my sievert bit me !!! (the handle caught fire)

[billiehands]

=:-O hi all,
billie from london : i firstly want to say thank you very much for all the info on the forum, in helping getting me up and started with my torch ! i also watch the utube video .

so very excited, felt confidant turned gas on and started soldering .

soldering away and next thing the flame jumped back at me, the handle and my hand were engulfed in flames !!!

i dropped the torch and turned the main gas on the canister off.

it did not burn me but it was frightening !!!

is there a thread on the forum or somewhere i can find out what happened, why and NOT to repeat it !

one good thing i was hovering in the background just peaking around now i had to take that leap and get involved !!!

thanking u muchly and good to be here !!!:~:

[CJ57]

Hi Billie and welcome
It's scary isn't it, my sievert has recently started doing that but I've had mine for 30 + years. As yours is new I would check if the burner is screwed on tightly, other than that I have no idea why mine started playing up either. I get a warning of sparks before the blow back and have since boiled the burner to clean it but haven't used it much since. When I turn it off on the handle the flame also continues and I have to blow it out but that may also have stopped since I cleaned the burner
Hope someone can explain:)

[enigma]

Hi Billie,
Mine did it too, in fact mine flamed right up in my face singeing my hair and I couldn't turn it off except at the gas bottle as the flame kept going after I dropped it on the floor -the flame out of the handle that is. :-O
In my case Im pretty sure it was my own stupidity in that I hadn't tightened it properly so I always make sure its tightened and no leaks now before using.
So far so good thankfully!

[BarryM]

It appears that you have a leak somewhere between the rubber hose and the burner nozzle - almost certainly a screwed joint that is either not fully tightened or has been cross threaded.
With gas turned ON at the bottle but OFF at the nozzle paint a washing up liquid solution over all the joints - if one bubbles then that is where the leak is. If no bubbling try again with the nozzle turned on but NOT lit (outside or in a very well ventilated area). Again check for bubbling.

If this fails then immerse the whole nozzle in water an turn the gas bottle on - any bubbles will show where the leak is. Ensure you FULLY and COMPLETELY dry the nozzle before using by giving it a good shake, wiping off and putting in a warm area for a few hours.

[BarryM]

Just a little warning - I light my sievert with a little gas cigarette lighter which I put out of the way once the nozzle is lit. One day I left the lighter next to the soldering block and in a moment of absent mindedness let the flame play on the lighter. A heck of a bang and my head enveloped in a ball of flame as the lighter melted and exploded in about 2 seconds.

Since then I NEVER use a lighter but a spark igniter, lesson learnt the hard way. Frightened the s**t out of me, burnt my face (not badly - more like bad sunburn) and removed eyebrows, eyelashes and first couple of inches of front of hair.

An amusing little story now but not fun at the time.

[ssssue]

Had a similar situation with my new orca a few weeks ago. Appears the hose had an excess of oil/grease collected in it. Think it was probably put there by the manufacturer to prevent the hose cracking while stored. Frightened me to death when it happened (not literally!) although I managed to turn the gas off quickly. Took it into Suttons and they cleaned it out for me; it's fine now (so far).


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[Tabby66]

I've only had this happen once and as Barry suggests, one of the joints had become lose!! I regularly check the joints on my torch, (as Barry suggests) not every time, though all joints are checked if anything has been moved/swapped!!

[billiehands]

thank you all sooooo much for your reply,s !!!
i thought i was the only person in the whole world (not) that this happened to !!!
we lose perspective in our own little workshop heaven or hell !

my joints were lose !!!

thank u all muchly !!!

[billiehands]

hi and thank you,

my nut were lose BUT since i tighted them it has been fine BUT it now also does he not going out thing when i turn off at the handle , which i might add is also pretty scary !!!

i think i might talk to cookson where i bought it only about 3 weeks ago ! :(

[enigma]

Does it not go off at all or is it just taking a while?

[BarryM]

When I turn off the tap on the handle it takea about 5 second for the flame to completely go out ( remant gas in the tubing burning off) - is this what you mean?


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[trialuser]

Mine does this and I find it infuriating. It's only burning the gas in the torch between the flow valve and the nozzle but it seems to take about 4 seconds longer than you think it should. Breaks the natural flow of working as you have to hang onto the torch until it's safe to put down or hang up.

[enigma]

Mine too although it doesn't do it with the big nozzle on, only the smaller one ( which of course I use most of the time!)

[marna]

My sievert just went rogue and gave me quite the fright! Flame started coming from the handle suddenly, as I turned it on. I had been using it about five minutes earlier without any problems.

I checked for leaks last week (I do this every week), and hadn't made any changes to it - although I've been using it since. It's leaking with both the regular head and the tiny one that I hardly ever use - the leak's the same place for each, on the side. I've tried cleaning it, and it's as tight as I can get it (and definitely as tight as it's been before). I can't see any damage. Any ideas on anything else I can do before I go looking for another handle?

It's a pro 86, about.... ten years old? Fairly old, anyway.

Thanks!

Marna

[BarryM]

Try using PTFE tape (available from most hardware stores) which is like a very thin stretchy plastic that you wrap around the joint before screwing together. Solves most leak problems and can be used for most liquids and fuel gases, only costs a £1 or so for a roll.

[marna]

Thanks Barry!

I have loads of PTFE tape around the place - is it safe with propane though? (The internet can't make its mind up about whether regular PTFE will be fine or EXPLODE.)

Also, the joint is not on the threads, but on the little rounded ball/ socket inside (and I can see a shiny line on both where there's usually contact). So, ptfe carefully around that I guess?

(I'm really baffled about how this has suddenly started leaking....)

[emsterv]

Ah Barry thanks for sharing that story. I wasn't sure if that warning not to use cigarette lighters (I do) held any credence as any time I've heard of that happening its always one of those "friend-of-a-friend" type stories. Good reminder to be careful!

[marna]

The end of the tale: I ordered a new handle and hooked that up, and the leaky problem is solved - not ideal cost-wise, but at least I'm not spilling propane under the floorboards to wait ready for an explosion, and all my torch joints are happily bubble-free again.