oxy tank to regulator problem

[Hades12]

I run out of oxygen the other day and pickup up a new tank. problem is i can not get the regulator to seal to the tank. it is leaking. took it off a few times and cleaned but still leaking. any tricks I need to know?

thanks

[DSW]

Chances are someone when ape sh*t on a reg with a wrench and messed up the valve seat. Not a whole lot you can really do but try to tighten up your reg more. The problem with doing that however is you might mess up the seating surface on your reg and then you'll have this issue every time. I'd remove and replace your reg and then snug it up firmly with a wrench and see if that might solve your issue, but I doubt it.

Your best bet would be to take it back to your supplier and get them to exchange it for another cylinder. Hopefully they'll tag the cylinder as a problem and send it back to have the valve seat resurfaced or have the valve replaced. Don't whatever you do try and reface the valve seat yourself! Any little bits of brass that stay in the valve can ignite when high pressure O2 hits them and things get very ugly at that point.

[tbone550]

If the reg wasn't leaking on the old tank, the new tank probably has bunged-up sealing surfaces. Take a close look at your regulator seating surface also, in case you need to replace it. The brass is easy to deform with excess torque.

You shouldn't have to really horse on the wrench to get a seal on the tank, but somebody else could have and caused the problem you have now by damaging the tank seat.

If you can verify that your reg's seating surfaces are good, then you need to return the tank to your LWS and try another. If there's any question at all, get a new nipple for your reg while you're there so you're starting with a known good surface.

EDIT: I see DSW beat me to it while I was typing...

[BD1]

We have used teflon tape on the threads. EXTREME caution when wrapping. You do not want the tape to cut and strip off and go into regulator. Start the tape on about the second thread
and wrap clockwise. Number of wraps will depend on thread density.If it's the cheap stuff about
8 wraps and give it a try.

[farmall]

Regulator nipples seal BRASS to BRASS and are not to be "sealed" with tef tape which does nothing for the joint between nipple and nut. Even if you get away with it, it's WRONG because it lacks the strength of a positive seal as the designers intended. Tef tape is for taper thread joints.

I'd bring tank and reg back to LWS and solve the problem on the spot.

[WookieWelding]

Originally Posted by BD1

We have used teflon tape on the threads. EXTREME caution when wrapping. You do not want the tape to cut and strip off and go into regulator. Start the tape on about the second thread
and wrap clockwise. Number of wraps will depend on thread density.If it's the cheap stuff about
8 wraps and give it a try.

That is some real bad advice
considering the threads do not make the seal the seat does

[BD1]

Correct,. brass to brass should not normally need anything to keep from leaking. Sometimes it does in a emergency. As far as the threads not making the seal is also correct. If the stem on the regulator has been abused, thrown in the box, etc, the seal may have imperfections in it and it will leak at the threads. This is not recommended but will allow you to finish job until tank
or reg is replaced. When you own it, your stuff will be in perfect condition. When someone else
owns it others using it don't give a sh$t . Result is junk that sometimes you gotta make it work to finish the day out.

[DSW]

If anything tef tape can reduce the friction on the threads and allow you to crank the nut down just a smidge tighter, thus getting it to seal better. Again not the best thing because you can damage your reg fitting doing so.

Personally I like to use the hand tight fittings from Western. Instead on a brass to brass fit needing a wrench to tighten the fitting, these use a teflon seal on the nipple and a hand wheel to seal to the valve face. I generally don't use these on all my O2 regs, only those I need to change out on a regular basis. I've yet to find a valve I can't get the hand tight nipples to seal on.

They also make these for CGA 580 inert gas fittings as well. I used to have one on my argon reg until someone at the old shop I worked for dropped the reg and broke the stem.

[rlitman]

I had an argon regulator that used to leak slowly. There was a nick in the seating surface of the stem.
Couple of bucks later, and I had a nice new stem from the LWS.
There are six flats on the stem that you can use a 6 point socket to tighten it with, but they're prone to rounding over. You're better off getting the stem really tight in a valve, and spinning the regulator on it. Then loosen it up, turn the regulator in it's final orientation, and re-tighten.

[Hades12]

Thanks guys. Took the tank and regulator to the LWS today, ended up with a different tank and he put a new end on order for me. Seems Mine is an odd size that he did not have.

[BD1]

That's the right way. When you have a scheduled shutdown at 2AM in the morning and gotta make a tie and the tank or reg is a problem you must do something to get the job done.
Especially when the customer is paying a guy $160.00 a hour and has the plat shutdown.