Gas Regulator with HH

[June]

For those of you using HH on bulk, do you have your gas regulators turned up fully?  I've found two threads, one suggesting that it should be fully open and another not quite, so I was wondering what the general opinion is please..?

June

[Shirley]

I find I need to adjust mine according to the cylinder. Try lighting your torch and then adjusting the regulator to get a good flame.

[Dizzy Di]

Hi June,
If i opened my regulator too far it blew the flame out when the propayne tanks was full.  I turn 1 and 1/2 times and that seems to run the HH great but play.
Good Luck
Dianne

[Billie]

When I asked Martin Tuffnell that question when I first got my HH he recommended 3/4's open.  I found it better to have it fully open    You can regulate the flame with the dial on you HH.

[fionaess]

Mine is fully open and I use the knob on my HH to control the flame.

Fiona

[June]

Thanks all.   I didn't have it open very far, so we opened it a bit more last night and that was better.  I think I'll try opening it fully or nearly fully and see how that goes when I get back to the torch later this week   

[feeriecreatif]

Hi, I only recently started lampworking using HH and MAPP. I'm a complete newbie but I'm already fed up with MAPP freezing on me half way through a bead and I'm thinking of switching to  Bulk propane. (I'm looking into getting a 6kg canister).
My question is what type on regulator to use.
I was reading some other posts and I had the impression that some of you use a 2 bar regulator and some other a 4 bar one.
I went at my local calorgas shop today to get all the bits and pieces I needed and I asked for a 4 bar regulator. ( as in the kit that Tuffnell sells)
However, the guy at the shop suggested that a 2 bar regulator would be fine and and that actually with a 4bar I would more easily have the problem of the gas cooling to much.
Now, I can't really understand why...
Can anyone help me out on this: what difference does it make to lampworking using one or the other type of regulator?
Do you get better colours if you use a 4 bar o maybe you work faster?
thanks
Aurora

[June]

Aurora,

Hi, welcome to lampworking !  I have a 4 bar regulator, as provided by Martin.  I decided to go straight to bulk, and quite glad I did !   Not sure about the difference between 2 and 4 bar, though, and I think this has been mentioned on here somewhere else.  I figured that if Martin sold that one, that was the one to use !   
Good luck !!
June

[Carrie-Jane]

Can anyone help me out on this: what difference does it make to lampworking using one or the other type of regulator?

This is a question I would like the answer to as well.

I ended up with a 2 bar one from the local welding shop as they assured me I didn't need a 4 bar one and anyway it would have been much more expensive according to them.  Got up and running on bulk, seems to work okay for me. But I am new and am only using up the glass in my starter kit from Martin so can't comment on other types of glass yet or what difference it would make.

[feeriecreatif]

Also... I had a browse through two other lampworking forums (wetcanvas and lampworking etc.)
I  did a search with " bulk fuel with hothead" and I came across some really scary posts javascript:void(0);
some people there seem to think using bulk propane with HH is a VEEERY BAD idea...unless you work completely outdoors, while in this forum it would seem to me that people are more relaxed about this set up.
Am I missing something?? At the gas shop this morning I clearly explained what I wanted to do and WHERE I was planning to work and the guy there told me that it was OK as far I would make sure to have enough ventilation.
Are people in USA more paranoid than here in the UK or maybe just different regulations?
I have to say I'm getting a bit confused now... In the various posts i found so many different opinions about the subject and confusing statemens that i it is difficult to get reassured
In some posts people said that the HH was designed to work without a regulator on a small can of gas...and for that reason it is not safe to use it with bulk  as it can't handle the pressure. Some other people have pointed out that in reality the pressure of the gas in a small MAPP can is not different from that of bulk propane...javascript:void(0); if this is true,  why do you need a regulator then,
Oh, I was sooo ready to get going with my new set up, this morning and now I don't know what to think anymore.
Being a complete novice to lampworking I also would be tempted to think that if a shop like Tuffnell sells the converting kit, that must be what you need to use...and it must be safe....
But on the other hand. I hate to buy things without understanding the reason for it and after reading a post of someone in USA warning people that some faulty Bulk Hose (MAPP) set up had beeen put on sale by Frantz and Arrow Springs... you start to you think that unfortunately just because people sell something it does not mean it is necessarily safe
Working with gas and fire will always have a degree of danger in it, but what I would really like to know is the objective risks and the best way to minimize danger.

If I think that when I grew up in Italy my Mum ( as everybody else in the town)was cooking on gas stove using a  massive gas cylinder which was stored within the stove...  aaarg...we must have been mad
aurora

[Shirley]

I bought the whole bulk set up from Tuffnell's. I have every confidence in it and I am choosing to ignore those scary American posts. If it was such a problem where are the countless news stories about poor lampworkers who have been blown to smithereens?

[June]

Shirley,

Quite!  I, too, brought all my kit from Martin and it all seems ok to me.  I have a quick release coupling so I can leave the gas outside, but I am currently working in my kitchen.  I did also purchase a carbon monoxide monitor and I haven't seen this raise at all as yet.  I do hope to go to an oxy/propane set up in a few months, but am quite happy with the current HH and propane.   

[Sal]

I got mine from Martin too and feel safe using it. I also have quick release coupling and keep my gas outside (I personally wouldn't feel happy having it in the house but I know some people do). I also always turn it off at the bottle after each session. I'm sure it can be dangerous if you aren't sensible, but so is driving a car (a silly comparison I know, but you know what I mean).

[Katiequiggle]

I use a HH with a propane set up from Martin too and I love it.  I only ever used one bottle of mapp gas before I got fed up with it.  I have my cylinder in the shed with me, though theres no reason why I couldn't put it outside the door rather than just inside the door apart from lifting it with my back.  I'm totally happy with it and can't see any reason to change from this method any  time soon.