Acetylene to Propane

[Drf255]

I did try the search function and eBay but didn't find what I was looking for.

I'm out of acetylene, and my local gas provider only sells nonflammable gases. I use it for heating up rusty bolts and an occasional cut of those, but not for welding or general cutting. I was interested in using propane as a fuel. I'm aware that there is an issue with the type of material used in OA hoses and Propane.

Is there an adapter to allow me to use my Acetylene regulator on a 20# BBQ tank? My regulator threads onto a male thread with an inner flare fitting.

For the small amount I use my torch for, am I just better off refilling the acetylene?

[CEP]

I just switched over to propane, my Victor acetylene gauge fit my propane tank. I had to buy propane tips for my Victor torch. Propane cuts nice, seem to me it cuts just a tad slower than acetylene.

I made a stand for my JD Squared bender, when I welded the pipe to the plate, the plate warped. No big deal, oh it seemed to take for ever to heat the plate enough to bring it back into shape!

[welds4d]

I think the adapter you need is a Western Enterprises #15 adapter. Should be available at your LWS or try weldingsupply.com and search for wes15

[Farmerboy]

cutting tips are different, (mine takes what is called a hooded tip, Smith torch) and where the hottest part of the flame is is different between the two fuels, and there is some over all temp diffrence.

IMO propane is safer, and Is much cheaper, one may use a little bit more O2 as with Acetylene your heat times will be just a bit longer, but most scrap yards and scrappers use propane around here, I use a slightly oxidizing flame on the heating flame,

I have used propane for 30+ years, one can not weld with it, you can braze but not weld as the steel will scale over,

The hoses do have a diffrent rating than acetlene hose, (but like they said to my son, you will most likely end up cutting or damaging your hose before it deterated do to the propane, (I use the T grade insted of the R grade, I do sugest you do get the correct hose but it will not self distruct on the first use, the T grade is recomended for propane)
http://www.smithequipment.com/alt_fuel_faq.html

[Drf255]

Does anyone know of an online reference to determine gas valve type by CGA #? I tried googling this to no avail. I'm sure it's listed on the valve itself somewhere, at least I hope so.

[fran...k.]

The most common acetylene regulator will go right into the hole on a 20 pound propane barbecue type tank. My experience with other fittings on acetylene bottles is that there are two the other way male/female around. One is on a 40 cubic foot plumbers type tank and the other can be on some of the largest tanks. I am sure there are adapters or change the whole stub coming off the regulator body.

Propane and natural gas do work however for cutting off nuts I will make sure I am using acetylene. Even if I didn't have some curved flush cutting nozzles I would still switch to acetylene if I cared about nicking something beyond the nut or bolt.

fran

[rlitman]

Originally Posted by Drf255

I'm out of acetylene, and my local gas provider only sells nonflammable gases.

Not meaning to get off topic, but is your local gas provider a welding gas supplier? I know of several good sources of acetylene on Long Island.

[Drf255]

No. He is a Fire Extiguisher Place with great prices. He sells O2 and Ar blends, but no flammable gases. He's also 2 miles away. For Acetylene, I have to go to Clinton (on way to work) or Airgas if I can get there by noon on Saturday.

[Corridair]

Originally Posted by Drf255

Does anyone know of an online reference to determine gas valve type by CGA #? I tried googling this to no avail. I'm sure it's listed on the valve itself somewhere, at least I hope so.

You can visit the Western Enterprises website and look at the different fittings and see what they are used for

Rene'
Corridair Inc
www.corridair.com

[Corridair]

Originally Posted by Drf255

No. He is a Fire Extiguisher Place with great prices. He sells O2 and Ar blends, but no flammable gases. He's also 2 miles away. For Acetylene, I have to go to Clinton (on way to work) or Airgas if I can get there by noon on Saturday.

Propane works real well with the right tips and proper hoses for safety. A 20lb propane barbecue tank will last as long as a medium acetylene tank easily,

Rene'
www.corridair.com

[farmall]

If it looks like a BBQ regulator end, it's CGA-510.

The BBQ tanks are set up with INTERNAL CGA-510 threads as well as the external which take the plastic BBQ nut.

If in doubt, post a pic of your regulator with the cylinder fitting visible.

Post the MAKE and MODEL of your torch, or a clear pic, if you want to know what fits it.

[rlitman]

Originally Posted by Drf255

No. He is a Fire Extiguisher Place with great prices. He sells O2 and Ar blends, but no flammable gases. He's also 2 miles away. For Acetylene, I have to go to Clinton (on way to work) or Airgas if I can get there by noon on Saturday.

Yeah, I know what you mean. My work hours also only leave me with the Saturday morning option. I guess that's why I keep enough of a stockpile that I don't have to worry too much.

Can you PM me the Fire Extinguisher place? I'm sure they'd have CO2, and I could always use a cheaper source for that.

Oh, and if you happen to be using something as small as a B tank (or heaven forbid, and MC), just about every plumbing supplier will exchange them (but its a few bucks more than a proper gas distributor).

Now if oxygen is cheap and easy for you, yeah, propane sounds pretty good.
You will burn through oxygen much faster, but propane will seem like it lasts forever.
A 16oz disposable fat bottle has got just over half the BTUs of energy as a 40CF B tank of acetylene, and just think about how much smaller it is.

The problem with propane is that the flame is so much softer than acetylene. All I can say is you probably already have a BBQ tank, and your acetylene regulator will either fit right on it, or you'll need a $6 adaptor from Clinton, and give it a try. It's not like you'll have to invest in all sorts of stuff to see if it's for you, but I suspect you'll want to get larger tips to use it to its potential.

[Drf255]

PM Sent

[DeanneWhitely]

I had to buy propane tips for my Victor torch.

[Drf255]

I bid and won a new Harris Propane regulator on eBay. $48 shipped. So that's it. Now I need to figure out which type of tips my Eutectic torch takes.

[rlitman]

If you're talking about welding tips (tips with one hole), then there is no need to switch.

Propane, propylene, mapp, and acetyelene (plus other things like hydrogen) can all be burned in a regular O/A welding/brazing tip. The propane is a little harder to light.
You'll want to start with a tiny bit of oxygen, because it won't burn in a really rich flame like acetylene, and will instead blow itself out.
The adjusted neutral flame will have a much longer center cone, which is more cylindrical and has a more rounded point than an acetylene flame. It is bullet shaped, rather than cone, and there is no feather to help you know if you're mixed right, and is nowhere near as bright as an acetylene flame. You'll want sunglasses, rather than a shade 5 lens.

Propane's flame speed is much slower than o/a, so you can't open the valves to get the flame up to a full hissss sound. At even a low huffff, it will start to gap from the tip, and with too much flow, it will blow itself out. This is why I mentioned wanting larger tips. To get the same amount of heat, you'll need to step up one or two tip sizes (but because of the flame shape, it still won't be as concentrated, even with the same tip size).

Propane cutting tips have a recess (a shroud of sorts around the perimeter), to keep them from blowing out. There was a thread here about a very effective method of converting o/a cutting tips (this would work for rosebuds too), to propane/propylene by slipping a piece of copper tubing around the tip.

[farmersamm]

Way it was explained to me by the LWS dood.......Although propane has more BTU's, the preheat takes longer..................."Ok says me".......................

I only use it for running a large rosebud, so I don't really care. I go thru huge amounts of oxygen but I have a hot flame

[farmall]

Pics of Harris propane tips:

http://www.atlweldingsupply.com/Harr...X_c_442-1.html

I like dealing with ATL which is why I used their link.

Pic is of my rosebud LP mod. I'm sure the flameholder (hunk of copper coupling) could be shorter, but it's not worth the effort (I'm lazy) to trim it down.

[farmall]

I was bored and grabbed another copper pipe coupling. Nice slip fit over my ESAB acetylene rosebud. Slit was to allow clamping with a worm-drive hose clamp, but I didn't have one handy. For work I'd certainly clamp it securely.

The last 3/8" or so gets red hot when in use, but I ran it for a few minutes and it was good to go. Trimming the last bit off may be worthwhile, but I'll leave as-is since it works fine and is cut squarely at the factory.

[Drf255]

I got my new regulator, and with even very low propane pressure, the flame doesn't want to stay lit at the tip. I can get it to stay lit with some very gentle adjustments, but once I hit the oxygen handle, it blows right out. I ordered 2 propane tips for $11 off eBay.

[farmall]

Propane needs the "flameholder" effect of LP tips. I use polypropylene tips interchangeably.

http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=63151