I've been using the Meco Midget oxygen-propane torch, which I purchased from Otto Frei some six months ago, in a kit along with regulators and hoses. (You can read its specs, if that would help, here: Meco Midget Torch Kit For Oxygen/Propane With Hoses & Gauges-No Tanks : The Meco Midget Torch : Torches : Tools & Metals : Otto Frei The Meco Midget Torch - Jewelry Tools, Jewelry Supplies, and Findings
For a few months, using it quite seldom in fact, things worked fine: I soldered several jump rings and balled up some sterling silver wire for my jewelry. I didn't use it for a couple of months while traveling, and then returned to work and when I fired it up next, I began to have the strangest problem.
When I add the oxygen to the mix, regardless of the flame size or gas balance, it pulses, the flame growing and shrinking, at a rate slightly faster than once per second. It persists at this, even after being allowed to burn for five or six minutes--presumably more than enough time for the torch to warm up.
My tanks are nearly full and my regulators are at the same settings I was using before; the room temperature and other environmental conditions are the same; I removed the regulator from the tank and put it back on and re-checked for leaks, finding none; no one else has used the torch nor has anything, in fact, happened in that room to change the conditions under which the torch is being used (other than ants and spiders wandering around, I imagine, and perhaps the occasional moth or midge fluttering around...) .
I spoke with the only person I know who might know something about torches and such, and he speculated that I'm using the wrong tip and/or a torch made for use with acetylene. I doubt that Otto Frei sent me the wrong torch kit--though it is strange that the regulators they sold me seem to be for pressures far, far greater than what I use (1-3 psi) and are extremely difficult to adjust finely enough for my torch--which is also extremely touchy (the slightest adjustment seems too large and it takes me forever to nudge the valves to the right volume...I'm forever blowing the flame out while trying to get it right...one almost needs the delicate touch of a safecracker to manipulate the torch's knobs, etc.) but I have simply assumed that I am still learning these skills.
I'm learning jewelry fabrication as best I can, from books, websites, and forum discussions because I live out in the sticks. I don't know anyone out here, and no other jewelry-makers here or elsewhere, and can't afford to travel to classes.
I hope someone here can help me diagnose this pulsing problem. Until it is solved, I can't make any use of the torch. I contacted Otto Frei for assistance but they want to talk to me while I'm at my soldering station, and I dont have any sort of headset or speakerphone to use to make that process efficient and was hoping, instead, that someone with torch experience would recognize my symptoms and give me some direction or a troubleshooting flowchart--or any ideas or guesses or references or something! I would gladly bake a delicious pie, your choice of flavors, and send it to someone who can help!
Thanks in advance,
Terri Kiplinger
