bneumann0 Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 I'm pretty new to propane forges. I built a burner and finally set one up the other day. I ran it for about 3 hours and shut it down. The next day I fire it up and within 10 minutes I hear a hissing sound and flames erupt everywhere. I spray my garage down with a fire extinguisher and after it's out i realize that the connection between the burner and the regulator had a leak. The end of the hose must have been bad or something. What do I do now? What are some good regulators that wont leak and cause a fire? Should I run some kind of piping away from the burner instead of connecting the burner directly to the rubber hose of the regulator? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy k Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 You answered yourself in your last sentence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bneumann0 Posted October 22, 2018 Author Share Posted October 22, 2018 Alright thanks, I should have known better than to have a rubber hose near heat. I'm still concerned about the regulator though, where the hose meets the connector leaked and that's what caused the fire. Was that just a freak thing or is that a common problem with cheaper regulators? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latticino Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 I have experienced a propane regulator fire on a gas fired barbecue. Pretty scary incident, glad you also got through yours without major damage. What kind of regulator was it that failed, if it failed at all? Have you actually experienced leakage at the regulator, or was it the hose connection? Who made the hookup, and did they use the proper gas rated pipe dope or pipe tape? How about hose rated for propane use (rubber air hose will not cut it, nor will compressed air quick connects). Personally for the $30-$60 for a new decent quality adjustable regulator with gauge, I would just bite the bullet and get a new one if I had any suspicion that mine wasn't working right. We use ones like these Goss EP-60 regulators at our local blacksmith group and have had pretty good success with them: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VainEnd84 Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 Another question, did you test your lines for leaks before firing your forge? If not then you need to, had you moved your forge or line after firing it? If so you should check after each move or is easy to bump a line and break/loosen a connection. Glad you had a fire extinguisher on hand! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 Hard to suggest a good locally available regulator to you WHEN WE DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE AT! People from over 100 countries participate here and what might be a common item to use in Iceland may be difficult and expensive to find in Australia. Was the hose correctly connected to the regulator and was it a type of hose rated for propane? Propane will degrade hoses made for most other gasses---like acetylene even and so requires a special hose. I've run a type "T" hose from my regulator to my propane forges for a couple of decades now and have never had an issue. Was the regulator rated for propane---even an acetylene regulator will fail if it's not rated "for all fuel gasses: as the internal seals will degrade after exposure to propane and start leaking. We strongly suggest editing your profile to put a general location in as so many blacksmithing questions have a location component even if it's just "Stop by my place Saturday and I'll teach you to forge weld." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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