O2 Concentrator on National 8M

[cherie]

Hi, I havet his torch and wondering if someone w/ exsperience can tell me if the tanked o2 works better than a concentrator...Ive heard that the national doesnt run well unless you have 2 o2's...thanks in advance

[Dale M.]

Every torch ever made will run best on tanked oxygen. Yes the 8M with a SM5 or SM7 tip will function quite well with 1 oxygen concentrator. It will be limited to maybe 75-80% its real efficiency but you can do quite well. And yes it will function very well (maybe 95%) on two oxygen concentrator, but still not as well as tanked oxygen...

Simple fact is that tanked oxygen is 99% pure, oxygen concentrators put out oxygen at a purity from 90-95% pure depending on the volume of oxygen you try to push out of unit. The more volume (LPM) you try to push through unit, the less the purity.

For a while I used a 8M with SM7 tip on one oxygen concentrator and propane at 1/4psi (pancake regulator) and it was quite hot after working on hot head. I would go back to that combination again if I had opportunity to do so.

Dale

[Peg Medill]

I have used my 8M on both one and two concentrators and no problem. I have it running on the Challenge Day and multiple people use it and seem to not have any problems even though they use different torches at their own homes. Peg M

[kbinkster]

It really depends on what you want to do. A single oxygen concentrator will probably power it just fine for small soft glass beads. If you try to go larger or work with boro, it will be slower than if you had two oxygen concentrators or tanked oxygen.

For it's maximum full blast flame, the 8M with the SM-7 tip consumes 60 CFH oxygen (according to the manufacturer). That translates to just under 30 LPM. A single 5 LPM concentrator would only provide 1/6 the amount of oxygen needed for that full blast flame - that is less than 17% of it's capacity. Unless you are working boro and trying to push that torch to its limits, you would not need the full capacity of the torch. But still, it does use a lot of oxygen, even for the small stuff.

The 8M is a torch that will make a concentrator pay for itself very quickly.

[cherie]

Thank You All!
Im finally getting set up!
and am very excited about it