Hello everyone, Just few days ago I needed to heat something up, I grabbed my cheap torch only to find that it was empty, I swapped the butane can only to hear a hissing sound of it escaping through faulty seal. I am of course talking about one of these terrible torches I had few of these already, different manufacturers and models, and they just keep constantly failing on me-from broken regulation, through not properly sealing on connection with can to breaking somewhere internally while I was operating it resulting in whole setup catching on fire while I was holding it in hand. At this point I just need to give up on them. I can't really afford better gas torches and frankly don't have knowledge to select better one nor really a need for it. I rarely need higher temperature or open flame, I was reaching for torch probably every few months at best so I started digging into blowtorches. I don't really mind the challenge of restoring one, with such infrequent use I don't mind more complex set of operations needed to turn it on, including having to preheat it. I am also not that worried about risk of fire, as said those little gas torches already put me in some risky situations, beside that I'm mostly surrendered by brick and concrete and and so far I had good rate of stopping unwanted fires, I also feel like I have better intuitive understanding of dealing with burning spilled liquid than gas. And I'm surely more confident that I can safely store liquid fuel long term. So with all that in mind I started searching for blowtorches. Issue is that where I live I have access mostly to ones manufactured in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Soviet Union, maybe Germany and such. Most of the ones I've seen are not labelled at all and even if they are they only contain model or even just manufacturer, not fuel type and they are not well documented on the internet. Is there a way to determine what type of fuel does the torch use? What should I be looking for when inspecting the design of the torch to figure out if it uses paraffin or gasoline? I was trying to find the answer for a while, that very question actually stopped me from purchasing a blowtorch while ago when I was already contemplating it after one of previous butane torches failed me but I only found more warnings not to use fuel different from what it was designed for. I looked at many pictures trying to find noticeable differences but most of the differences I've spotted seem to come from style at the time of manufacture, not the type of fuel. I assume that if anything the nozzle itself has the highest chance of being different but I couldn't find anything about it. So how can I figure it out? And if I can't is there such thing as a 'safe option' of using one fuel over the other if not sure? Thank you to anyone who got through my wall of text. I will appreciate any tips and knowledge you can share with me, not only about determining the fuel type but also about problems and challenges I may have not anticipated when it comes to using blowtorch
Liquid-fueled blow torches are somewhat different from butane, propane or any other gas torches. Both kerosene and gasoline-fueled ones can easily turn into flame throwers should the normal vaporization fail at any point during operation. Kero ones would have smaller nozzle or jet orifices as compared to gasoline-fueled units of the same heat output. Gasoline torches would usually be equipped with shut-off valves. Most kerosene-fueled ones don't have such valves. Both will require preheating with alcohol or 'spirit'/meths. In actual, liquid-fueled ones are a little more 'dangerous' than gas torches. That's due to the additional risks of spillage as well as ejected flaming liquid fuel wetting and adhering to any target. The fuel will continue to burn on the targets. For instance, that usually happens when the vaporization fails due to a partially clogged nozzle/jet/gas tip. This is due to poor heat conduction to the vaporizer coil from the slightly weakened flame. On gas torches, there aren't such problems. The fuel will always be gaseous once it leaves the nozzle orifice. Any fuel leakage would at most, burn on the spot, where the leakage is. Having said all that, the danger is what spawns all the thrills and excitement about liquid-fueled blowtorches. Have fun with them with some caution.
Welcome to CPL @hobbyman As MYN said the majority of gasoline blowlamps have a shutoff valve and Kerosene blowlamps have a pressure bleed screw to turm them off. They do need a lot of preheating and will throw burning fuel a couple of meteres if they are not hot enough. So, I always point mine in a safe direction when starting. Have fun.
Cheers Tony. And would I typically pre-heat with Metho? (It has a little dish shaped depression beneath the burner)
Yes, you preheat with meths (alcohol) and run the torch on gasoline. I assume the mentioned "shellite" is an Aussie version of gasoline? I use alkylate gasoline on mine.
Much as I love the romance of lighting up and using one of my paraffin blowtorches - nothing beats the convenience and utility of my Rothenberger Superfire 2 Mapp gas torch. Instant flame, super hot and controllable. They do not leak. As it lights with a piezo ignition trigger I can switch it off when not using it and back on when needed. Brilliant for plumbing work, and super safe.
Well... TBH, I have to admit, I love my MAPP Gas blowtorch, from lighting the woodheating stove to brazing. Some tech is good!
Are they still producing the original Mapp gas ? Some of the statistics say it wasn’t that great for welding?
@Carlsson "Shellite" in Australia (also sold as Recosol R55) is pure naphtha. I've attached the MSDS for Shellite (Recosol R55) Cheers Tony
Pretty unlikely that it is still being produced. The main driving reason be economics. Most of them would be MAP-Pro, etc. Not sure if Linde or other manufacturers still make them for purposes other than the usual MAPP brazing gas or not. Whatever modern versions or substitutes are mostly mixtures of propylene and propane. No longer the original combination of methylacetylene propadiene-propane. Anyway, MAPP gas isn't that suitable for the welding of metals that are prone(especially steel) to hydrogen-embrittlement. The ratio of hydrogen to carbon is too high for this purpose. Diffusion of the gas into the melted parts at high temperatures makes this a problem. Although the Australian Shellite(such as Recosol R55) highlighted by @Tony Press is not exactly the same chemical as what is being used in Coleman Fuel, it is still a perfectly suitable substitute for CF. Without the dye, it might even be a better fuel option by comparison to CF.
