propane or acetylene ?

[bobodu]

I figure I can switch to the propane and save a BUNCH of money in the process. I pay about nine bucks a month just for the tank rental and it cost around $60 for a refill of act. We have metered propane service so filling my own tank probably isn't an option but the convenience store a few miles down the road carries exchange bottles 24/7. I'm going with the prpane as soon as I run this bottle dry.

 

[tnhomestead]

I just went propane for the cost. A 20 pound propane tank will last thru 3 125 cu foot Oxygen tanks, and if I need to weld with it,will get a small pony tank. And while propane is cooler, steel melts about 1300 centigrade so it will cut it fine. I think cuts are as clean either way.
Have Fun!!!!

 

[Bird]

But will propane cut ?
Max. flame temperature isnt important when heating, only when cutting.

I think it's like many other things; just depends on how well you learn to do it. When I was a member of our volunteer fire department, our fire chief at the time, who was also a full time farmer, had a propane cutting torch and I've seen him cut 12" diameter thick walled steel pipe and do about as nice a job as I've seen done with acetylene.

 

[BigE_]

I have propane,
YOU CAN NOT WELD with it, you need acetylene to weld with, (steel), but if you have a wire feed I doubt if you will ever miss that possibility,

I guess when I was welding with propane I wasn't really welding, then. I was simply melting the metal into a puddle and adding rod to the puddle. Sure as heck looked like welding, but what do I know? This was cold rolled steel.

 

[J35]

I switched to Propane back in the Mid 80's.

From a practical standpoint the only draw back I ever ran into was lighting the torch when it was windy out, just had to find a small wind block and be quick with the oxygen.

Have fun

 

[BHD]

OK you can heat the metal to melting and melt it together, but there is a scale (oxidation from what I can figure) that forms and weakens the weld and even makes it difficult to get the puddle to flow, (maybe the better statement is one can not make a good, clean, strong, weld with propane) Normaly considered you can not weld with propane.

with acetylene it does not from the scale on the puddle and you get a much cleaner and stronger weld when done.

Andys Place, Propane vs Acetylene Cutting
Welding with Propane
Lots of conjecture out there on why you can't weld with propane. Some say Propane is not hot enough. Actually that has nothing to do with it. Take a #7 Oxygen / Propane tip and compare it to a tiny #1 welding tip. Even though the Propane tip has a far higher BTU output you still will not get a good weld. The reason Propane ( and other alternative fuels ) are not suitable is that when Acetylene is burning with Oxygen it creates a cone of CO2 forming a shielding gas over the weld puddle. Propane does not produce this shielding CO2

 

[Renze]

I just went propane for the cost. A 20 pound propane tank will last thru 3 125 cu foot Oxygen tanks, and if I need to weld with it,will get a small pony tank. And while propane is cooler, steel melts about 1300 centigrade so it will cut it fine. I think cuts are as clean either way.
Have Fun!!!!

I figured you do need a different head for propane than for acetylene, the difference is how much gas is mixed in which location of the torch. they do sell different heads for propane and acetylene, they dont sell welding heads for propane.

I think i should go for propane, and buy new. After watching a co-worker get 3rd degree burn allover his chest and chin, due to a leaking oxygen hose (he unknowingly held the leaky hose against his coveralls, this amount of pure oxygen will make cloth, just as anything combustible, burn like h*ll with just a spark) i dont want to mess around with old hoses, valves and regulators. period.

When i buy a complete set, i'll get acetylene torches which i have no use for when cutting with propane, and only the torch holder can be used in combination with propane torches and tips. I can get the new torch for the price of the set (for which i have no use other than the torch holder)

 

[MotorSeven]

I went with a set of pawn shop torches and changed the tip to propane. The acetylene bottle would have been almost $200. I have already used up one oxy bottle on less than half a bottle of propane & it has cut everything I went after.

RD

 

[towmotor]

Just to weigh in on the actetylene vs. propane:
I've worked where the only fuel gas used was propane. The quality requirement, in terms the "smooth, clean cut" were as stringent as can be found, where any resulting weld repairs would cost thousands of dollars; millions when considered on an annual or per-contract basis.
Suffice it to say that propane will perform adequately to anyone's specifications, where cutting is the primary use.

We also used propane for brazing/silver brazing/silver soldering, but I suspect that the pressures necessary with propane may make it difficult to perform an actual gas weld, where you're forming a puddle and adding a filler-at least to a decent result.

 

[dirt ditch]

I have posted this propane torch link before and it is very informative. Quoting one sentence from the page as to why you can't weld steel with propane:
"When LP gasses burn with oxygen they infuse too much hydrogen into the flame to allow gas welding of steel, and the welds would end up quite brittle."

Welding: Adjusting a heating torch, oxy/propane