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shari-kim
2008-01-30, 12:29pm
i have a minor torch with natural gas and oxy con (just hooked yesterday - boy its different from my hh !!). What is the sequence of turning things on and off? I have a pipe value to turn on for the natural gas, do i do that on first, then the oxy con switch for the machine....then turn the torch on - the red (i believe that is the gas) then silver..... (the oxygen??) would appreciate any guidance with this.

Kim

SharonP
2008-01-30, 12:33pm
The easy way is to remember the POOP acronym...

thats for turn on: Propane - Oxygen, turn off: Oxygen - Propane.

The yellow flame should be the first thing on and the last thing off.

If you're using natural gas, it's the same order. And the red valve is always the combustible gas.

happy torching, *sharon*

shari-kim
2008-01-30, 1:05pm
thanks -i love your stuff by the way, have often looked at your site, i think Im going to be whimsical as well..... cant decide what i like to make best, but its always the monsters, bears and penjuins of mine that i look at lovingly ... (im only a few months into this, and one day on a minor)

Judi_B
2008-01-30, 1:19pm
You need to let your oxy run a bit before you start torching. With gas off at the main valve and the torch, open oxy valve on the torch and run oxy con 15-20 min. If you run oxy con with the valve closed it will go into alarm because of the back pressure. With gas valve at the torch still turned off, open main gas valve that comes into the studio. Now you're ready for POOP!! Turn oxy valve off, gas on and light your torch and turn oxy back on. Have fun! Remember that you cannot leave the oxy con running with the oxy valve closed at the torch. So if you want to take a short break, turn oxy valve off at torch, then propane (OP of POOP) then turn the oxy valve back on so you don't build up pressure. If you turn the oxy con off you need to wait 30 min before turning it back on, but you can leave it running all day if the valve at the torch is open.

Emily
2008-01-30, 1:33pm
Oxygen itself doesn't light. It's an accelerant for fire, not a fuel. It just makes the fire burn faster. That means that you always have to have the fuel on in order to light your torch.

If both the oxygen and the fuel (natural gas, in your case) are turned on, the torch will light, but you may get a loud POP! noise. I used capital letters and an exclamation point for a reason -- it's loud. Having your oxygen on when you try to light your flame can also make your flame harder to light, or can blow out your flame if you don't have the fuel on very high. It's better to turn your oxy valve off (at the torch, not at the concentrator), turn on the fuel, light the flame, let it burn yellow for a bit until it's steady, then slowly add oxy. If you add the oxy too fast, sometimes it blows out.

When you're turning the torch off, some people will tell you that you should turn the fuel off first, then the oxygen. (If you were using propane, this would be POPO.) I'm not sure it really matters that much.

meitali
2008-01-30, 1:55pm
judi, why do you leave your oxycon running for 15-20 mins before you light the torch? :-k

i've used an oxycon for about a year and a half, and never did it (never heard about this), and never had anything weird happen...

Judi_B
2008-01-30, 2:06pm
The instructions that came with my concentrator said to run it 30 min before using. It does take a little time to flush the air out of the canister and start getting high purity oxygen to the torch. It probably isn't long. I just turn the oxy con on when I start getting ready to torch and it runs any where from 10 min to an hour depending on how efficient I am at getting things together ;)

I've always heard POOP for turning oxy and propane on/off. The LOUD POP I got the one time I forgot to turn the oxy off before lighting the torch scared the hell out of me :shock: Don't ever want to do that again [-X

kramdas
2008-01-30, 4:02pm
I'm using an oxycon and propane. I always leave my oxygen valve open at the torch. When I light, my oxygen is already flowing since I run it about 15 min. before I torch. Am I correct in assuming that since I'm not using TANKED oxygen, it's ok to NOT follow the POOP method? Does this harm the torch in any way? I assumed the poop method had to do with tanked oxygen safety...

Daria
2008-01-30, 4:56pm
I'm using an oxycon and propane. I always leave my oxygen valve open at the torch. When I light, my oxygen is already flowing since I run it about 15 min. before I torch. Am I correct in assuming that since I'm not using TANKED oxygen, it's ok to NOT follow the POOP method? Does this harm the torch in any way? I assumed the poop method had to do with tanked oxygen safety...

Kara-
I believe you are correct. I'm on an OxyCon and Natural Gas and I do the same thing as you. I was told to never close the oxygen valve at the torch while the machine is running - due to pressure backup. I turn the oxygen concentrator off after I turn the gas off at the torch. I never close the oxygen valve on my torch. I'm interested in any other comments on this subject.

Judi_B
2008-01-30, 5:59pm
The instructions with my oxy con were to close the oxy valve briefly while lighting the propane and when turning the flame off, and then open the valve again. I haven't had any problem. I did forget to open the oxy valve once when I started the oxy con and it went into alarm, but it took quite awhile - 10-15 minutes.

Tancaro
2008-01-30, 6:15pm
The instructions I got with my oxy con were just like Judi's. Let it run for 15-25 minutes to warm up, then turn off briefly to light propane and turn it back on. I've tried to torch without warming up the oxy con first and it works okay but I get a hotter, more consistant flame with the warmup method.
-C

kramdas
2008-01-30, 7:25pm
I didn't get instructions with my oxycon, so I read about a thousand threads in here and decided to wing it. So far I'm ok :) Can't believe I'm gonna say this, but I do get the big POP when I don't POOP- will that hurt the torch in any way? Anybody know? :)