I want my hothead back

[fionaess]

Erm... I have a Bobcat and I have 'tails' coming from the torch - a green tube for the oxygen and a red tube for my propane... I attached my oxygen pipe with a clip to the green and my propane to the red tube

[♥♥Tan♥♥]

Don't give up, its only too much propane. Take a rod of something turquoisely and use that to gauge the flame. If it rusts then to much propane, snap the rusty bit off, adjust your flame then bang it back in again, keep going until it stops going rusty, then the flame is right.


Its a change thats all, different to what you are used to. I bet you a big sloppy kiss that in a couple of weeks time you will be reading someone elses post just like this and helping them sort their flame out

[Katiequiggle]

Thanks everyone. I feel a bit more confident now you've all said roughly the same thing.  My new problem is leakage.  I've got jubilee clips joining the oxygen and propane pipes to their brass bits but I have serious leaks.  Looking at the photo of a bobcat it has green and red pipes from it, should mine have these, I'm just wondering if this is a problem,  underneath is the photo of mine with the jubilee clips. 

From what you're saying about the propane should I turn the regulator on my propane tank down,  Its a bulk set up from Martin. 

[garishglobes]

The clear tube from the oxycon is fine as far as I know, it is just in place of the green one in the piccy - oxycons tend to be supplied with the clear tubing and it certainly works for me!
You do need to sort those leaks though. Have you got PTFE tape?

[ARBeads]

We barely have the Propane tank open on either of our set ups (Bobcat and Maga minor)
The oxycon needs to allowed to stabilise for a few minutes prior to use (ran with valve on bobcat open)
When lighting the bobcat i close the oxygen and then barely crack the bobcat propane valve, light it, and then gently adjust the valve until the flame is about 10 cm long. I then open the oxygen valve until i have a neutral flame. The oxycon may go into alarm whilst the oxygen valve is closed this isn't a problem and clears when you reopen the valve.

On the leak front, make sure that the pipes are pushed right up to the top of the torch nipples and that whatever your using to seal them tighten in to the grooves on the nipple. you may find you need to warm the pipe in warm water to help them expand onto the fitting.
The jubilee clip on the oxygen line is ok but you should have permanent 'o' clip type conection on the propane pipe. Do not overtighten the clips else the pipe line may get damaged - Jubilee clips have quiet sharp edges to them, think this is why there now frowned on.

Do not us any PTFE tape or any other sealant or grease especially on the Oxygen this is extremely dangerous and can catch fire spontaneously 

Don't panic once you've cracked it you'll grow to love your Bobcat and the settings will become second nature.

Ruthx

[Katiequiggle]

Thanks everyone I really don't know what I'd do without you all.  Do I need a special tool to attatch the 'O' clips.  I'll get a couple on the way home from work today and have another go, I'm off at 12pm.  I think that the jubilee clip on the propane might be too large, its bigger than the oxygen one anyway, it came of the hose in the garden but don't tell Tim 

Ruth you said about hardly  having the gas turned on at the tank, is that the regulator or the actual open/close knob on the tank.  I'm presuming that this torch will use much less propane than the HH which is a good thing.

Thanks again for all your help everyone I really appreciate it and its what makes FHF such a fabby place.

[llewennog]

Like everyone else said turn your gasses down a smidgen, Gtts are very capable torches, the working parts inside are more like a rocket engine than a glassworkin tool.
Switch to using some Old glass until youve mastered just how sensitive the controls are!
Work further out in the flame as its more oxy rich there naturally and work on learning how to set a neutral flame whilst keepign the candles roughly between 1/4 to 3/8ths of an inch long.


most important point, its a Gtt they are the most capable torches avaliable so dont be concerned when you go from a plumbers torch to a state of the art designed tool!

[Redkite]

I had the same trouble adjusting to my Cricket, but now I've got it sorted I love it and wouldn't want to go back to my Hothead (except at Easter when we go to to inlaws in Wales for 2 weeks and I have to take the HH or I would go mad!!)

Like everyone says, the propane knob needs virtually no movement to open it as much as you need. Get the orange flame about 5-6 inches long and still weedy & wavering, then turn up oxygen until you get orange tipped candles. I set my oxycon so it can deliver 4 max, but my "working" pressure is more like 3.5, so I can turn up the flame a bit if I need to eg when melting a big blob for encasing.

HTH

[Funky Cow]

Do you thinks she's busy torchin' now  

[Lloki]

How's it going now Kate?

I felt very similar emotions when I switched to a bobcat last year, but 9 months later I'm completely in love with it!

As everybody else has said, it uses very little propane and although it's a much smaller flame, it's much much hotter than a HH and does take a bit of getting used to. It's only really in the last two months that I'm consistently getting the results I want with reducing sliver glass (on a HH I found it easy ), it is such a different flame to work with - BTW when I'm reducing now I just turn the oxy down and don't touch the propane at all and only seconds passing through the flame!
Interestingly, I found that colours are much brighter now, which from your pictures does suggest that the flame you were using was very,very reducing and huge! My normal working flame is only about 10cm long and my gas seems to last for ever

I also find that I adjust the flame quite a lot when I'm working (I recently had a lesson with well know glass artist and they adjusted the flame quite a lot depending on what they were doing - my stringer control has improved ten fold since then, just by turning the flame down and working above it! Brilliant!)
I clean the torch ports before every session with the cleaning wire and the oxy open to help remove/blow out any debris. Turn oxy off at torch, open propane knob just a fraction and light, adjust to about 2-3in and then open oxy knob until I get a good working flame, which on my oxycon varies between 2.5 and off the scale, depending on the weather, moon phase, day of the week etc!
Every set up is different, so just watch the flame and adjust accordingly, as was said to me "We're all different, so use what works for you!"

I do hope you've sorted the leaks out now, it'll take PPP, lots of PPP, but I bet in a few months time you'll love it!
Good luck, Cerrix

[clasicat]

I now have a lovely bobcat and wouldn't swap it, it just takes a little while to get used to it.  

Aww my ickkle Bobby Bobcat  *sigh*
Katie I had huge problems when I went from my hothead to my bobcat but keep at it chick cos it will come  I used to run my oxycon at 4.5 and just adjusted my propane ( you didn't need alot)

Oh gosh all this talk about Bobcats makes me want to start torching again ... now what can I sell to buy my kit again  lol

[Amber]

I've just gone from a Hothead to a Bobcat as well, so this thread has been really useful for me. Thanks, Kate! 

I'm just starting to adjust and make some half decent beads, but it's good to know what's normal. I've been working with the propane valve barely open and the oxygen valve open almost all the way and I didn't know whether or not that was OK. Very useful tips about using glass rods to test whether the flame is too reducing - I should have thought of that one myself! 

[Mary]

Yes Amber, keep your oxygen valve wide open, unless you are on bottled oxy. Back pressure is not good for your oxy-con, so only close it briefly for lighting the torch or reducing. Myself, I don't touch mine ever!