Phantom and tanked Oxy

AvenueBeads · #1 2014-03-05, 1:01am

I've been searching for hours for info and I'm coming up empty.

After spending a good 7 years on my trusty little minor torch, I've decided its way past time to upgrade. I'll be going with a gtt phantom.

I've always worked on concentrators and was going to try and figure out some combination of oxycons to run the phantom, or build a home-fill tank system, but decided I better just run on tanks first.

My problem is trying to find out how long say a K tank(250cf) will last me. I pretty much torch 5 days a week anywhere from 6 to 8 hours (sometimes 12). I blow tons of shards, soft glass marbles, but want to venture more into boro work such as marbles, small vessels, ornaments.

I'm guessing I'll pretty much be using the center fire 70% of the time and using the outer the other 30% for heating my big melts before a blow, or rounding out big marbles.

I'm trying to cost out this upgrade before the leap. So throw some figures at me please

I know very little about tank sizes so I might even go up to a bigger tank size than a K if I can handle moving it. If a K will last me long enough where I'm not going back every week to fill 4 or 5 tanks though I would stay with that size.

shawnette · #2 2014-03-05, 5:35am

Working soft glass 6-8 hours a day, a K will last around 2+ days, depending on your usage. (turn off the oxy when not in use, don't really use the outer flame, use proper flame settings...)

A Lynx is wayyyyy hotter than the Minor, especially on tanks. You'll probably only need the outer flame 10% of the time, if that often, especially when working soft glass. I almost never use mine.

jeepinwelch · #3 2014-03-05, 9:09am

Why don't you run the inner on oxycons and the outer on tanked? That's what I do with my Scorpion and it extends the life of the tank quite a bit.

istandalone24/7 · #4 2014-03-05, 10:28am

depending on what you have for oxycons, you might be able to run straight off of them.

two weekends ago i got bored/curious (and the weather was warm enough) and dragged out my three ex15's and my holding tank. it ran my phantom surprisingly good...of course with inner and outer going with an oxidizing flame i deplete the holding tank quick, but switching back to the centerfire only it builds reserve pretty fast.

i usually run a homefill.....and i fill a K tank up to 1200psi, takes about 28 hours to fill it to 1200 and that lasts me about two 3 hour torching sessions, usually making boro marbles (which takes quite a bit of oxy).

AvenueBeads · #5 2014-03-05, 1:32pm

I only have two M10s so that's not gonna work unfortunately.

Hmmm two days isn't bad. So I should probably start with quoting out 4 tanks I guess.

shawnette · #6 2014-03-11, 6:54am

Quote:

Originally Posted by AvenueBeads

I only have two M10s so that's not gonna work unfortunately.

Hmmm two days isn't bad. So I should probably start with quoting out 4 tanks I guess.

2 M10s on the center and tank on the outer, you'd probably go 2-3 weeks on a K.

I keep changing my answer, lol, because I'm trying to remember how long my tank lasted when set up that way. It was a long time, though. Possibly even a month but I don't want to set that as an expectation. I run a Homefill now, so I use tanked for inner and outer flames.

AvenueBeads · #7 2014-03-12, 1:03am

I've been keeping my eye on craigslist for awhile now hoping someone will unload a homefill for cheap. No such luck yet though.

I still have to make a trip the gas man to see how much tank rent/fills cost. If it's not too much of an added expense I'll probably just go all tanked. Or maybe oxycon/tanked for soft glass and full tanked for boro.

I'll have to pick up the connections to T or Y my Oxycons together and run them both on my minor once and see how good that works. Now hopefully I have enough power in the studio to add another running oxycon to the mix lol.

dusty · #8 2014-03-12, 3:04pm

Oxy cons for the center and tanked for the outer is a great setup. 2 5lpm machines will power a lynx/minor well enough. I'd recommend such a set-up even if you have a homefill, as it'll likely extend the life of your homefill by years.

playingwithfirebeads · #9 2014-03-15, 8:49pm

Hope no one minds my jumping in here but if you have the tanks and 2 M-15's - what else do you need to set up a home fill. I bought a phantom but don't want to handle tanks.

Thanks,
Bonny

shawnette · #10 2014-03-15, 9:50pm

A Homefill and a whip (high pressure transfill hose) to connect the homefill to your tanks. Do a search on Homefill and my name to find more info and a diagram.

dusty · #11 2014-03-16, 9:22am

Quote:

Originally Posted by playingwithfirebeads

Hope no one minds my jumping in here but if you have the tanks and 2 M-15's - what else do you need to set up a home fill. I bought a phantom but don't want to handle tanks.

Thanks,
Bonny

If you go the actual homefill route, then what Shawnette mentioned. If you're planning on a roll-your-own solution (harder to set up, but regular homefills typically have a very short lifespan, and these don't), it's going to require some research on the talkglass forums.