Swapping regulator stems

[Jim Davey]

Well in that case crack on telling inexperienced forum members it's ok to chop and change high pressure gas systems without the proper experience or understanding.

 

[the snooper]

Well in that case crack on telling inexperienced forum members it's ok to chop and change high pressure gas systems without the proper experience or understanding.

where does it say he is inexperienced ? show me, he clearly is asking if the threads are the same, I suggest reading it properly before getting sarcastic with people, just because you are in the trade doesn't give you the right to assume others don't have proper experience or understanding

 

[Richard.]

Well in that case crack on telling inexperienced forum members it's ok to chop and change high pressure gas systems without the proper experience or understanding.

While I agree with everything you say. (As you told me once)
Take your own advice on board and don't make it personal.

 

[backpurge]

As far as I have been led to believe, if you modify regulators etc you are taking on all responsibility for if it goes tits up. Not really a problem if the only person you hurt is yourself, bit different if you are in a position where you are responsible for the well being of other people. That being the case it's up to you to make the choice, that's why I don't service my own boiler or do my own re wiring etc etc but I know plenty of people who do, the choice/risk is theirs

 

[the snooper]

these are replaceable for a reason, wear and damage and are sold for that reason, most places that deal with gas will sell them

 

[brightspark]

I replaced one of mine and fitted pressure gauges on them id hardly loose sleep over it . in a working environment with other people using stuff id just buy new from insurance and tax deductible point of view

 

[WorkshopChris]

I think a lot of the problem comes with perceived competence.
Fine it its just for your own use and you know what you are doing, but then someone comes along thinking they know what they are doing, and decides to replace the nose cone and nut on a oxygen regulator and decides to use a bit of ptfe tape "just to make sure cant do any harm can it"
And all of a sudden you now have the possibility of high pressure oxygen and a trace of oil, with the potential for a high pressure explosion.

 

[Jim Davey]

Maybe they should take that advert down then because my last gas safety refresher was at SIF in Letchworth and the course literature and trainer both warned against working on regs yourself. Basically almost nobody except manufacturers are qualified. But hey if they sell the bits then it must be ok right? There's probably 6-8 different thread forms on the average stem, some are very close but subtly different. I wonder how many folk would notice some are 26 or 27 TPI? Then there's taper and parallel, a reg is a big lump of brass to go flying across the shop at head height if it goes wrong. Lots of energy in a bottle, and if you're confident you know what you're about then fine, but don't give anyone the idea that it's a good idea to start working on regs without a really hard look at what they are contemplating.

 

[the snooper]

I think a lot of the problem comes with perceived competence.
Fine it its just for your own use and you know what you are doing, but then someone comes along thinking they know what they are doing, and decides to replace the nose cone and nut on a oxygen regulator and decides to use a bit of ptfe tape "just to make sure cant do any harm can it"
And all of a sudden you now have the possibility of high pressure oxygen and a trace of oil, with the potential for a high pressure explosion.

totally agree with flammable fuel, it needs a good degree of understanding

 

[Jim Davey]

Oxy and inert are potentially dangerous too.

 

[Pete.]

Oddly enough, despite working in construction and demolition for many years and seeing regulators in use that look like they have been dragged behind a car for 10 miles I've never seen a regulator part from the stem. They do seem to be very hardy for what they are. I have seen them bent, cracked, split, squashed, leaking and I've seen the taper padded out with all manner of materials (most often red and white bunting tape) to stop them leaking. I've seen the gauges so badly wrecked all you had left was a twisted bourdon tube. Demo boys do love to drag the regulators along the floor and pull them up through scaffold bouncing off every tube on the way.

I've removed the stem from a couple over the years to clean the taper, I took the stem out of a mig regulator and spun it up in my lathe to clean it with emery because it was my own gas that was leaking. It sealed perfectly after that.

 

[backpurge]

Oxy and inert are potentially dangerous too.

You are 100% right there Jim but apparently it looks like those of us that are in the trade and deal with this sort of stuff on a daily basis are grasping the wrong end of the stick, to be honest am going to stop commenting on posts in the future