determine, I will be able to use the same regulators, hoses, and oxygen tank. I got two propane cutting tips for ten bucks.
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warmstrong1955
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Re: Buy Acetylene Outfit for Both Acetylene and Propane?

Post by warmstrong1955 »

SteveHGraham wrote: Sun Sep 15, 2019 8:22 am Far as I have been able to determine, I will be able to use the same regulators, hoses, and oxygen tank. I got two propane cutting tips for ten bucks.
The acetylene gage on the regulator will be wacked. Max pressure red line is 15 psi, and most gages aren’t graduated past that.
Propane likes closer to 30 psi. That’s why I have a regulator for each gas.

I’m with Russ....I would just pick one. I went with acetylene, because I still did some welding with it.
Right now, if I started over, I’d go with propane again. Cheaper, although, you do use a bit more oxygen with it.
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SteveHGraham
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Re: Buy Acetylene Outfit for Both Acetylene and Propane?

Post by SteveHGraham »

Take a look at the Victor ESS4 regulators and tell me if you still think that. What I'm hearing from you and what I'm hearing from other sources are not consistent.

I'm going to have both types of gas, one way or the other, so it doesn't really matter.

An example of something I came across, about Victor: "All of their acetylene regulators are rated for use with propane."

The outfit I ordered is already on the way, so I'm going to stick with it and deal with whatever happens. Shopping for this stuff is very confusing, and I had to pick something and get it over with.
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warmstrong1955
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Re: Buy Acetylene Outfit for Both Acetylene and Propane?

Post by warmstrong1955 »

Note, I am not talking about the regulator, I'm talking about the low pressure gage. The regulator will work with both gases.
And, I'm looking at a picture of a ESS4, and the graduation on the low pressure gage, ends at 15 PSI. This is standard, on all brands, at least, that I am aware of. That is what I am talking about.

So....if you have no plans to go above 15 PSI propane, you are fine.
If you go above that, (heating) you can kind of guess I suppose. (My propane gage on that reg, goes up to 80 psi)
And something to keep in mind, is you better get into the habit of backing the regulator pressure off to zero when you are done, especially when you switch from propane back to acetylene. The acetylene LP gage is red-lined for a reason. Again.....why I have a regulator for each gas.
ESS4.jpg
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SteveHGraham
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Re: Buy Acetylene Outfit for Both Acetylene and Propane?

Post by SteveHGraham »

It makes complete sense that this would, again, turn out to be more complicated than I thought.

I am reading that you have to get into some pretty big stuff to go over 10 psi for propane, so I suppose I have time to decide what else I need.
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warmstrong1955
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Re: Buy Acetylene Outfit for Both Acetylene and Propane?

Post by warmstrong1955 »

Like anything....it depends on what you are doing.
Helps to know the limitations of the equipment going in.

Last time I used propane at home, was for heating. The rosebud....was 18" long.
Propane, saves a ton of money for stuff like that , and, my little bottles of acetylene, would no way keep up.
Size of the bottle, as well as the contents of the bottle, remaining contents, will limit you on CFM. And....what they will release at first, is not the same as 5 or 10 minutes later.

Small stuff....using a welding/brazing tip, or a cutting tip for heating.....no big deal.
Start getting into rosebuds.....things change.

Be aware. It would pay, for you to talk to a knowledgeable guy at the place you get your gasses.
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BadDog
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Re: Buy Acetylene Outfit for Both Acetylene and Propane?

Post by BadDog »

Everything I could say has already been said better.

The only thing I would add is everything I have is Victor, and not the cheap consumer grade stuff. I don't know enough to quantitatively state that Victor is better from experience, but almost 100% of my family up until I came along were career boilermakers, industrial pipe fitters (some nuke), and some heavy ship yard work. They all had Victor, and I inherited some of my Victor stuff from my grandfather, and the big cutting/heating/welding torch body I have was given to me by my Uncle. All of it over 30 years ago. I went through it all (not needed, just precaution) not long after I got it, and it's still running without a single hiccup until the present day. Hmm, thinking about it, I realize I'm long overdue for new hoses for both the big rig and my smaller one. :oops: WAY overdue. I should order some new ones tomorrow.

If I had it to all replace today, I would just replace the small one, and go with Propane I think. But I don't use it enough for Acetylene price to be that big of a deal, and like buying a car to improve fuel mileage, it would take too long to recoup in savings, and too much to relearn.
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SteveHGraham
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Re: Buy Acetylene Outfit for Both Acetylene and Propane?

Post by SteveHGraham »

This stuff will arrive soon. Now I need advice on tanks. I was thinking of getting a 125 cu.ft. tank for oxygen, since I don't want to move a tank bigger than that. But what about acetylene? I know you have to have a reasonably big tank to get high flow rates. I would rather go too big than too small, but I don't want to get something which is clearly bigger than I will ever need.
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