O/A cutting torch pop

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- Victor #0 cutting tip on a medium duty (250) torch- 206cf Acetylene 280cf Oxygen, both mostly full- 3-5psi Acetylene- 15psi OxygenI tune the acetylene to a non-smoking flame that hasn't jumped off the tip but when I start to turn up the oxygen before I get a neutral flame the torch starts popping.  This tip is pretty new and I cleaned it again after this started.  The last time using it I had a loud squeal for a bit before I realized what was happening - did I damage the tip somehow?  Since that happened I have not been able to get a neutral flame.I have tried turning up the Acet. high enough to get the flame to jump off the tip but that doesn't seem to help.What am I missing, do I just need to toss this tip?
Reply:The zero tips can do that. More then a number two tip. That is what I keep in there now a number two tip. But I switch up from an intricate cut, to slicing an "I" beam, to some light demolition. I used to use this kit torch that came with a zero tip. And it worked great for a long time. I even cut a one inch plate with it. Used very little gas as well. Then one day as you are describing I could not get a proper flame out of it. Even when I got it to go, it would go out on me when it got warm. I noticed from the intense use, that the face of the cutting tip had deformed. I did have some luck with flat filing the tip, to fresh meat, and then cleaning it. I also noticed that it deposited black carbon inside the torch as well. That seems to cause problems more so for the zero sized torch. You need those fuzzy pipe cleaners you get in art supply stores to clean the torch. I keep 25-30 psi on the oxygen, I don't know if that will help or hurt. But I have always used at least 25-30 psi. And I use seven to ten psi acetylene. I am not even saying it will be good or bad. That is just how I was taught to do it. Try purging your oxygen line too, by hitting the cutting lever before you light it.        Sincerely,             William McCormick
Reply:http://www.hoopersupply.com/tipchart.htmlEd Conleyhttp://www.screamingbroccoli.com/MM252MM211 (Sold)Passport Plus & Spool gunLincoln SP135 Plus- (Gone to a good home)Klutch 120v Plasma cutterSO 2020 benderBeer in the fridge
Reply:Ditto what William said re the pressures. Usually the popping when you're lighting the torch is a leak at the seat sealing surface due to the tip being nicked or heat damage.The squeeling you heard was the flame burnig inside the mixing chamber of the torch. If you got it fast enough you probably didn't do any damage......Mike
Reply:The popping is almost always due to a bad seat at the tip (either the tip seat is bad, or the torch seat), or bad o-rings where the two halfs of the torch go together.  Sucking air in, vortex effect.   Needs to be fixed, could lead to a back-flash (most likely the loud squeal you heard).  Whether you damaged it or not, I obviously can't tell you, depends on how long it took you to shut everything down.   If you are worried, send the whole torch in to a repair facility, if the mixing tube is bad, they will replace it. Most tips about that size, I keep approx 5 on acetelyne, 30 to 40 on oxygen.
Reply:i believe like the others you are too low on the ox. most tips..cutting,welding,rosebud..require enough gas flow to keep them coool..if flow is low, tip gets hot and bad shiiiiiit occurs
Reply:If the popping stops when the cutting lever is ingaged, the tip is not seating.  The mixer gas of the preheat flame is traveling up the cutting jet hole of tip.  When the mixed gas reaches the preheat flame, it ignites (pops) and burns back to the tip seats.  Then start all over again.  The louder and more frequent to popping the worse the tip is leaking.Here are the step to correct.1-Make sure the tip nut is tight. 2-Replace tip.3-Have torch head resurfaced at a gas apparatus repair facility.The squeling is not good.  That indicates a flashback.  Any time a torch flashes back, cut the oxygen of first and then the fuel.   If the torch flashes back agian, it more than like need to be rebuilt.     Depending on the torch, you may have damaged the tip seat in the head when the torch flashed back.Hope this helps.OAdoctorwww.regulatortorchrepair.com
Reply:If the tip has a booger on the seating surface, rotating the tip back and forth a few times can smooth things out. Ensure your tip nut and barrel nut aren't loose.Always keep a couple of spare tips, on the same theory that you don't buy toilet paper by the sheet.
Reply:Originally Posted by farmallIf the tip has a booger on the seating surface, rotating the tip back and forth a few times can smooth things out. Ensure your tip nut and barrel nut aren't loose.Always keep a couple of spare tips, on the same theory that you don't buy toilet paper by the sheet.
Reply:Black carbon burns, so if you have carbon in your torch, like carbon on a chimney, you need to get it out of there. I was cutting one time and I got spatter all over the torch, it clogged the torch and caused it to pop and go out. After that the torch did not work right. Certainly I did nothing to the seats. I did not touch them. But after that I could not get a good flame. Or it went out sporadically. I thought maybe the packing nuts on the valves were so loose that when my glove or something touched them, they were changing the mix. So I tightened them and nothing happened, same problem. So then I opened up the torch and I saw carbon all in inside the torch. I cleaned it out and wow it was working lovely again. If you TIG weld aluminum, you have seen especially on a damp day, the black carbon that you get sometimes on an aluminum part, burn off after you remove the inert gas shielding. I believe that is what happens in a torch, when you get carbon black build up. When it gets hot enough it burns.       Sincerely,             William McCormick
Reply:It turned out that the cutting torch tip needed to be snugged down.  I had initially used a wrench, then read that the nuts on the torch should be hand tight.  When I just hand tighten the cutting tip it pops.I am now hand tightening the cutting torch to the torch handle (where there are O rings) but have started using a wrench to snug down the torch tip and the popping stopped.Thanks for all the advice.Hobart LX235Victor 250 Oxy-Acetylene Rig (welding and cutting)Bobcat 773F-350, 1999, 4x4, 16' 10K# trailerOutdoor Wood Burner - 10 cords/year
Reply:Using a wrench to tighten the tip tells me the tip, or the seat, is crap.  That of course, depends on how much you have to torque it.  To tighten the tip you should have to do barely finger tight with a wrench.The bad news is...........Victor is now made in China    I wish I'd bought a Harris, or Smith, for my second cutting rig.  At the slightest hint of a problem the new torch is going back for credit towards one of the good ones.  I've been running a Harris for over a decade.  Never had ANY problems with any part of the torch or regulators (other than seats sticking because I didn't leave some tension on the valve spring during long periods of storage, a problem common with all regulators)As far as I'm concerned.......Victor is no longer Victor"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:The bad news is...........Victor is now made in China I wish I'd bought a Harris, or Smith, for my second cutting rig. At the slightest hint of a problem the new torch is going back for credit towards one of the good ones.