Help with Minor Torch and OxyCon

[Annelyse]

I have just bought a Nortel Minor bench burner and a recycled medical Oxy Concentrator. I tried to use it for the first time today but the concentrator kept switching off (I first got a yellow light telling me that the oxygen flow exceeds 5l/mn). I have also noticed some carbon deposits in my bids (my propane regulator is at 4-5 psi).:sad:

Any tips????

[Mr. Smiley]

Turn your propane down to about 2 pounds. You may also have a bad concentrator. I know very little about them, but shutting down is never good. ;)

[Dale M.]

I have just bought a Nortel Minor bench burner and a recycled medical Oxy Concentrator. I tried to use it for the first time today but the concentrator kept switching off (I first got a yellow light telling me that the oxygen flow exceeds 5l/mn). I have also noticed some carbon deposits in my bids (my propane regulator is at 4-5 psi).:sad:

Any tips????

Try turning oxy flow to something like 3.5 to 4 lpm and see it that helps... IF you already have oxy flow cut down by front adjustment (flow meter), you may have internal leak in a oxy line somewhere...

Dale M.

[Annelyse]

Thank you to you both for your help I have turned the propane down and it helps with the carbon deposit. I had a leak in my O2 line that I fixed but it is still shutting down. I' ll phone the supplier and see what he says. He is usually helpful.

Annelyse

[TallulahB]

Hi Annelyse, can I ask you? - did you get the concentrator from someone with the initials MT by any chance? If yes then I think I've had the same problem as you. My concentrator would not stay on for more than about 2-3 minutes at a time before the alarm went off, the red light came on and it cut out. After long discussions with MT (who's very helpful and was upset that there was a problem) I came to the conclusion (not proved) that perhaps the concentrator being moved/transported had disturbed something and it needed time to settle down again.

I was sent another one to try and this had exactly the same problem as the first one (by now I was convinced it was something I was doing wrong!). I decided to stick with my original and now have no problems at all. It eventually seemed to correct itself - very frustrating at the time but it did clear after about a week. I now run it at 5 L/min and usually work for quite a few hours, most days.

Hope this helps and things improve!

[Annelyse]

Hello Tallulah. Thank you for your reply. It's interesting. I did get my concentrator from the same supplier who is indeed very helpful. They offered a replacement straigt away but then I went and tried and had a perfectly good run. I phoned back and said I would keep the oxycon a bit longer but then tried again yesterday night after three days away and it cut out again after 2 minutes (at 3.5 l/mn). I think I'll give it a go for another 3 or 4 days and then we'll see... How long did yours take to settle???

[Annelyse]

Ooops you did say it took about a week!!! Sorry early in the morning...

[TallulahB]

Hi there, it did settle after a while - perhaps a week or so. It seemed to eventually run for longer and longer periods 'til eventually it's on for many hours which, after all, is what it's designed to do!

MT told me to turn the flow meter bit up to the max then turn it back one full turn which leaves you running at 5 L/min and I must say I never need to change this. Perhaps you could persevere for a while but if it shows no sign of ever working then you've got your guarantee I guess (4 months as I remember) but I appreciate how frustrating it is to have a nice hot beauty of a bead which cools and smokes up when the oxygen goes!

[TallulahB]

:???: Sorry, just realised there were a lot of eventuallys there!!!