Bravo, oxycon, and propane hookup possibilities

CheriB · #1 2014-04-10, 1:47am

Hi,

Is this feasible, safe, reasonable, and/or possible? I apologize in advance for my lack of technical know-how.

I bought the new Bravo to upgrade. Currently I use 2 oxycons for a Nortel mega minor burner. In reading, I found out all the oxycons have to be set to the same lpm, so have been sure to do that with my mega minor.

I have one propane tank, one Bethlehem Bravo burner, and three oxygen concentrators, of which one is 15 psi 8 lpm, and two are 5 lpm (I think 10 psi).
Can I triple the oxycons together on a 3-way splitter, then split them out on a 2-way to the inner and outer flame? Then can I split out the one propane on a 2-way to the inner and outer flame? Finally, would this cause any problems or damage to any of the equipment? If this is all feasible, what parts would I need to buy?

I went to my local GasPro with burner in hand, but they couldn't help, although they did recognize its use right away and admired it.

All local sources here on Kauai have very limited supplies.

Is there a different set-up that would be just as functional and power the flames to their best capacity?

Mahalo for all your help,
Cheryl

istandalone24/7 · #2 2014-04-10, 5:04am

the lpm of the machines is not important....you need the PSI to match. you could have two 8lpm machines, one 15psi and one 5psi...these can not be run together.
you could have one 5lpm machine, and one 20lpm machine, and so long as they both put out the same psi they can be Y'd together with great results.
for example, i have two 8lpm 15psi machines, and one 6lpm 15psi machine and i daisy chain these together all the time..they run my phantom nicely.

istandalone24/7 · #3 2014-04-10, 5:08am

so technically...that 15psi 8lp machine and the two 5lpm 10psi machines technically should be be run together...but a difference of 5psi won't make much of a difference.

one thing you could so is back off the pressure regulator (inside the oxycons...easy to do) on the 15psi machine.....or turn up the 10psi machine. i'll bet my hat that if you called available oxygen (great, great people) and explain this situation, they will help you to get them both putting out a similar psi.

just go to you local ace hardware, or auto parts store and get a "t" or a "y" for vacuum lines. you can also use the inexpensive tygon or similar tubing for the oxycons....of course you could not use the tygon with tanked oxy...but with oxycons low pressure no big deal.

istandalone24/7 · #4 2014-04-10, 5:09am

something along these lines:

https://www.google.com/#q=y+connecto...63647648780745

Dale M. · #5 2014-04-10, 7:05am

You should not mix pressures .... Because with one high pressure machine (15 psi) it will back feed the lower PSI (8 or 10 psi) machines and render them useless....

On flip side LPM (Liters Per Minute) the VOLUME is compounded by adding the volumes of various machines..... Because if all machines are at same pressure, then all machine are not trying to produce against the high pressure machine but are just contributing to the flow(volume)...

Dale

nevadaglass · #6 2014-04-10, 7:33am

Cheryl,

I have a similar setup - What I did is take my 2 oxycons (M-15's) and run them connected in series to my inner fire on the bravo. I then ran my Hurricane (which is 5 psi different) to the outer fire independent of the 2 innerfire oxy's. This will keep your psi's separate and still allow you to utilize all 3 oxycons.

In Summary,
I am running one line from my propane tank, installed a splitter and run the propane line to the inner and outer fires. I then ran 2 oxys to the inner fire by hooking them up in series and ran a separate oxy line to the outer fire connected directly to Hurricane ( other oxy) .

I have a foot pedal to install but that wont change this config - just add in the foot pedal piece

CheriB · #7 2014-04-10, 10:46am

Thanks for the information. I will contact David at AvailableOxygen. One of the units is from him; one was from his brother; one was a local buy from a medical situation.

If all 3 units can't be run together without pressure adjustments, would the 15psi power the inner flame on its own, and the 2 others together be adequate for the outer ring?

istandalone24/7 · #8 2014-04-10, 10:57am

if the difference is 5psi...and they were my machines...i'd just run them together. 5psi isn't much. people actually do do just that...but only like 5psi max difference.

and if you're not using a foot pedal...hell i'd just run all three into one holding tank, then y together the torch connections to one inlet.

nevadaglass · #9 2014-04-10, 11:21am

15 psi would probably give you 80 - 90% on inner fire but 10 on the outer more than likely wont be enough.

Having said that - it also depends on what you plan to do - if you do lots of larger sculptural and marbles, you will want the power from outer.
If your biggest focus is beads and small sculptural, you can probably run underpowered on the outer.

I ran underpowered for a cpl years, but based on what I was doing, it was never an issue.

CheriB · #10 2014-04-10, 9:30pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by nevadaglass

I ran underpowered for a cpl years, but based on what I was doing, it was never an issue.

I just may try this for a time while I check out Michael's holding tank idea. Trey's tutorial is still around; time to read it again.

My largest work would be beads about 4 inches long for pens. Off mandrel work scares me after chasing one too many molten glass pieces across the floor.

Thanks all,
Cheryl