[Vwdiesel] Broken Bleeder Valves

[Lee Hillsgrove]

>I've always wanted to get a small tank oxy-acetylene
>torch for home use, but w/ a full size burner head. In
>shops I've seen ones w/ tanks about two feet tall.
>Where can these be bought? Used appeals to me for
>price reasons. What attachments are needed? Also, are
>these jsut for cutting metal and heating up stuff real
>hot, or can you weld with these? I'd also like an ark
>welder for true welding. Oh, and I guess an air
>compressor and air tools would do nicely too.



  Oxy-acetylene torches are great - nothing beats a red wrench!

 The problem with small acetylene tanks is that they aren't rated for a
great amount of flow, probably not enough to support a large heating tip.
Acetylene is pretty unstable stuff that can self-ignite from the friction of
flowing through hoses at gas pressures over 15 psi. How do they fill the
tanks to the high pressure which they contain without an explosion, you ask?
The tanks that contain it are specially constructed with a stone or
spongelike filler, loaded with liquid acetone. The acetone bonds with the
acetylene gas to make it less sensitive. The gas can be forced into or
dissolved from the acetone at a set rate of flow, if you try to extract more
gas from a tank than it is rated for then you run the risk of drawing
acetone out along with the acetylene. Acetone is harmful to the rubber torch
hoses, so this is not a good situation. You can tell if you are burning
acetone by the presence of purple in the flame. If you want to run something
like a rosebud tip without overdrawing your tank, you'll need to connect
multiple tanks with a manifold to make up the cfm. Acetylene tanks must also
be stored and used in an  upright position. If they have been laying down
you're supposed to leave them upright for a while before using any gas.
 You must also respect high pressure oxygen tanks. If one falls over because
it was not properly chained to the wall and knocks the valve off the top,
bad things WILL happen. These tanks have been known to pass through entire
buildings, blowing through concrete walls, and keep on going. Range of a
full tank is in excess of 3 miles.

 A decent substitute for acetylene is propane. It's cheap and plentiful when
compared to acetylene, and contains almost as much energy content. The tanks
can be bought and refilled practically anywhere, but you do need to use
different torch tips which have bigger orifices in order to make up for the
reduced Btu content.

 Some plumbing shops use torches that burn propane, acetylene, or Mapp gas
combined with atmospheric air. They get pretty hot but are not as good as an
oxy-fuel setup.

 Not sure where you could get a torch set used, but eBay springs to mind. I
think most places will only lease the larger tanks now, not sell them. My
dad bought two sets of O2 and acetylene tanks and has the slips to prove it,
we always have to bring the paperwork when it's time to refill the tanks
since they don't believe that anyone owns their own tanks anymore and they'd
prefer not to honor his ownership. Just the torch set shouldn't be too hard
to find, though. Try and look for a propane setup since that way you'll only
have to lease the O2 tank. If you don't use your torch a lot the lease cost
per year on the tanks can easily be more than the cost of the gas. We
usually use one tank of fuel to two tanks of oxygen.

 A complete torch set would consist of a set of hoses with flame arrestors,
regulators, handle with gas valves, and an assortment of different sized
tips, along with a cutting torch attachment. You might also find a striker,
goggles or a face shield, and a set of torch cleaners in there as well.
Victor makes a nice set in a blow-molded plastic case.

 You can indeed weld with a gas flame. That's what they taught us to do
first in metal shop. (Of course I was already arc welding with dad's
equipment at home by that point, but...) Gas welding is pretty fun and can
do a very nice job. The thickness you would be capable of welding depends on
the amount of heat available. You can also use a torch to braze and solder
pipes with appropriately sized tips.

 What you would want for a welder depends on what you'll be welding and how
much $ you want to spend. Price ranges from less than $100 for a 110V
buzz-box AC stick welder to well into the thousands for a Tig welder. I have
at home a 110V Lincoln wire-feed Mig welder which uses flux-core wire, so no
shielding gas is required. It does a decent job on metal up to about 1/4"
thick and will do 3/8" if you are patient and willing to do multiple passes.
You do need a dedicated 20A circuit if you are going to be running at or
near full power. I have successfully welded the sheet metal on the inside of
the door of a Toyota pickup I had, and you can imagine how thin that stuff
was. I couldn't run a continuous bead, though, or it would burn through. If
you're going to be doing a lot of body work, the solid wire and shielding
gas is the way to go. Small tanks like the size you'd use are able to be
purchased, but you still need to get them filled with Argon or a mix of
shielding gas at a welding supply or industrial gas store. This welder was
somewhere around $350, I think, and the gas kit runs another $150 or so, I
haven't kept current on the prices. You can get this welder in Harbor
Freight or Home Depot last I knew.
 I also have a very large AC arc welder which was given to me. It runs on
240 or 480V single phase and is capable of 600 amps output if fed with
enough input current. It's not the best choice for welding sheet metal....

 Air compressors are pretty easy to scope out, I see them all the time.
Places like Wal-Mart or auto parts stores sell smaller capacity ones, while
I've seen some pretty big ones in Home Depot. Buy the most cfm you can
afford if you're going to be using air tools.

 Did I miss anything?


  Lee
  Oo-v-oO
  PP-ASEL
  KB1GNI