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Re: ribbon burner port
12-9-95
Frank,
I indeed use the ribbon-burner 1/4" pipe fitting for my oxygen inlet, but
that's not what it's for.
It's intended as a "bypass" outlet, so that when the economizer lever is
flipped up the air has someplace to exit to, thereby keeping the air line
pressure consistant (and your other torch flames from fluxuating wildly).
In other words, hook up an air line to it and run the other end to someplace
where you don't mind air squirting out occasionally, ie; where the noise
won't be heard.
Mind you, I called Voltarc when I first got mine and they told me that it
was an oxygen inlet, but the person I talked to didn't really know what he
was talking about (since Hyde is a separate facility 3,000 miles away) and
it was Mark Cherveny who put me straight on the intended use of the port, in
response to a Neon News article of mine. If you pull apart the economizer
unit you'll see that indeed the flipping up of the lever routes the air to
that port.
But, since I only have one torch on at a time anyway (using electric
kickpedals to turn on/off with every bend) I don't need that feature, and
use it instead to run oxy in (which it can somehow still do, despite being
technically "closed" in the economizer-down position). If you do run oxy I
STRONGLY recommend a solenoid valve / footpedal arrangement, so that when
you want oxy on your already-lit-and-running torch you press on the
footpedal; taking your foot off shuts the valve -- this way no unlit gas /
oxy mixture can build up inside the torch body (and make a bomb).
If you need more info on building a solenoid valve system let me know, I've
done it lots.
- Ted