Possessed Victor style cutting head..

I cleaned everything as good as I could, and replaced the O rings from my stock,recleaned the tip for the sixth time in an hour, and it worked well for one cut. I was almost done with the cutting on the used steel, and it backfired and started to burn inside the tube which had the mixing tube in it. I shut it off again and quit in disgust.

My other Victor works great and takes abuse like nobodies business, what am I missing???

BTW I have tried this head on the other set of gages and the other handle, and it still stinks.

Yes the "o-rings" need replaced ever so often.

The tip nut seal is another leak point that can cause flash back. Could also be the tip seal so try a new tip.

Once you've cleaned up the mating surfaces, you then need to remove the carbon from inside the tubes then install the new o-rings. Berryman B12 disolves carbon on contact, available at any auto parts store as carb cleaner.

I think you haven't got it clean and or a leaking nut.

T_Bone

I might have to break down and hit my local welding guy to find the right O ring. The neoprene ones in my kit don't seem quite large enough in cross section to seal on anything.

I used the torch handle yeaterday with a welding tip and a rosebud tip.. Worked 100 percent. So I know the problem is in the cutting head.

Thanks for all the help. I knew it could be fixed, and it ain't got the better of me yet...

A leaking nut? Yikes! Now there's a horrible mental image. I spit coffee all over the keyboard when I read that. That's what happens when you have a vivid imagination and an eighth grader's sense or appreciation for the unintentional double meaning.

Thanks for the tip about the carb cleaner. I can see that carbon buildup is the problem in my Victor torch, but I didn't know how to deal with it without possibly making the situation worse. Isn't that carb cleaner pretty toxic stuff, though, benzyne or something? I've heard that breathing too much of it can cause---you guessed it---leaking nuts.

All the best, Stan

I definitely have to examine the sealing areas in the head more closely. Sounds like that is my problem, something isn't sealing well. Somehow O2 is getting into the AC part of the torch and it isn't supposed to.

I haven't reached the throw away stage altho I have come real close! After all it is a stupid little chunk of metal and I'm smarter than it is, I thought...lol.

If it were mine, my decision about how much effort to put into trying to get it working right would be influenced by whether it already had flashback arrestors installed. Since I'm figuring it out as I go, I'd want to know that the worst outcome would be that I couldn't fix it, not that I'd burn anything up in the process.

Just my $0.02, Stan

I doubt if this will help much but here's what I know. I bought a Victor cutting torch on eBay last year. It was still in the shrink-wrap packaging from a shop which had rebuilt it. The first time I used it it would pop about every 2 seconds. It did something worse when I pressed the lever for oxygen, but I can't remember now what it was. My friend, who runs the welding program where I have shop privileges took the torch and cranked down really hard on the nut that holds the tip. After that it worked all right.

I got out the torch a little while ago to refresh my memory. The tip has to make a metal to metal seal with the torch head socket in two different places. The metal in my torch head looks just like it wouldn't make a good seal. I don't know what to do about it. I might try putting a wad of steel wool in against the rough metal and turning it with a wooden dowel in a drill. I'll be pretty surprised if that helps. In the mean time I can reef on the nut until I buckle the supply tubes.

All the best, Stan