Hey!

I just got a Victor Advantage II O-A welding/cutting kit and I'm trying to set it up. I went down to the local welding supply shop and bought a bottle of Oxygen and a bottle of Acetylene. When I got home I found that the Acetylente bottle's valve fitting is not correct to mate with my Acetylene regulator. (Oxygen is fine.)

What they sold me is an 80 (Litre?) bottle of Oxygen and a "B" (40 Litre?) bottle of Acetylene. Is there an adapter I can get to run that fuel bottle with my regulator or do I have to go back, try to return this one an ask for something more appropriate?

Thanks!

-Sam

 

Yes there is an adapter. Have fun with your new toy. Hotwrench

 

There are so many styles i cant rememeber them all. You can replace the stem on your reg with the right one, or use an adapter. At the weld store they will have it all.

 

Hey!

Man, thanks for the quick responses! Do I need to take the reg. in or will they know exactly what I need when I say it?

As far as lots of different torches, yup! I was surprised. They had never heard of the kind I just got (maybe a not-quite-professional-use model - it only cost $199 on sale) but had three or four other Victor kits for sale there that I hadn't seen. I wanted to get some spare welding & cutting tips (and a pre-heat "rosebud") but they said they'd have to see the torch, or have the model number to be sure of the right kind/threads/whatever. I was walking around going, "No, that cutting tip only has two tubes, mine has three....Ahh, like that one -- but it's upside down!" Never did find one that looked like mine.

My set came with a welding tip marked "4-UM-1" and a cutting tip marked "0-3-101" IIRC, the package said it came with a No.4 welding tip and a No.0 cutting tip. So I guess that's what the first numbers there mean. I picked up a 10-way gas bottle wrench, a tip cleaner, and a can of tip dip. Anything else I need when I get down there?

Oh, I'd like to teach myself to gas weld. What kind of rod will I need to get for, say, 1/4" mild steel?

Thanks!

-Sam

 

I'm listening in too. I have the small Harris Kit from Home Depot that I got for my B'Day. I've done a couple oxygen bottles worth of cutting, now I'm interested in learning brazing and welding.

 

Hey!
Home Depot carries a book on welding fundamentals that's pretty informative about gas, SMAW, MIG, TIG, etc. That's how I got started (all SMAW, heliarc so far) then I got a set of books from Lincoln Electric that are a bit dated but great, and a big book like a text book for master welders that's like 250 dense pages, but I've got a lot more reading under my belt than welding. Really wanted to take a class some time, but never got around to it. I've been playing with my 220 VAC buzz box for about 4 years now, but just finally got a torch/gas welding set up. It will be very nice not to have to cut all my stock with a sawzall & grinder all the time.

Having the torch now, though, I definately want to learn to gas-weld. It seems to split up some of the functions happening in stick welding (heating and depositing fill metal) into seperate motions and I think I could do more delicate work if I got good at it. Can't wait to try!

I am still glowing after this weekend: I cut out the exhaust cross-over pipe out of my '01 F150 to get my tranny out (slave cyl. replaced) and then successfully welded it back in. I didn't have the perfect electrode (1/8", should have gotten some 3/32" probably) and had to run the amperage a bit too high (60A) to keep from sticking the electrode. Blew a few holes in the thin stock but finally got it all sealed up. (Except for a tiny pinprick leak at the bottom on one side.) Not bad for never successfully having welded anything that thin, and working out of position and curled up in a ball, and/or lying on my back, and/or on my stomach, working overhead, etc., UNDER the truck! I'm still a long way from "good" but practice makes "better!"

-Sam

 

Mind if I ask what you paid for the bottles? I have the torch kit but haven't gotten around to getting the bottles yet...

Thanks!

Matt

 

Hey!

The bottles are not what I would call "BIG" but they were the largest of several sizes that my local shop sells. They do have some larger sizes that they lease.

I paid a bit over $300 for the two bottles & gas. Refills will cost $20 for O2, and $24 for acetylene.

I'm debating whether I shouldn't take these back and get larger bottles, but I don't run a metal shop, and these will probably get used once every couple of months or so -- so they'll probably be fine.

-Sam

 

the rod is like a coat hanger and you start buy getting the two pieces of metal cherry red then add filler and make circles with the tip forcing the metal in the crack takes a log time a mig is much faster and easyer

 

just dont light the torch with a cigarrette lighter!!!!!! grounds for a huge explosion
and always always back the pressure off the regulators before turning on the bottle. all thats in the regulator is a butterfly valve and brass threads holding in the t handle. it doesnt take much pressure and a bad valve to blow that handle out at you. not a pretty site.

alot of the old timers would make fun of me for that. but its there own stubborness and stupidity for doing so.

 

Hey!

I got the kit working today! Yaay. Sure made quick work of a bunch of fabbing I had to do. My only problem now is that I mislaid the little book Victor sent me with the kit and I can't remember the specifics of how to properly tune the pressure for fuel vs. O2 for different jobs. My weld shop gave me a little card with some of that quick reference data on it so I used that info today. I was using an "0" tip, and I think I set the fuel reg at 5 PSI and cutting O2 at 30 PSI, and just adjusted the pre-heat fuel until I got a 1" or so blue cone. (I was cutting 3/8" flat stock, mostly, and a little 1/2" as well.)

Sound right?

Is there anywhere on-line I can download really good welding info? And are there on-line shops that sell good electrodes, filler rod, & equipment?

Much appreciated!

-Sam

 

new lessons in arc welding

i have this book and i bought it at catawba valley communtiy college last winter. located in hickory north carolina.

it covers everything you need to know about welding. diffrent joint welds. process,saftey pratices, the list goes on and on.

catawba valley has an online book store i am sure you can get it there.
the book is highly recommended!

 

I've used 5-7 psi on the fuel side and 30 on the O2 side with a Victor 0 tip, same as the part number listed, turn on the oxy valve on the torch handle all the way and the valve on the cutting attachment off all the way. Then turn on the fuel valve on 1/8 turn or so, light it, and then turn the gas up until it stops making the black smoke (don't breathe that crap). Eventually you get a feel of how far to open that so when you light it you don't get the black smoke. Then turn the oxy valve on the cutting attachment until you just see all 6 little flame cones nice and clear. There shouldn't be a heavy blue cone that combines them all. It should be bright enough it's hard to look at without glasses. Then heat the metal bright read and hit the cutting handle. I find that starting just about straight at the metal and then tipping it slightly in the direction I'm cutting, moving just fast enough you get a decent spark trail from the back of the stock, cuts the best. You also want to experiment with how far you hold the torch from the work. I just touch the 6 little flames to it to preheat but once the cutting starts I find it works better to actually draw away from it a little bit. If you go too fast, let off of the cutting trigger and wait until the area is properly preheated again.

 

Hey!

Great advice! I saw that I could get the six little blue cones if I went a little farther with the preheat O2, but I, for some reason, thought one cone was better. It worked but sometimes the beginning of the cutting action was a little uncertain.

Really helpful post!

-Sam

 

Hey! I think that's one of the books I do have. I have a big text book, a beginners' book I got at Home Depot (pretty good to learn terms and basic stuff), and several from Lincoln Electric that are so dated they're hillarious--but still good.

Unfortunately we're in the middle of a multi-month house renovation (in the truely disruptive manner of all major "night and weekend" remodels) and I have no idea where those books are. Shoot, I just got the torch, read through the little manual that came with that once or twice and then set it down ... somewhere. I've been looking for that for days and can't for the life of me find it in the piles!

Good reccomendation, though.
-Sam