acetlyene valve leak

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I have a victor performer torch. When I shut off the acetlyene a tiny flame remains at the tip.Is it ok for me to open up the valve to look for some crud on the seat, or should it go out for repair by someone more competant. Cheers
Reply:I'd probably open 'er up, then take it to Wayne to have it rebuilt if beyond my skills.(you one of those guys that believes ya gotta really crank down on valves to shut them off??)I own my bottles, but the only thing I hatehateHATE are the seats where the regulator attaches.  Dudes believe you have to use a 4 foot cheater bar to seat the regulator  They crap up the seats with defective regulator seats too.  Owner bottles are exchanged here.  You don't stand there and wait for it to be refilled.I have a 14yr old Harris torch that's never been rebuilt because I'm gentle with the valves, and gentle when I tighten tips.  Remember, you're dealing with brass which can easily be deformed, and cause leaking seats and valves."Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Victor torch valves are replaceable.  If the seats are bad, you're going to need a new valve.  If you do get a little flame that lingers, hit it with the 02 to blow it out before it burns back into the torch and soots things up.I absolutely agree with you Samm.  Any time you close a valve, you're going to have to close it at least that tight again to get it to seal the next time.  So if you crank down on a valve and drive the needle into the seat, you're going to damage the seat and will have to crank on the valve again the next time to get it to seal.  This applies to all forms of valves, compression fittings, flare fittings, etc...Last edited by 76GMC1500; 11-27-2009 at 06:38 PM.
Reply:Almost all Victor torches have ball valves instead of needle valves.  You can remove the valve and inspect the ball for defects.  If the seat of the valve is worn, it needs to be reseated.  Victor makes a tool for this.  Any good torch and regulator repair shop will have one.OAdoctorwww.regulatortorchrepair.com
Reply:Must reseat the valve, to stop the leak.  JGSMAW,GMAW,FCAW,GTAW,SAW,PAC/PAW/OFCand Shielding Gases.  There all here. :
Reply:To answer my own question....I removed the valve but could not see any debris.I called Tech Support at Victor and they told me to overtighten the valve to get the ball to seat. (maybe I should have posted that the torch is brand new).I thought this advice was strange to i dipped the nozzle in water and tightened the valve by hand, it weeped. Then I carefully overtighted the valve with a pair of pliers, just enough to stop the bubbles. Now it works great, no leaking with finger pressure.