Hydrogen/O2

I have been hydrogen/oxygen for at least 10 years and highly
recommend it.

Jeffery,
I am beginning to think that you actually know everything. You
certainly understand these processes much more deeply than I do.
Are there any saftey issues I should be aware of? I assume I will
need a special regulator, is that true? Do you use it only for
casting? Will I be able to get hydrogen at my local welding/fuel
supplier? Am I going to blow my shop up, (I keep thinking of the
Hindenburg). I belive that exceeds my question allowance per
post.

Thanks,
Mark Parkinson

I am beginning to think that you actually know everything.

Not a chance… :slight_smile:

Are there any saftey issues I should be aware of?

Hydrogen can be dangerous. I’ve never heard of any horror
stories in the jewelry field, maybe that’s because we were all
so scared by the supplier’s warnings. One thing I’ve been told
(and never understood) is to never let your tank become
completely empty, replace it with a few lbs of pressure left.
And open the main valve very slowly. I’m just repeating what I
was told, not from personal experience.

 I assume I
will need a special regulator, is that true? 

Yes, you will need a special regulator. The price is equivalent
to an oxygen regulator.

Do you use it only for casting?

That’s all I use it for. I have friends that use it at their
bench, but I’ve become so accustomed to natural gas that I
prefer it for benchwork.

 Will I be able to get hydrogen at my local welding/fuel supplier?

I do, and I’m out in the middle of a big corn field…

 Am I going to blow my shop up, (I keep thinking of the Hindenburg). 

I’ve never heard of that happening in any jewelry shop. Hydrogen
is so light it disperses quickly. But heaven’s forbid it should
collect in a pocket and ignite. It could create a severe
explosion. Ask your welding supplier about it. Mine told me that
a large pill bottle filled with hydrogen could create a one foot
crater in an asphalt street… Needless to say, I’ve always been
very careful… :slight_smile:

Jeffrey Everett

Jeffery,

Thank you very much for the info. I really appreciate it. I
still can’t belive how much stuff you know. You are the kind of
person who should be teaching. I suppose thats what your doing
via this list.

Thanks Again,
Mark Parkinson

One thing I’ve been told(and never understood) is to never let
your tank becomecompletely empty, replace it with a few lbs of
pressure left.

Hi Jeffrey, I am not sure, but could imagine that if there is not
enough pressure left in the tank, the flame of the torch could
flash back into the tank with horrible results. Markus

Thank you very much for the info. I really appreciate it

It’s my pleasure Mark. I really enjoy helping people in any
way I am able to, especially within the jewelry industry where
I’ve had my nose to the grindstone for better than 25 years. :slight_smile:

JE

Has anybody here ever used the torch system that uses water and
splits it into these two elements? i’ve been kind of curious
about this- I know it’s supposed to be preferred for insurance
companies for use in shopping centers, etc.- does it work well,
and how cost- effective is it? Anne

I am not sure, but could imagine that if there is not enough
pressure left in the tank, the flame of the torch could flash
back into the tank with horrible results

Markus and Jeffery,

I use a check valve on all our fuel tanks now, to prevent
backflash. Is it the same used for hydrogen?

Mark Parkinson

I use a check valve on all our fuel tanks now, to prevent
backflash. Is it the same used for hydrogen?

I installed a flashback arrestor on the torch, plus a check
valve at the regulator. Can’t be too safe…

JE

Has anybody here ever used the torch system that uses water and
splits it into these two elements?  i've been kind of curious
about this- I know it's supposed to  be preferred for insurance
companies for use in shopping centers, etc.- does it work well,
and how cost- effective is it? Anne

I’ve used it, and there are people online who who use it
regularly. I liked it for silver and platinum, but prefer
natural gas and oxygen for gold work. The flame produced is
rather sharp and concentrated.

JE

In a message dated 97-05-03 22:12:32 EDT, you write:

Has anybody here ever used the torch system that uses water and
splits it into these two elements? i’ve been kind of curious
about this-

Yes I have used the L&R aqua torch for about 9 years now. It
generates its own hydrogen from a caustic water solution. It has
been very economical to use - I change the solution once a year.
This torch is great for any repair work (especially retipping)
and it gets plenty hot. The only drawback is one cant use it for
casting. Ken

Hydrogen *can* be dangerous. I've never heard of any horror
stories in the jewelry field, maybe that's because we were all
so scared by the supplier's warnings. One thing I've been told
(and never understood) is to never let your tank become
completely empty, replace it with a few lbs of pressure left.
And open the main valve very slowly. I'm just repeating what I
was told, not from personal experience.

I’ll throw my 2 cents worth in here if I may. In general it is
good to return all your tanks with a bit of pressure left. If you
maintain your tanks at a positive pressure, there can by no issue
of atmosphere getting into the tanks. This is to prevent
condensation in the thank and possible rust formation. ( well
that’s the reason for SCUBA anyway )

BTW: I heard from a chemist friend of mine that platinum is a
catalyst for H2, such that blowing H2 accross platinum would
cause a spontaious ignition… Has anyone heard this? Of course
he could be talking about elemental platinum, not an alloy.

 _,'|            _.-''``-...___..--';
/, \'.      _..-' ,      ,--...--'''

< \ .--''' /| Tom Vanderputten
`-,;’ ; ; ; tvander@idi.oclc.org
__…–‘’ …–_…’ .;.’ Systems Development
(,
…----‘’’ (,…–‘’ Unix hacker at Large
vi is my shepherd; i shall not font.

“People who are more than casually interested in computers
should have at least some idea of what the underlying
hardware is like. Otherwise the programs they write will be
pretty weird.” D. Knuth.

Hi Anne

I recently bought a water torch. I would classify it as a
specialty torch. Only good for small fine work. You would have to
incorporate it in with a regular jewelers torch which migh not
justify the expense. Recently I was fixing a bracelet that had a
spring ring the small jump ring came off I was amazed how easy
and fast it was to reattach it and the heat was so centralize the
spring insde had not lost any tension. There is a little info to
know about the torchs they use a caustic solution as the
electolyte and pass the resulting gas thru a fluid which is
normally methanol with boric acid which fluxes the piece as you
work. it gives the flame a green color this also helps you see
the flame if you use the torch for platnimum you need to forgo
the methanol part as this can cause embrittlemnet of the piece
you are soldering. The european versions have the methanol on
external containers which are detached when doing platinum work.
Again I would say its excellent for your small repairs and fine
assembly but it is not an all around torch.

On 05-May-97, Tom Vanderputten wrote aboutRe: Hydrogen/O2:

TV> BTW: I heard from a chemist friend of mine that platinum is a
TV> catalyst for H2, such that blowing H2 accross platinum would
TV> cause a spontaious ignition… Has anyone heard this? Of course
TV> he could be talking about elemental platinum, not an alloy.

G’day, Tom (I tawt I taw a pudditat?) This is true, but the
platinum needs to be small. If you take a - say - 22 gauge Pt
wire, make a small coil, heat it in a coal gas flame from a
bunsen burner(coal gas contains hydrogen,) blow out the flame,
the wire will glow getting hot enough to ignite the flame. Finely
divided platinum on asbestos used to be used as a domestic gas
lighter. Fine platinum mesh will work well too. The fine platinum
acts as a CATalyst. It wouldn’t work too well with a platinum
ring though Cheers,

        /\
       / /    John Burgess, 
      / /
     / //\    @John_Burgess2
    / / \ \
   / (___) \
  (_________)