Home owner's insurance-- Do I need to check with them about having
this?
Possibly. that depends on your policy, state and local laws and fire
regs, and whether this is for personal (ie homeowner) use or for an
actual business. Safer to check, but then there’s always the
possibility that you’ll end up opening up a can of worms. You might
wish to be “discrete” in inquiring. On the other hand, should you
ever have a fire, even if not related to the torch, and the insurance
people find you’ve misled them on something they expect they should
have been told, then it could invalidate your whole coverage and in
some states, might even be considered fraud or something. The one
thing I cannot suggest would be that you deliberately suggest you
don’t have such, if for example there’s somewhere in your policy
application or paperwork that asks you, or requires you to tell them.
That WOULD be fraud, if you lie to them. it’s less clear if they
don’t ask, and you don’t tell… But you still might be putting your
coverage at risk. Read your policy carefully. Then it’s your call.
But the fully correct and by the book answer would be to have you ask
them about it, and maybe be willing, if needed, to pay extra for
coverage with that torch taken into account.
Safety in initial set up. My local supplier of acetylene will not
deliver, so I need a safe way to transport a B tank filled.
Suggestions for keeping it from moving.
The B tanks aren’t that large, for one thing, and acetylene is not
under high pressure. So these are not so dangerous to move. I’d
suggest either on the floor of the passenger’s front seat, leaning up
against the seat with the seat belt wrapped around the neck to secure
it in position, or flat on the floor in the back seat, where there’s
just not much room for a tank to roll anywhere anyway. But ask your
supplier if that seems OK to them. Again, local regulations might
apply, or your car’s design might suggest alternative options…
Also, I will need to do the initial set up of the tank, regulator,
torch. I took a class that explained how to bleed a line, check
for leaks, etc. I haven't actually tried these things. Any
suggestions for a newbie--or good resources.
Your gas supplier, for one. Your nose, for two. Acetylene stinks. If
you’ve got a leak, you’ll likely notice it. But check anyway after
things are hooked up with either a commercial leak detection liquid
your supplier can sell you, or the traditional standby, a bit of
water with dish soap. Remember, NEVER use a flame source to look for
leaks. And rest assured that this is not as risky and tricky as some
warnings might lead you to believe. Some common sense will go a long
way, once you’ve asked your supplier the appropriate questions and
all… Air/acetylene torches are not prone to some of the mistakes
that you can make with the oxygen and fuel torch setups. They’re
pretty straight forward.
And lastly--I'm using a plumber's torch (propane) currently. It is
working alright for silver; but having trouble reaching solder
flow temperature for a larger copper piece. I've cleaned and
retried several times. Wondering if its just a lower temp. torch or
if I'm doing something.
I’d guess you simply don’t have enough heat. The acetylene torch
will be better, especially if you’ve got a larger size tip for it.
Peter