I have just had my minor on and after making only 4 beads I started getting little sparks shooting up through my flame, then a full out star wars impersonation :o . At the same time my oxycon started flashing it's service light intermitently as well as the low oxygen light. I turned off the minor asap :o
Looking at it afterwards I can see a little bit of something on the minor end point thingy, which I'm guessing may be a bit of stray glass?? Would this also have caused my oxycon problems or is that likely to be something unrelated?? ???
It sounds like you had a bit of carbon on the torch face - have you been doing a lot of reducing and have you cleaned it recently? I don't actually clean mine with the wire thingy, I give it a tap with a wooden handled tool and can see the sparks flying up the flame. If there is a big bit of soot (I like reducing! ::) :)), I quickly flick it off with my rake. The oxycon may just have been settling in as you had only made four beads - do you let it run for 10 minutes before you start? :)
I hadn't knowingly been doing ANY reducing! :D Only just recently graduated to a big girls torch and still getting used to the flame so maybe I haven't got it quite right yet ::)
This also happens with my bobcat. I think it's carbon building up from the gas, not glass. Sometimes I need to clean the jets out with a wire, sometimes just rubbing across the face of the torch with something metal fixes it. It seems to need a clean practically every time I use it, and I only run it for an hour or so. Like you, I'm not consciously doing any reducing, but I wonder whether I am running the flame too small / cool. Would be nice to have more info on this, is it normal? ???
Same happens to my new bobcat too, wondering if I've not got my flame adjusted right?
It's just a bobcat thing. Get yourself a wire brush and periodically give the face of the nozzle a quick once over! I think it's because they like pure oxy better than one oxycon - when I had mine hooked up at home it was the same, when I took it to Oz and fed it pure oxygen it stopped.
Kazx