oxycon maintenance

[mindy23]

Ello!

Anyone tell me what "maintenance" they do with their oxycons?  I hoover the filter sponges but wondered of there os other stuff i should be doing....
Done a search on this but couludnt seem to find any info.  I ahve 2 oxycons and ones nearly 2 years old now and I think it might be giving up on me.  Wondered if there's anything I could try to revive it??? 

Any help would be great!

[Chameleon]

I would be very interested to know also, as mine is 2 years old now too and starting to get wheezy

[LesleyMac]

Yes mine is becoming a problem as well, keeps cutting out

[glassworks]

there are also filters inside the case - very fine particle filters which protect the pump parts... very fine dust "kills" the older style pumps as the dust wears out the pistons.. this is why it is so important to keep the main filters dust free.. the newer airseps are not affected by fine dust due to redesigned pumps with ceramic valves..

on the older style oxycons there is a looooooong screw that keeps the case closed, when undone this allows the cover to be opened like a book, split down the middle when looking from the front.. the little fine filter will be obvious... in most studios i suspect that there is more dust than in hospitals, but given that these units run literally for years they should not become clogged up in normal use if the main outer filters are kept clean.. in the newer airsep style units the side covers unscrew and the whole thing can be stripped in seconds..

the biggest killer of oxycons is cold and damp air - this allows moisture to build up in the chemical "lungs" which irreversibly harms the sieve beds.. the beds can easily be changed out though - although it is best to get the supplier to do this.. having said that, all recon units i know of have reconditioned sieve beds anyway and these will never "run out" in casual use situations... they are designed to be used for thousands of hours..

so, keep em warm (not hot) and dry, filters cleaned etc and remember that they are recon units (mostly) and they should last a few years at least in a typical studio.. often the culprit for cutting out is the medical requirement of the air quality circuit.. this is designed to do the amber light/buzzer thing is the quality of the oxygen drops below a certain limit - this is vital for human patients but totally unimportant for torching.. the level of oxy in the output air should be n the high 80's percent - which is as good as you can ask for from a recon oxycon.. the amber light comes on below a certain percent but should not really affect the torch (although it can psychologically disturb the torcher!! ;-) )

with the airsep oxycons you can "cheat" a little by taking a small T piece and joining the compressed air outlet into the torch too - this "turbo charges" the flame and is a cool trick for boro workers!! this works by simply adding more air into the flame - basically more completely using up the available propane fuel...

[mindy23]

Thanks for that QUinton.  You are a font of knowledge indeed
I checked hte numbers on my oxycon, my old one is over 44000 hours.  My newer one is at 3500!  Do you think my old oxycond has given about as much service as could be expected of it?  I read that 40000 is about a normal time for them to be worn out. 
cheers
mindy

[glassworks]

once they are refurbed they are once again good to go - in all honesty i do not much notice the total hours as it can be misleading.. the general guide is if you get a couple of good years use out of one then you are quids in compared to using tanked oxy, although to be honest a well looked after and regularly cleaned oxycon should outlast your torchering!! ;-)..

the key is the location, warm dry and not dusty...... the damp cold air is the big killer.....