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

[billiehands]

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.
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?