CHEM-O-LENE

Date 04-13-2009 03:17

I look forward to hearing how it works. From what I could find out it looks like another propane & paint thinner combination. I doubt You could gas weld with it, but that probably isn't an issue for You.

By Milton Gravitt (***)

Date 05-08-2009 19:36

Dave, sorry it's taken me a long time to get back to you on this subject because I wanted to try it and ask some questions about it. I've tried this chem-o-lene as to preheat on some 4130 steel and I like it because it don't have any black soot and it is a little faster. I ask the sales person that I have known for quite a long time and he said you could gas weld with it, but you would have to change everything.

M.G.

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 05-09-2009 16:24

Is it noticably hotter than propane? The guy selling propalene [BTU Gasses] claims they [chem-o-lene] overstate the flame temperature & heat output, but then HE is trying to sell a different product.

By welderbrent (*****)

Date 05-09-2009 17:26

Dave,

Without any specs in front of me I may be wrong, but, I think both Propylene and Chem-o-lene run about 5700-5800 degrees F. Propane should be a bit cooler and Acetylene a bit warmer.

I have used Propylene for years at my shop here and up in OR. I love it. We don't do any welding with it, just cutting and heating. It is safer to transport because you can lay the tanks down without any hazardous conditions as with Acetylene. They last longer than the same size Acetylene and are generally cheaper. You also do not have to be as careful about top end pressure as it is not unstable above 15 lbs.

As to your question on "noticably hotter than propane?" I think it depends upon what you are doing and what you are used to. 'Noticably' can be tricky to define. To me they are noticably cooler than Acetylene, and noticably warmer than natural gas. If you set one torch down and immediately picked up the other on the same size material, THEN, I could probably say they were warmer/hotter than propane.

Have a Great Day, Brent

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 05-10-2009 03:50

I saw a demonstration of propalene [for torch cutting] last fall at a blacksmithing event, it was really impressive, but I think the guy holding the torch was a large part of the difference, He was a real pro.

The reducing atmosphere of the secondary flame with acetylene, which is what makes it good for torch welding is not benificial for cutting as it increases the chances of weldback of the kerf.

This is not an issue with propalene cutting, and it seemed really forgiving of tip to work distance increases. The rep flat out said not to try to gas weld with it.

By Milton Gravitt (***)

Date 05-09-2009 19:29

Dave I've never used propane what I was comparing it to was acetylene you know what it really boils down to is what the individual himself likes.The reason I like it is because you don't get the black soot every-time you lite the torch and I've had to lite it about 200 time in the last two or three weeks.

M.G.

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 05-10-2009 03:20

I understand, all that soot raining down on You does get old. In still use acetylene, but except for gas welding, which I havn't done in years, the other fuels do have advantages, especially in cost & safety.

I just got an economizer valve for use in the shop, but I havn't hooked it up yet. Friends that use them really like them.

By CHGuilford (****)

Date 05-11-2009 00:59

A funny thing happened when we tried out Chem-o-line about 10 years ago.

We used to use MAPP gas and had bottles manifolded into our bulk system. The bottles were kept out back under a shed roof so not many people wandered out to the bottle racks (if you did, you might be expected to help switch out empty bottles for full ones)

Anyway, the gas supplier suggested we try it out - so we simply made the switch and very few knew about it. Since we had been using MAPP, no changes were needed for tips or regulators at the drops. No one noticed the switch. We did that for about a month and then mentioned at a Safety meeting that we might like to try it out. "No way that's any better than MAPP" "Cut quality is going to suffer" "It'll take forever to get a cut started" "You might as well switch to hacksaws" ...............

We never did tell them, but about then we switched to propane anyway. They got used to it.

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 05-11-2009 03:00

At the plant We had an optical flame cutting machine that followed a line drawing [It was in the '80s] that used bulk propane. It worked well. The operator used a hand held torch to reduce start time on the heavier plate, no big deal.

By Milton Gravitt (***)

Date 05-11-2009 22:57

We tried the Mapp gas a long time ago and chose to stay with the acetylene we thought is was better. I would like to see some one using the propane gas is it a lot faster than the other cutting gases.

M.G.

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 05-12-2009 04:00

From what I understand, the advantages of propane are availibility, cost & safety. It will take a little longer to initiate the cut than acetylene, but in the case of the flame cutting machine I mentioned, the cuts were generally long, We seldom made a lot of little pieces.

By CHGuilford (****)

Date 05-12-2009 16:27

That's what I was saying previously, we had used MAPP, tried Chem-o-lene, and now use propane.

The guys all grumbled when we switched to propane but there has been no noticeable change in production rates. Today, no one even thinks about what fuel the torches burn- it's not a big deal to us.

The main thing is that it takes slightly longer to start a cut - but not way longer. The speed of hand cutting is the same; cut quaity is the same.
How fast a cut can be made has more to do with the person holding the torch, rather than how fast the oxygen and fuel 'can do its thing'.

But in reality, the slight amount of time lost in starting a cut can be more than made up through being more effecient in material handling, welding, fit-up, and etc.

Keep in mind that we are a fab shop and that most parts are cut to size on a plasma table - so our hand cutting is mostly beam copes and that sort of thing. We burn way more propane in preheating, cambering, or heat-straightening than we do for cutting.