I recently acquired a meco torch, set up with propane. While I can
get it to function, it is only by setting the regulators at a very
low setting and then barely cracking the valves on the torch. The
regulators are 60psi max. I dial them up to maybe 3-5 psi; it’s hard
to say since the needles are barely off the pegs. Then I open the
torch valves a fraction of a turn. Any more and the torch won’t stay
lit. I’ve got a N-0 tip on the torch. It’s much easier to light if I
remove the tip, but of course that yields a much larger more ragged
flame.
So I’m interested to hear if this is normal or if maybe I’ve got the
wrong regulators or tip or ???
With jewelry torches like the Meco with some of the small tips used
it is not unusual to use 4-5 psi or even less supply pressure for
both O2 and propane.
The meco tips are always like that. Mine were the same way. You can
open them up a bit with a small drill bit or over time they the
tip’s opening will widen from constant use.
You need new pressure gages for your regulator(s), say with a 15 psi.
scale That way you can adjust the proper pressure in that range of 4
to 6 psi that is so typical of small torch tips so they don’t blow
out.
I have a Meco Midget as well and open the valves while pointing at
my cheek to gauge the flow because, you are right, it hardly
registers on the gauges. Same with oxygen. Doesn’t seem to make a
difference in what I can produce, as long as I use the right tip and
right flow to get enough heat for what I’m doing
It isn’t the gages == it is the spring range and the regulator
dampening that cause the trouble. Most regulators today are built for
ox fuel cutting with high pressures required. Some are way overdamped
(SMITH particularly). You need a regulator for low flows at low
pressure. I haven’t tested regulators formally for quite a while and
I don’t know any that will really do this today. They can be built!
Smith is really guilty since they sell the little torch!
Hello this is Stephen Wyrick, over in San Antonio,
32 years ago I bought the unknown MECO equipment just for my benches.
I bought “All” the tips and within 6 months had modified them to do
better work and get in to places that you cannot with the normal
tips. One of my associates did a lot of tube work and made a wide
range of sizes. I would get his cut-offs, and drill out the tips to
snugly and force the SS tubing in the hole and adjust the length as I
thought I would need.
It is better to leave them a bit long, 1 to 2 inches, so as to
refinish the tips over time. This silver tubing is not soldered in
place, just tight friction fit. Getting down into hollow objects can
be a pain, but of course you will be smart and get the tubing and
cut it for the recess job - - RIGHT! --RIGHT.
Use a small cone or setting bur to remove the sawing chaff from the
inside hole or you will have an orange flame. Need help - Call-me,
I’am like the St Bernard in the winter time, I’ll be there for ya!
I had the same problems. I got some low pressure regs from Otto Frei
which solved the problem. They were very helpful when I spoke to them
on the phone about it.
I’m using the Uniweld regulators from Otto Frei, “Designed for Low
Pressure Outputs as Used by Jewelers”. These are the ones they
bundle with the Meco torch. The gauges on these regulators have a
max of 60 psi, with the first line off the peg being I think 4 psi.
Makes the gauges all but useless for adjusting pressures of a few
psi.
I can’t help but wonder if I could regulate to 1 or 2 psi if maybe
I’d be able to open the torch valve more than 5-10 degrees. As it
is, the difference between open and closed on the torch valves is
really the difference between closed and closed really tight. More a
matter of torque than rotation.
It’s not that I can’t get it to work, just a matter of ergonomics I
suppose.
