I want my hothead back

[Katiequiggle]

I can't do it    All I've got is burnt bubbly glass.  I don't like it.  What on earth am I doing wrong.  I've got the oxygen turned to 3.5 and the oxygen dial on the torch fully open.  When I turn the propane on I hardly have to turn it on at all, maybe I turn it on about 1/4 of a turn, any more and its a flame thrower.  Think I need to take my colour chart down on the wall in front of me.  Its quite a bushy flame and the candles are about half an inch long and I've tried working in all parts of the flame from an inch above the candles to right at the top of the flame and as soon as I put the glass in to the flame after wafting it in it starts to bubble and burn.  Its terrible.  I knew I was going to have to get used to it but at this rate I'll be reconnecting my hot head by the end of the week.  What am I doing wrong, any ideas anyone.  I've taken photo's for you to see, sorry if they're a bit big but I'm crap at that too.  I don't feel like I'll ever be able to make a bead on this set up 

[Funky Cow]

I was surprised at how little I had to turn on the propane when I moved to oxy-propane setup. I have a minnow, and set my oxycon to 4.5. Perhaps you need to crank up the oxycon, and step down the gas?? The candles do sound very long! HTH

Cath x

Edit to say, the fact that your blue glass has gone all rusty also suggests that you have too much propane  

[Katiequiggle]

So have I got the propane to high then, if I turn it down much more it will hardly be on.  When I light it it makes a popping noise, don't know if this is relevant to anything.

[Les]

my torch pops when I have a little too much oxy running through as I light it..... it's not a problem though... I always adjust my flame after and leave it for a few mins to settle down.

It does look like there is either not enough oxy or too much propane though hun xxx

[Funky Cow]

This is how I light mine:
I have the lighter close by... and then turn on the propane the tiniest amount possible, and then shut off the oxygen valve as fast as I can (oxycon still running, and has been on for about 10 mins before I start to get up to right level of oxygen) I then light the propane, and open the oxy valve again as fast as I possibly can, then adjust the propane till the candles look right. A very tiny amount of turn on the propane valve can make a huge difference, I think you just need to get used to how fine the control is.
You'll be fine, please don't be put off, because you'll love it once you've cracked it  

[Les]

I have heard so many people remark on upgrading their torch making them feel like a newbie all over again.... you'll soon crack it

[soulsilver]

I have the bobcat too, it does take a little time to get used to. It looks from the photos that your propane is too high,I hardly have to have any propane running through. my regulator is just cracked open too.
The bobcat is designed to be quite a tight flame.
I usually sit with my oxy between 4 and 5.
Stick with it, I am sure that it will come good.

[helbels]

Aww Katie, I have no advice to offer, being on a Hothead myself, but I'm sure you will crack it soon. 

[dinah46]

I had the same problems when I went from hothead to minnow.

I now have a lovely bobcat and wouldn't swap it, it just takes a little while to get used to it.  Turn up the oxygen and go easy on the propane.  I generally work with the candles between 1/4" and 3/8"

Stick at it Katie - you'll love it

ps. the bobcat generally needs a bit more frequent cleaning so keep the little wire brush handy.

[Mary]

You need to turn the propane down Katie, that flame looks way too big. You will be surprised at how small the right flame is, after a HH flame. Small and hot!

Try turning the propane right down till it's a very tiny flame. Then gradually turn the propane up, till you get it as big as it will go while staying neutral. Use a stick of something like Triton, Aurae or Reich Iris Gold to test as you go - no lustre, flame is still neutral.

[julieHB]

Diane and Mary have answered whilst I was typing...this is much the same, but here goes anyway:

As the others have said, you're running with waaaay too much propane. If your oxygen is only 3.5l/min, the neutral flame of the bobcat will show "fingers" of only about 5mm, and the flame looks very thin (still throws out more heat than the HH, though....). Please don't keep running your torch constantly this way, you will overheat the torch and eventually ruin it!!  You CAN run a reducing flame over longer time, but only when the oxygen flow is higher (such that the fingers are about 10mm when neutral).

On a minor you can see yellow tips on the flame fingers when it's running a neutral flame - on a bobcat there's hardly any yellow tips at all. Try with a rod of Aurae or triton - if it goes metallic you're still running a reducing flame.

I would suggest you crank the oxygen up a bit if possible (to 4 - 4.5 l/min, after the oxycon has warmed up), and then try to find your neutral flame. Spend some time on it, as it looks so very different from a HH. I am a bit confused by what you are saying, that you have the oxygen valve on your torch fully open and it only shows 3.5 l/min. Have you touched the dial on the oxycon at all? From what I remember from Martyn's guidelines the oxycon dial should be turned all the way counter-clockwise and then one turn back (clockwise) to be correctly set.

As Cathryn says, turn the oxycon off as you light the torch, and open the propane just a little. Then you open the oxygen until it reaches the correct flow, and adjust the propane until you have a neutral flame.

Also, don't hold your glass too close to the torch, but a bit further away. The bobcat runs a very clean flame, and shouldn't burn the glass at all.

HTH  

[Margram]

Just wanted to say phwoar - lovely purply torch!! If you follow all this advice you will have this
cracked in no time Katie

[princess pink]

Don't fret Kate I had the same issues when I upgraded ages ago. Turn ur oxy up to about 4, turn the propane right down, you just want to nudge it on when lighting it. Also make sure ur oxy pipe isn't leaking, if it is use a bit of duck/electrical tape to seal any holes. Xx

[Tracy]

Katie is the oxygen right open on your torch? Not sure if it needs to be, I use a mega minor and neither are fully open

My set up is indoors so probably will not help but what I do is the POOP method
P propane on and lit, I just turn the dial, light the flame and turn down till flame about 7 inches long
O oxycon on, wait for it to stop buzzing then adjust to 3.5
   then I adjust the flame by turning the oxy on at the torch, just blue candles and about maybe 2 mil of orange
   End of session
O oxygen off at torch first
P propane off at torch then repeat at oxycon and bottle

Hope this helps?

Relax and have fun xx

[garishglobes]

You've got all the advice here, I can't add to it - but stick with it, moving from the HH takes some adjustment. You'll get it, don't worry The oxy will run at 4-4 1/2 happily, I probably had it set a bit low and got used to it that way because I was running it with another.
I have read somewhere in the past that the oxys struggle to go much over 4 1/2, but it should be absolutely fine up to that. And that flame does have way too much propane in it, looking at it! This is probably all my fault, it looks like I underestimated 1/2 an inch!!