The picture above is showing my propane set up, and actually my torch, in use. My propane tank is pretty full right now, and you can tell by the gauge on the right. As my tank empties out, the pressure goes down on that gauge. The gauge on the left shows the amount of pressure I am sending into my torch.
So why am I showing you this? Well, when I first started, it was the hook-up part that confused me. So I thought I'd tell anyone interested how I hooked up my torch to run!
First of all I bought my lampwork supplies (to set up my propane and oxygen) from a stained glass distributor. You should buy your supplies from a stained glass or lampwork supplier (retail or wholesale) because they should be selling the correct items needed to hook it all up. Later I will put links on my blog so that people can buy these correct retail supplies directly from me.
The propane regulator is connected to my torch with the standard red hose that glass suppliers sell for lampwork. It has a back flow preventor attached between the hose and the regulator so that a flame can't get into the hose and go back into the propane tank, which would blow up the propane tank like a bomb. I have the back flow preventor only on my propane tank, not on my oxygen concentrator. In the picture below I forgot to mark which one is the back flow preventor but, it is that brass fitting to the left of the "red circle" in the picture.
We used a little bit of Teflon tape on the regulator where it screws into the propane tank to prevent leaks. I'm not sure if this is necessary but I decided to do this.
Now, here's how I turn it on! I turn the propane knob on my torch, just a little bit, to open it. You should know which direction to turn the knob on your torch to turn up and down your propane and oxygen. I drew a little reminder on my work bench next to my torch for reference, since sometimes I forget. Turning the knob to the right turns down the flow. The knob on the top of the Nortel Minor Burner is the propane knob, it is red. Then I go to my propane tank. I first open the center regulator knob (quite a bit) on the regulator. Below I have circled the valves that I am talking about for your reference!
Ok, so as you can see in the picture above, the knob with the round red circle is the regulator knob that I turn to open everything up, first. Like I already stated, I open it up pretty far, almost falling off. The blue circle shows where I put the Teflon tape. The green "x" is the gauge showing how much propane pressure the torch is getting. And the black "x" is the gauge showing how much propane pressure is actually in your propane tank.
After turning the propane knob on (on my torch), which is the red knob on the top of my torch (just a little bit) and the regulator valve on, I turn on the propane. It is the valve with the purple "x" drawn on it. Once that is done, I go back to the regulator knob (again, that's the one with the red circle) and begin to tighten it slowly, until the gauge rises to about 5-10 lbs of pressure. Do not go into the red part indicated on your gauge! That is too much pressure. If that happens either open up the regulator valve again (the red circle) or turn off the propane valve (the purple "x"). If you forget and turn something on out of order, turn off the propane valve (again the purple "x" in the above picture) and start over.
Once you have the propane running, go to the torch, and while using a spark lighter, light the torch.
If there is ever some sort of a problem, immediately shut off the propane valve, the purple x in the picture above. Also shut off the oxygen concentrator.
Ok, this is a lot to write for one day, so next posting I will talk about setting up the oxygen and how to turn it on!
P.S. My information is only to be used as a reference and I am not responsible for any problems or accidents a reader of my blog may encounter when setting up or using their own torch!
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