Welding hose opinions sought

Hello.. I have an oxy propane set that I want to convert to oxy acetylene. I know that I will need an acetylene regulator and the torch will be fine but what about the propane hose.? There are plenty of web opinions that say propane should not be run through acetylene hoses however nobody has much to say about vice versa. I'm assuming that propane hose is OK for acetylene..? I believe it has a higher rating. Thanks and Cheers, Geoff.

Don't mess with acetylene, get the correct hoses and torch, for your own safety. The hoses and torch sets are relatively cheap compared to the gas cyls. Don't forget to buy a proper A-O inline check valve / flame arrestor set for the hoses in case of a burn back.

By the way, any insurance that is in place is likely invalid if you have an accident and the investigators find wrong gas in wrong hose or any sort of cobbled up fittings or plumbing.

JD

PS when lighting up, in case you didn't know, the order is A before O or up we go.

Thanks Jeff.. good advice.. I've used acetylene before but gave it away because of the cylinder charges. However I'm silver soldering a fair sized boiler at the moment and the oxy propane simply can't get the temp high enough. Cheers, Geoff.

Hi Geoff,

Type in www. welding design .com into your search engine and then do a site search for " a heads up on hose and regulator safety .
Then run down the page to "selecting the correct hose"

Make sure you don't ever use an lpg reg for acetylene or you will blow yourself up !
Acetylene regulators are marked not to exceed 15psi for a good reason and lpg regs can go way over that pressure .

To tell you the truth I would buy a new set of hoses for oxy/acetylene as a set just to be safe that way you can leave the acetylene hose connected to the acetylene regulator/bottle and likewise for the lpg hose /regulator set and you only have to change the oxy bottle over to change fuel gasses .

Ian

Geoff, Don't know if you are proposing to rent again but have a look at this link for Albee Gas part of Air Liquide and they are one of the very few companies who will sell you outright Acetylene cylinders.

http://www.albeegascylinders.com/

**LINK**

Honestly...complete hogwash! your hose doesnt know what went before it, just so long as it is clean and oil/grease free you could pump cyanide through it! Acetylene is very low pressure - but please do use a spark arrester, and remember that if you have a fire your neighbours will hate you forever (due to them being evacuated for 2 days!)

Hi John.. thanks for the suggestion... I don't think we have Albee here in Oz. You used to be able to purchase cylinders here and exchange them for full ones but now its all rental. The old "safety" BS. Something like "National Security" haha.. Probably the chairman of the gas company was the prime ministers brother-in-law. Our Govt is as corrupt as any banana republic and when it comes to screwing the population they are right up there. I'll take the minimum 3 month rental. That should be more than enough for this project.. Cheers, Geoff.

Hi Fizzy.. you are a man after my own heart. Believe that the hydrocarbons in propane are possibly harmful to standard acetylene hose but not vice versa. I thought it was a simple question. A propane regulator cannot be used on an acetylene bottle not only because of the pressure difference but also.. to state the bleeding obvious.. it has a reverse thread.. So has the hose connection. My new acetylene regulator came with a barb connector (the Chinese think of everything) so its snip and clamp. Will leave some hose for when I reverse the job, I've been welding with gas and arc since the 70s and never had any problems. My torch has both oxy and acetylene (odd the acetylene one came supplied on a propane set) blowback arrestors and I don't evisage setting the place on fire. Thank you and best wishes from downunder.. Geoff.

Fuel gasses have L/H threads but LPG appears to be parallel and Acetylene appears to be tapered .

They will start into each other but not far enough to seat the rubber seal.

The outlet is different as LPG uses R/H for this but Acetylene is still L/H.

I Remember a few years back I bought an LPG torch at the local cheapo tool store but it ended up having a weird thread on the inlet , I ended up having to go to a gas specialist store to get a hose made and then found out it needed an adjustable regulator as the generic BBQ unit I was hoping to use had too much juice .

By the end of that saga it ended up costing more than a name brand unit that came with a hose and regulator

They say you live and learn !
I did a lot of living that day !

Ian

Long before I had access to the Internet I did not know Propane was harmful to welding hose. I swapped my Acetylene tank out for Propane. It's been about 30 years ago and still using the same hose with no signs of a problem.