Can I scream now pleaseeeeeeeeee?

[bustagasket]

ARgggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhh

It really is not going well for me today. I sat and cut a million pallions so that i could finish soldering the bracelet that i was having trouble with the paste on and the bloody torch ran out and i have tried and tried to refill it and all i get is a minute of good flame and then it fades again.

Pete did it for me in the end last time, and he said it required an awful lot of pressure and suggested that i put the can on the worktop and then put the torch onto it and the pulled down so that my weight might help

Well i have done it about fifty bloody times now, and my back is screaming and i am altogether totally and utterly ticked off that i cant do this.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated as he wont be home til late tonight after fishing as usual, and i gotta try and remember to ask him to refill it for me to go back to the bracelet tomorrow.

I have completely and utterly wasted the whole day faffing about on it, and given myself a massive bloody headache in the meantime and am now sitting blabbing like a baby.
I dont know what to attempt now apart from slitting me wrists lol but i would probably stuff that up too today lol.

I want to have produced SOMETHING by the end of the day!!

[Charlotte]

Is it the £9.99 torch from cooksons? If so thats the one I have and it took me 2 days to figure out how to use it It might be the case that yours needs more pressure, but if not this is exactly how I do it:

Hold my torch upside down (never found the need to push it against the bench, plus you can feel the torch go cold as it fills up) push the can down pretty hard (but not ridiculous I have a bad back and a missing rib which make my right arm weaker than most!) Be patient, if its empty it can take a while, it should hiss, and it'll splutter when its full (i try not to get it that far as you don't want lighter fluid all over the place... if you do, use a slightly damp cloth to be sure to get it all off you torch and hands!) It gets heavier and colder when its full. This is probably obvious stuff but I just couldn't understand it when I got mine!

Let me know how it goes!

[bustagasket]

Is it the £9.99 torch from cooksons? If so thats the one I have and it took me 2 days to figure out how to use it It might be the case that yours needs more pressure, but if not this is exactly how I do it:

Hold my torch upside down (never found the need to push it against the bench, plus you can feel the torch go cold as it fills up) push the can down pretty hard (but not ridiculous I have a bad back and a missing rib which make my right arm weaker than most!) Be patient, if its empty it can take a while, it should hiss, and it'll splutter when its full (i try not to get it that far as you don't want lighter fluid all over the place... if you do, use a slightly damp cloth to be sure to get it all off you torch and hands!) It gets heavier and colder when its full. This is probably obvious stuff but I just couldn't understand it when I got mine!

Let me know how it goes!

Yes its the cooksons one, and i dont get anything like that. it said on the instructions that if it hissed it wasnt filling up but leaking and i dont feel any change in temp or weight and certainly dont get a splutter. I will have to have another go

[Di Sandland]

erm - at the risk of you throwing your torch at me - is your gas canister empty?

[Solunar Silver Studio]

I'm no expert Su' but I think filling it upside down with the can on the table might be a mistake. I don't actually know if butane cans have a propellent in them but if they do then you might be filling your torch with that instead of the butane. The butane is a liquid so it will be at the bottom of the can. If you have filled your torch with some other gas/propellent by having the can the wrong way up that might be why you are not getting much of a flame and you would really need to empty it of whatever is in it before trying to fill it with the butane again. Can you turn the torch on and leave it in the garden for a while?

When filling the torch you do need a lot of pressure to hold the two bits together and push...it is a good exercise for the bust line though!!! Make sure you locate the red filler tube into the little hole in the bottom of the torch..it has a little metal tube in there which helps it to line up properly. Hold everything in line then squeeze the torch and the can towards each other and hold it while you hear the gas 'shushing'. Mine takes about 12 seconds to fill. When it is full it will begin to sputter...so stop then.

Don't panic about a bit of liquid spraying about..it is very volatile and will soon evaporate into the air. Remember - when you fill a car with petrol you release hundreds of times more vapour than you do filling a torch - but you aren't scared to do that are you!

It is easy Su'...it really isn't a scary beasty!! You can do it....GO GIRL!!

[Charlotte]

Lol, Su you'll never guess what... I went to try mine to see what I do and I've got a new can and its not going in the same as it did before (I threw my old can away last week and I couldn't remember which nozzle I used!)! Its going everywhere no matter what nozzle I use.

(5mins later)

Ok... so I've gone back to no nozzle and only a tiny bit of pressure, nice little hiss and the torch is all cold and heavy ready to use!

[ps_bond]

I've got a similar one - I only really use it in the kitchen these days.

If you're putting the can on the worktop and the torch on top, you are not getting liquid butane into it. Which you need. Put the torch on the worktop and the can on top - it *must* be inverted to fill the torch.

I usually do this outside - it's overkill as a safety precaution, but I'm happy with my paranoia

Putting the torch in the fridge overnight can help get a better fill too - chills the whole thing down.

Failing that, go and get a Bernzomatic UL2317 and a small propane can from B&Q (at least, they used to do them - can't see them on the website).

OK, so I'm being slow on typing and other people have covered it while I'm off looking up torches

[bustagasket]

CHARLOTTE I COULD HUG YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It had a lovely flame and all the soldering is done and its in the pickle (must remember to get it out lol)

the flame was starting to falter just a tad towards the end so i need to do it longer but as it was spluttering all the time i didnt carry on. good job no one smokes in here lol


It makes life so much easier when something works and it was dont in a flash, i even tried the paste again which seems to flow a bit better - does that work better when its warm or something?

Thanks peter, i really didnt realise that the can needed to be inverted, i just went into total panic mode.

I was feeling pretty sick towards the end as my painkillers were making me shake lol but i wanted to get it done.

I really cant thank you guys enough. Sorry to be such a cry baby, frustration really gets the better of me and instead of getting angry i just disolve into tears lol

[julie]

I've got a similar one - I only really use it in the kitchen these days.

If you're putting the can on the worktop and the torch on top, you are not getting liquid butane into it. Which you need. Put the torch on the worktop and the can on top - it *must* be inverted to fill the torch.

I usually do this outside - it's overkill as a safety precaution, but I'm happy with my paranoia

Putting the torch in the fridge overnight can help get a better fill too - chills the whole thing down.

Failing that, go and get a Bernzomatic UL2317 and a small propane can from B&Q (at least, they used to do them - can't see them on the website).

OK, so I'm being slow on typing and other people have covered it while I'm off looking up torches

i use that one for B&Q it's there on the website still

[Charlotte]

I'm so glad it worked! I always freak out with my equipment, thinking its broken and I'll never be able to work again. My barrel washer does it the most to me, I just tell myself to be calm and think of all the problems it could possibly be... That's why this site is handy, because you don't have to freak out until you've picked everyone's brains for a solution