Natural Gas Set up help

[Reenie]

my husband would like to me to change over to natural gas. i'm close to my fireplace and the gas is set up for that so he doesn't think it would take much to add a line any advice by someone that may have done this before...
and also, i noticed in "the annealer" magazine...there was someone advertising some kind of blue box contraption. supposed to be approved from the fire inspectors or something to use with natural gas...anyone know what i'm talking about? I'll find article if no one has seen these..
thanks
irene

[chrisdd]

I had the gas line in my laundry room moved from one side of the room to the other. It wasn't too difficult for the HVAC guy to do.

Have a cut-off valve installed at the wall/floor and make sure it's a heavy duty one; most of them aren't meant for daily use.

I think the blue box you're referring to might be a device to boost your NG pressure. My NG pressure was high enough to run my Minor, so I didn't need to have one installed. You can check with your local utility company to get details about your pressure.

I really love my set up. I use an oxy con, so I never have to worry about running out of NG or O and I don't have to fool with tanks. Feels a lot safer, too.

[Dale M.]

The actual plumbing for having a connection to torch from existing supply is pretty much a "standard" plumbing job..As for gas pressure, a lot will depend on what torch you are using... Some torches like a Nortel Minor and a GTT Bobcat, and the National 8M with SM7 tips or the new BETTA function quite well with residential natural gas pressure... Bigger torches will probably be fuel starved... The solution will be a NG Booster (the funny blue box)...

http://www.gas-tec.com/products.html

Also it may be possible for local utility company to boost you pressure up to 2 psi from the standard 1/4 to 1/3 psi found in most systems. A call to local utility company may be helpful. Only thing is they may NOT understand the need for pressure increase (but usually they are pretty savvy on these things).. The down side is some of your gas appliances may not function well with pressure boost and you hay have to put additional pressure regulators on them...

Dale

[adovbs]

Also it may be possible for local utility company to boost you pressure up to 2 psi from the standard 1/4 to 1/3 psi found in most systems. A call to local utility company may be helpful. Only thing is they may NOT understand the need for pressure increase (but usually they are pretty savvy on these things).. The down side is some of your gas appliances may not function well with pressure boost and you hay have to put additional pressure regulators on them...

Dale

Or you can just have them run you an additional line with the higher pressure, and skip messing with the rest of your system. That's what we're planning to do if I need more pressure on my new Betta (so far so good, though, looks like 1/4 psi is fine!)

[MikeAurelius]

Teresa - that is what I would recommend. I'm a distributor for Gas-TEC, and quite honestly, it would take a lot for you to convince me to "sell you" one of their units.

For less than the same price, you can get a 2nd line put in with the higher pressure you need to properly run a torch. I see absolutely NO REASON why anyone should need to purchase one of these units!!!

[Reenie]

mike,
are you talking about those little blue boxes? Can you tell me more about them?
When we go to natural gas, I'll be buying a cc minor. Don't know anything else besides that. I
'm on a hothead now so this is going to be very new for me and I
hope not too confusing...
Thanks for all the imput so far...been printing all this stuff to show the dh when were ready to do this.
Irene

[bolimasa]

mike,
are you talking about those little blue boxes? Can you tell me more about them?
When we go to natural gas, I'll be buying a cc minor. Don't know anything else besides that. I
'm on a hothead now so this is going to be very new for me and I
hope not too confusing...
Thanks for all the imput so far...been printing all this stuff to show the dh when were ready to do this.
Irene

Do you mean Carlisle Mini-CC or Nortel Minor? Not that it matters, as both these torches should run on residential gas pressure (1/4lb), so you shouldn't need a booster (the blue box) The booster is only necessary ifyou need higher pressure, like if you wanted to use a GTT Lynx.

I run my Minor on NG and a concentrator. I think it's a great way to go.
One thing to remember, is if use natural gas you don't need a gas regulator, and if you use a concentrator you don't need a O2 regulator. May as well save your money and put it toward your natural gas line. That's what I did.

[Reenie]

Thank you....I am going for the Carlisle Mini-CC. This is so exciting to actually think about upgrading. I love my hothead but sure would love to encase easier. I've read all the posts saying you can do it..but...I haven't been able to yet!!!
Can I ask what size oxy concentrator to run with the mini cc?
There's alot of places that seem to sell them.
How do I connect??? Is it specially made for the torches...and........
are the refurbished one's okay?
Thanks again
Irene

[FlameDancer]

I use NG also. My gas company came out and put a 2 lb meter on and then I had to purchase some sort of separate meter ($65.00) that took all my appliances back down to 1/4 lb. Easy peasy. My gas guy put in the meter. I REALLY wish that they would let me have a 5 lb meter but they weren't receptive to my charms. They will only let commercial spots have the 5 lb meters not residential homes. I don't know why though:( My Cuda would rock on 5 lbs. of gas pressure!

Good luck. LOVE your avatar, by the way. Is that the guy from Grey's Anatomy, the sick one? Was it you that had the other picture up too, the close up one....yumm!

[Dale M.]

Thank you....I am going for the Carlisle Mini-CC. This is so exciting to actually think about upgrading. I love my hothead but sure would love to encase easier. I've read all the posts saying you can do it..but...I haven't been able to yet!!!
Can I ask what size oxy concentrator to run with the mini cc?
There's alot of places that seem to sell them.
How do I connect??? Is it specially made for the torches...and........
are the refurbished one's okay?
Thanks again
Irene

Most "oxygen concentrators" are reapplied medical oxygen therapy units... The outputs are approximately 5 LPM of oxygen at around 7 PSI.... The connections on most units are the standard "B" fitting for oxygen hoses (welding style), so they will work with the "twin hose" commonly used with lampworking torches.

A "oxygen generator" is generally a industrial unit usually having a larger oxygen out put in both volume (LPM) and pressure (PSI) and is also more expensive to purchase...

Both a "concentrator" and a "generator" use same technology of filtering out the nitrogen out of the air and allowing oxygen to pass through to output connection and ultimately to (in our case ) a torch... Outputs are generally 94 to 98 percent pure oxygen...

One can actually gang up two or more concentrators to get increases volume... So if one concentrator is a little "wimpy" for a oxygen supply you can add second concentrator to increase oxygen volume.

Dale

[Reenie]

Thanks...again.
krissa, yes that avatar is of Jeff Morgan....actually
I've known him for years....before he really became an actor. I've been thinking alot about him these past few months and well...the avatars kind of make me smile each day!
Irene