Hey all,
Quick question. My dad has an old set of Craftsman OXY-Acetylene torches. He doesn't know how to weld or anything, but he was a mechanic for a while, and he's always worked on the family cars, so he had the setup for breaking lose old bolts, cutting off braces, things like that. He's had the set ever since I was a kid, and I'm now approaching 30.
I started getting into welding about 5 years ago, and learned how to use a burning outfit for cutting and welding. I took courses at the local vocational school for a year and a half. I tried cutting a piece of 1" mild steel plate that same year with his torches and couldn't get the setup to hold a neutral flame once the cutting motion began. I told him I suspected his regulators weren't working, but he argued that I just didn't know how to setup a dual action torch set. I pretty much disagreed with him, but didn't want to argue, and dropped the subject. I never touched his torch set since then, even though I had it in my storage for a while.
Fast forward to this morning, some 5 years later, and I was fabricating some stools for the garage. I had some old rings for blow pipe (at least that's what we called it at the last shop I worked at) that were about 13" to the outer flange, and I welded some angle iron for legs. I plan to put a wood seat on the top and possibly brace the legs later. I built two of them from scrap materials i picked up from work (I'm an apprentice tinner). I was having some trouble with my MIG, and I couldn't get it to lay down a nice bead. I don't get to practice much these days, and I think I was just getting fruatrated with it. Thinking back I think what probably happened is I forgot to grind the old paint off of the scrap angle iron. It was silver paint and I didn't really pay attention to which pieces were painted and which weren't.
Anyways, my intent was to take out dad's old torches and go over the welds to make them look better. (like you would do with a tig welder) I was frustrated, and terribly disappointed with the appearance of my welds, so this was my intent.
Long story short (or did I already fail?) My dad's oxygen regulator wouldn't allow any pressure to the torches. It registered pressure in the tank, but the PSI stayed at zero for the torch pressure, no matter how much you tightened it down. He came by and I told him there was a problem, and he said it sounded like a diaphram was bad.
Getting to the point, finally, is this something I should look into getting repaired, or am I wasting my time? Should I just plan on getting another set? I have a nice set of Harris torches that are my own, but dad has very small hobby bottles, and I've never bothered putting them on them. I've always wanted to get some larger tanks for my own use.
Anyways, thanks in advance. Just looking to figure out which is cheaper, and/or makes more sense. To get them fixed, or buy another set. (I'm thinking it's going to be cheaper to replace them, but I figured it's free to ask)
Mathius
I have an early '80s Craftsman 2 stage Oxy regulator that did the same thing. On Mine there is an aluminum part in the 1st stage that transferes the pressure from the diaphram to the ball that is the valve. This little aluminum part has an even smaller projection that actually contacts the ball. This little projection becomes distorted, and is no longer long enough to push the ball away from the valve seat. My plan, which I havn't done yet is to drill this little aluminum part to accept a steel pin that will push on the ball without distorting. I have a machine shop, so this is a reasonable plan for Me, perhaps not for You.
A logical solution for You is to use the other regulators, and look into either doing what I described, or checking into getting a rebuild kit which hopefully cures the problem. I was looking for regulator parts a little while back, and someone suggested "Coastal Welding Supply" (281)422-9418 and said they had used them in the past. I havn't called them yet, the regulators I need to rebuild are on the back burner due to other projects.
A welding supply shop can send them out for a rebuild, replacements may be cheaper. my Craftsman sets '77 & '83 vintage, are Harris products. There were older Craftsman torch kits that were not Harris and parts for those may be unavailable. There are cheaper import torch sets & regulators available, I don't have any and cannot vouch for the quality of them.
Thanks for the quick reply. I'm not sure what year these are, but I do know they accept Harris torches, so it is reasonable to assume they were made by Harris. I guess it might be a smart plan to call the local welding places (there are only a handful around here that I know of) and see what they would charge, or if they can even rebuild them.
Thanks,
Mathius
Look on the regulator body [the brass part], there is probably a manufacture date stamped in it.
Hello, I too have a set of Craftsman regulators. They look like Harris were manufactured 08/86 and 07/86. I have owned these 20 some odd years. They are in nice appearance condition as are the attachments. Today I tried to use the set and found the oxygen output pressure goes down to zero when I open the cutting torch up. They are two stage regulators. oxygen regulator is model number 313.543040 and the act is model 313.543080. Where to send for a repair ? and what could be wrong with the oxy regulator? Let me know how you proceeded with your repairs?
benfryer: Mine is still sitting on the workbench, but I would guess that the same first stage issue has happened to Yours. I will try the repair I mentioned soon for the benifit of deterrmining if that is a sucessfull method.
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