Exposing myself...

[Sadie Mae]

Hey all, I want to expose my.....ignorance! I have 2 parts to my story!
Part 1:
I have a Minor. I think it needs service--I've never done anything to it but run the cleaning tool in the holes....but the tool can go allllll the way into all the holes. And my top mounted marver gets stinkin' hot!
Expert opinions please---
1. Do Minors need servicing?
2. Should I send it in for service?
3. Who/where do I send it to?
4. Estimated expected Costs?
5. Time it should take to service?
6. Is it cheaper to just buy another Minor than to send it in for the service?

Part 2:
I have a Red Max I've never set up, since I don't have a tank, just a 10 lpm oxycon. It also has a foot pedal, and I have the regs and hoses for it.
My questions are:
1. Can I use it on an oxycon?
2. How do I block the hoses to the bottom torch and just use the Minor top mount torch?
3. What else do I need to know to make this work so I can send in the Minor??!!!

Thanks so much to all who know and can help!! I just don't want to be without a torch for toooooooo long.....

[artsyuno]

Minors can need servicing, but I'm not convinced that yours does from what you've described. I'm not sure that I've ever cleaned a minor (I've used minors many times but it's been years since I've used one when not in a class), but my guess is that it's a good thing that your cleaning wire will go in all the way. Wouldn't that mean that your ports aren't clogged? Torch mounted marvers do get pretty warm from the radiant heat. I have a wood piece that I place on mine when I want to be able to rest my hand on the marver, otherwise it can be uncomfortably hot. I have a Bethlehem torch. They don't charge for service so the only cost is to ship the torch to them. I don't know what Nortel's policies are re service.

Regarding your Redmax, you can use an oxycon, but you need to be careful about using one with a foot pedal, unless you're using a Regalia. There's a recent thread you may want to find and read about options for running a foot pedal with other concentrators by adding a part that will allow the oxy to escape into the air so that it doesn't back up and damage the concentrator.

If you want to only run the minor portion of the torch, you have a few options. 1. Assuming, you've taken the steps in the paragraph above so that you won't damage your concentrator, you can plug your hoses into your foot pedal, but leave the lower flame knobs turned off (you won't actually use the foot pedal). 2. You can wye the hoses to your upper and lower flames together (but you probably won't want to do this if you're going to sometimes use the larger flame with a foot pedal) so that the torch functions like a two-stud, instead of a 4-stud. 3. If you have quick connects on your hoses that are attached to your torches (on the other end, not the end that hooks to the torch), you can plug the hoses to the minor part of the torch into your oxy and propane source and leave the other set of hoses dangling. The quick connects will keep the oxy and propane from flowing out the ends of the hoses that you're not using.