Glyn the OxyCon

[ps_bond]

OK, so who on earth names an oxygen concentrator "Glyn"???

I have, as might be guessed, just taken delivery of a Devilbiss 515UK oxygen concentrator from Tuffnell's. I mulled the pros & cons of these over bottled O2 for a while before concluding that I'd be happier without an O2 cylinder in the house - although it may be that I add one in at a later point. "Glyn" will be driving a Little Torch in conjunction with a bottle of propane. I've done a quick run test to make sure everything behaves as it should; everything seems happy so far.

Now comes the fun of plumbing it all together.

I have 3/8BSP fittings on the torch; RH thread on the O2 line, LH thread on the propane. I have a regulator that runs between about 0.35 & 2 bar (1/4BSP). A 3/8BSP (LH) flashback arrestor is on the way for the propane; as there is no pressurised oxygen, I'm not fitting one on the oxycon. For the time being, I'll connect the torch to the PVC hose, so a 3/8BSP male hose tail is en route.

The LH 3/8 - 1/4BSP adaptor arrived yesterday for the regulator; unfortunately, the reg is RH thread so I've now ordered a 1/4BSP RH to 3/8BSP LH adaptor from Hamilton Gas Products. Once everything has arrived I should be all set.

What I'd like to do is find or make an adaptor so I can connect the torch fitting direct to the oxycon; I *could* use the plastic barbed connector instead of the 3/8 fitting, but that would preclude using it with a bottle reg as well. I still haven't quite identified the thread - it looks like it might be 9/16" 22tpi, but I'm not entirely convinced by the thread count. Anyone know?

[Anna Wales]

Glyn translates to "valley", Peter. I can't quite work out the naming either.

[mizgeorge]

I don't know if it's any help Peter, but my US fitted Little Torch connected directly to my oxycon with no adapters.

However, as I have two little torches, and multiple others, I ended up just putting quick release valves into everything and using the christmas tree connector with the pvc hose at the oxycon end. It made the whole thing much less of a faff, especially as I tend to use the same propane bottle for everything as well.

As for the naming, I have no idea who at Tuffnells comes up with them, but they always end up making me laugh.

[Wallace]

I have a barb ended thingy that I put into the hose and then used a female to female connector that went from the smaller size to the standard size. I think I have one of the barb tail adapters left. I sourced mine from my local garage - they had air compressors, so I thought it worth a look and see, and they did. They had the female to female connector too.


update - I have found a spare barb tail that will go into the hose. I think, if I have that.... odd are good for the other part.... will keep routing through my cupboard - but it may take a while!

[Tabby66]

I have a seivert and a little torch, with propane cylinder and oxycon 'Pinki'....the little torch came first along with said propane cylinder and originally I used an oxygen cylinder.....right faff connecting & disconnecting O2 each time, since house insurance were not happy with it being left in house.......then invested in seivert, a more general, all-round torch I find, which I use 80%+ of the time......, sometime afterwards I swapped my O2 cylinder for an oxycon (although it was not the primary concern,.....it was definately a money saving decision!!)but when I want to use my little torch, I have to swap the propane connections between torches,....so on this coming Monday I will be collecting a propane splitter, (to go with flashback arrestor), with individual controls on each tap and will be able to use both torches from 1 propane cylinder along with the little torch and NO faffing, changing, re-coupling, etc,etc..........

Will let you know how it goes!!
Tabby xx

[Patstone]

Well I know nothing about torches or what gas or gas mixture is best, but bought the whole kit from Calor, at my local centre. They sold the Sievert torch and a couple of others and they were telling me which one would suit my needs best, bearing in mind that I had only used a hand held before that, and knew nothing. I bought a James and it is connected direct to a propane cylinder which sits under my bench, and I have been using it now for two years and had no problems at all. The only fault I could find with it is that you cant adjust the flame, if you want it less hot you hold it further away. Simples but it works.

[trialuser]

My oxycon, Midge, got upset at the low flow rate mostly required by the little torch.
It seemed to think the 'patient' was not getting enough oxygen due to a kinked hose or whatever, kept flashing a red light at me.
The solution was to put a y piece in the delivery hose, one branch going to the torch and the other venting into the room via a clamp on the hose restricting the flow a little.
Midge sees a flow of at least 1lpm but the torch only receives half of that or whatever it needs.
I put a video of the problem and the user manual on dropbox
video (https://www.dropbox.com/s/gexg7j3p8w0xh46/oxycon.mov)
manual (https://www.dropbox.com/s/ehwjirssru381yh/515A-Patient_Guide.pdf)

[medusa]

mine doesn't have a name and I suspect that I need bigger nozzels because it doesn't seem to like staying alight, but in terms of connecting to a little torch, this might help:
http://www.larsandingrid.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?4473-oxycon-and-little-torch-connecting-help-needed-please&highlight=oxycon

[ps_bond]

All useful stuff, thank you; George, I think that suggests the connector is an "Oxygen B" connector, which is 9/16" but I don't think it's one of the standard threads (of course).
I have other bottles to use with the Sieverts & similar, so I'm not bothered about QD - but I'm still determined not to butcher the existing fitting on the torch.

[ps_bond]

Right, with the addition of a 3/8BSP LH male to 1/4BSP RH male adaptor on the regulator (as well as a flashback arrestor), a 3/8BSP (taper) male hose tail on the PVC pipe from the oxycon, I'm now set up. I need to leak test everything properly this evening, but the brief play this morning suggests everything's OK (sniff test on the joints, OK for a quick check but not adequate for longer-term use).

Can't seem to get the #3 tip to play properly yet, but #4 is fine (min pressure on the propane reg may be contributing). There's going to be a considerable volume of air in the PVC pipe on startup, and I'm not yet sure of the volume stored in the oxycon - these will obviously need to be bled through before running the propane up.

[art925]

I hope you and Glyn have many fine hours of working together.

[ps_bond]

Should be good - I checked everything carefully last night and torched some of my scrap to get a feel for the heat. It'll melt stuff quite quickly, which will take some getting used to.