Using propane instead of actylene

300jk

Well-known Member
In my small shop/garage at home I have torches. Not big tanks. I think s ? I do go through probably two acetylene tanks a year just working on my projects. At the farm we have the same tanks and don't use as much as I do at my place. A bottle of acetylene costs me around 55 dollars. Would I be better off using propane ? Lots cheaper. I know I don't use all that much but I am cheap and it seems convenient if I run out I can grab a bottle off the camper or grill. Is it worth it ? What would I need to change ?
 
If you only do heating and cutting, the propane will be lots cheaper.

I have an old Harris set with propane, all it needed was a new tip.

Some hoses are not approved for propane, but I don't remember the details, as mine are dual rated for all fuel gases.
 
We didn't have a torch at home on the farm. I learned on and got used to oxy/acetylene at a shop where I went to work in 1972. Some years later when I bought my own set, MAPP gas was promoted. I bought it. I didn't think that bottle was ever going to run out, because I was going back to acetylene as soon as it did! It was colder/slower enough it drove me nuts!
 
I've used propane for years. I like it because it is cheaper and it burns much cleaner too. It is not quite as hot for cutting, you will have to preheat longer but it does the job.
 
I used A. When I moved to the country P is what the locals used. I got some P tips for my torch and used P since I had P for the house and a P tractor with a nurse tank....easy to refill a tote bottle. Cooler and harder to start the torch. Much cheaper and was available That's about it. I'm back to A due to local availability at a reasonable price. I like it better.
 
Hoses need to be rated for All Fuels,the rating is T-Hose. Change your tips and heat away! (Acetylene tanks use two different valves,male and female) If you have a female AC tank you can hook straight to LP,if not then you will need an adapter(any welding shop ) Just about all of the torch hose sold in the last twenty years is T hose.
 
I do not like propane as it burns cooler and makes cutting take longer. Also you will use more oxygen. So the saving is not that much.
 
Not around here. Everything on the store shelf says actylene only. Friends that use Propane all the time with only actylene rated hoses. I bought the tip but could not get things lit.
 

I use propane for cutting, I have not welded with it. One thing about propane in a small shop is it is cleaner - you don't have all the soot during start up and adjustment. The torch will need a spark type lighter - the clicker type no workie so good.
 

So have a tank handy when you may need it... I have not came close to using a tank of acetylene in 17 years... Its no problem to roll a tank and switch the regulator and reset the pressures then roll it back into a corner for storage for that once a year event you may need it.
 
I have used LP since 1968. It is much cheaper and safer. Your BBQ size tank is holding liquid LP. Its vapor pressure is in the range of 80 to 125 psi. Your acetylene regulator probably fits the tank valve. Even the newer valve style has the left hand internal threads that your regulator needs.

LP Works best for heating (especially rusty bolts and nuts), cutting, bending, and brazing of thin steel like oil pans. It will not give enough pointed heat to carry a welding puddle. The LP flame gives a broader delivery of heat, while the AC allows much more pin point heat. The pin point heat works better for cutting out a bad bearing with less damage to the bearing housing.

You might consider having both AC and LP tanks, the LP tank off any old BBQ is probably no cost. Then use the gas that fits the job you are doing. The local scrap yards generally use LP/Oxy. Their welding carts have a 100 lb LP tank alongside a big oxygen cylinder. Even with the longer preheat time of LP, it is cost effective for them to use LP.

I am too cheap to pay for the purchase or rent of the AC tank ... plus then a high cost for the gas. LP probably does not satisfy the professional welder who is very good with AC, but I am not that good or as fussy. Just gett'r done, and make it somewhat decent.

The LP cutting tip is in the $10 to $20 range.

Paul in MN
 
Many pros use propane and they say the difference in heat isn't enough to make a difference. I use propane because there's no problem with fast drawdown,tanks are alot smaller and can be hauled in any position. You need to go back and forth adjusting fuel to ox a couple of times more than acety but it's worth it not having black smut floating around.
 
So you use a couple of knee high's a year? I can't see it making much difference to you really. I use LP, and have for close to 15 years. Reason I started was because I had a 100#er sitting there rotting away. Now I use BBQ tanks. So... yeah, you use a bit more O2. Problem I had was that for the volume I was using at the time, buying knee high acetylene was expensive, I was running out frequently, on weekends... when I needed it and couldn't get it... A contract on a larger bottle was more than I wanted to spend... So the numbers I do... I'd have to burn an extra 2 large O2 a year to pay for the contract never mind that acetylene is a more expensive gas. Long story short, LP works fine for my usage. Most of which is cutting and heating. The little bit of brazing I do... I can manage with the cutting tip because obviously the acetylene welding tips do not work...
I also run my gas pressure up around 15 most of the time and probably a larger tip that I'd otherwise use... I really don't find the heat time bothersome but the cuts are perhaps not as clean?
But for you... you might be just as far ahead with what you have.

Rod
 
I have seen that in a couple of those old fasion junk yards. They drive around the yard with a junker car and the two tanks are in the trunk. LP is cheeper, also less heat, need a bigger tip if I am not mistaken. Most all of the other replys have said the same thing.
 
If you gas weld, you need to use acetylene.

You need to buy new equipment to run propane; if you go through two tanks of acetylene a year, it will take several years to pay back the cost of the propane rig. But if you were planning to replace your torch anyway and you don't gas weld, it would make sense to switch.
 
I've used both, now days I will only use propane as a last resort. My experience is that propane uses twice the oxygen for the same job. Makes it a wash on cost for me. Acetylene does a better job of heating if you need to confine the heat zone. And is also more controllable cutting. A large part of my torch work is removing bearings. Propane is more likely to gouge the part I need to save. On the flip side it can cut through multiple layers, which acetylene will not.
 
I've always used propane. You need different tips is all. Available at any good shop that sells welding supplies. It is a little bit slower. Tends to cool while you're cutting so you have to stop,but definitely doable.
 
I just went to allhandsfire.com to check it out ! Wow ! Kinda
pricey ! But a neat concept. Have to use it a lot to recover
the cost !
 
"I like my acetylene."

EXACTLY. For a scrapper that needs to make crude cuts CHEAP or a casual user or if you're just gonna heat things fine. For quick/precision cuts you can't beat acetylene. 'Cept with a plasma cutter.
 
I like using Acetylene but last time I got my 145 cuft tank filled it was like 70 bucks and I was using many of them a year.

Switched to a 100lbs propane cylinder and fill it about once a year at a cost of less than 70 dollars.

Probably go through a little more oxygen but for what it costs I could go through 10x more and still be cheaper with propane.

Also like the fact I can get my propane tank filled at any number of places locally that are open on nights and weekends unlike the welding supply place that is 50 miles away and only open 9-5 M-F.
 
I have used propane for over ten years. Same experience as other comments, slightly longer to pre-heat for a cut but just enough to notice, not enough to matter. It lights easier if you turn on a little O2. To me it makes as sharp a cut as acetylene. BBQ size tank lasts a long time.

One thing to watch is that the tips clog easier when cutting messy junky stuff or burrowing into stuff. The outer circumference of the tip has a bunch of fine channels for the gas to come out. Not hard to clean.
 
Switched to propane 20 years ago. Saves a contract on acetylene tank. Uses a bit more oxygen to preheat or when just heating. Cutting is exactly the same. Complained to my gas supplier after my o2 contract climbed from 50$ a year to 120$ a year. Switched to a 5 year contract for the same price as the annual contract. They never mentioned that was an option the last 20 years. So now my tanks cost 25$ a year, 35$ a fill for O2, BBQ tank lasts forever plus I now have a spare if the BBQ runs out.
 
I've used both. Acetylene will produce a better cut. A byproduct of propane is water and it acts to cool the metal when cutting.
 

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