Today, while at the local welding supply, the counter guy asked how my
conversion to propane cutting was over acetylene. I said it was coming
along, although it is still quite a bit different to me than acetylene. He
asked what type of torch I was using. I said Victor. He said that the
Harris torches had a much better mixing chamber for propane than a standard
Victor, and that the cut with the Harris equipment was a lot better.

Has anyone used both of these and can compare? I'd like to get the best cut
now that I've gone to propane. I have two sets of OA regs, one Victor, and
one Generico, a Victor clone, IIRC. It would seem the regs would function
the same, but what about the torch body?

I need to get all of it serviced soon, as it was purchased used, and has
quite a few miles on it, and needs gone through, especially the torches.
But I don't want to spend the $$ if Harris would do a better job.

Advice and experiences appreciated.

Steve

"Barry" <barry_owen@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:480818B3.9060904@sbcglobal.net...


SteveB wrote:

Today, while at the local welding supply, the counter guy asked how my
conversion to propane cutting was over acetylene. I said it was coming
along, although it is still quite a bit different to me than acetylene.
He asked what type of torch I was using. I said Victor. He said that
the Harris torches had a much better mixing chamber for propane than a
standard Victor, and that the cut with the Harris equipment was a lot
better.

Has anyone used both of these and can compare? I'd like to get the best
cut now that I've gone to propane. I have two sets of OA regs, one
Victor, and one Generico, a Victor clone, IIRC. It would seem the regs
would function the same, but what about the torch body?

I need to get all of it serviced soon, as it was purchased used, and has
quite a few miles on it, and needs gone through, especially the torches.
But I don't want to spend the $$ if Harris would do a better job.

Advice and experiences appreciated.

Steve

Steve,
I'm a professional welder, taught welding for six years, and for the last
sixteen years have been in the welding supply business myself, so I'll
give you my honest opinion.
Since Thermadyne bought Victor, and moved their manufacturing out of
country, they've really fallen in quality. Your local counter guy is
correct; Harris beats Victor hands down, especially with propane.
However, I will say this about Harris, they're owned by Lincoln, and made
in Holland. It seems everything Lincoln buys, eventually winds up doing
badly. Again, just my opinion.
Having said that, let me give you more options. Smith, Purox, and Oxweld,
are still made in The UNITED STATES, and all carry a LIFETIME warranty.
Where Smith Equipment is concerned, that's the lifetime of the
torch, not the owner. Hard to beat. All cut just as well with alternate
fuel gasses. As an added bonus, Purox, and Oxweld carry and extra 100 Day,
100% guarantee; meaning that if you're not happy with the equipment
in the first 100 days, your money is refunded in full.
I strongly suggest you buy AMERICAN made. Those three companies are very
competively priced, and I firmly believe in AMERICAN jobs.
Good luck,
Barry


Thanks. Your reply has been copied to my welding folder. Do you think the
Victor regs would be okay? They have to be around 25 years old, so are of
the older manufacture. Do you think I should have them rebuilt, or just
start with a whole new rig? The regs look in pretty good shape on the
surface, but could probably use a tune up to make sure.

If Smith is priced like Victor, that would be about $500 for the set. If
the regs will do okay, I can get by for less by just buying the torch. Yet,
I don't want to cheap out and be standing there with malfunctioning
equipment.

I have always been a fan of buying more than I need and buying quality. The
worst thing I can think of on a job (next to a safety incident) is equipment
that won't work right, and I don't care who made it. Everything stops
including the cash register.

Steve

25 year old torches and regulators were of better manufacturing, and it may
not hurt to have an estimate on servicing them. The torch head might

SteveB wrote:
Today, while at the local welding supply, the counter guy asked how my
conversion to propane cutting was over acetylene. I said it was coming
along, although it is still quite a bit different to me than acetylene.
He asked what type of torch I was using. I said Victor. He said that
the Harris torches had a much better mixing chamber for propane than a
standard Victor, and that the cut with the Harris equipment was a lot
better.

Has anyone used both of these and can compare? I'd like to get the best
cut now that I've gone to propane. I have two sets of OA regs, one
Victor, and one Generico, a Victor clone, IIRC. It would seem the regs
would function the same, but what about the torch body?

I need to get all of it serviced soon, as it was purchased used, and has
quite a few miles on it, and needs gone through, especially the torches.
But I don't want to spend the $$ if Harris would do a better job.

Advice and experiences appreciated.

Steve

Steve,
I'm a professional welder, taught welding for six years, and for the last
sixteen years have been in the welding supply business myself, so I'll
give you my honest opinion.
Since Thermadyne bought Victor, and moved their manufacturing out of
country, they've really fallen in quality. Your local counter guy is
correct; Harris beats Victor hands down, especially with propane.
However, I will say this about Harris, they're owned by Lincoln, and made
in Holland. It seems everything Lincoln buys, eventually winds up doing
badly. Again, just my opinion.
Having said that, let me give you more options. Smith, Purox, and Oxweld,
are still made in The UNITED STATES, and all carry a LIFETIME warranty.
Where Smith Equipment is concerned, that's the lifetime of the
torch, not the owner. Hard to beat. All cut just as well with alternate
fuel gasses. As an added bonus, Purox, and Oxweld carry and extra 100 Day,
100% guarantee; meaning that if you're not happy with the equipment
in the first 100 days, your money is refunded in full.
I strongly suggest you buy AMERICAN made. Those three companies are very
competively priced, and I firmly believe in AMERICAN jobs.
Good luck,
Barry

Today, while at the local welding supply, the counter guy asked how my
conversion to propane cutting was over acetylene. I said it was coming
along, although it is still quite a bit different to me than acetylene. He
asked what type of torch I was using. I said Victor. He said that the
Harris torches had a much better mixing chamber for propane than a standard
Victor, and that the cut with the Harris equipment was a lot better.

Has anyone used both of these and can compare? I'd like to get the best cut
now that I've gone to propane. I have two sets of OA regs, one Victor, and
one Generico, a Victor clone, IIRC. It would seem the regs would function
the same, but what about the torch body?

I need to get all of it serviced soon, as it was purchased used, and has
quite a few miles on it, and needs gone through, especially the torches.
But I don't want to spend the $$ if Harris would do a better job.

Advice and experiences appreciated.

Steve

SteveB wrote:
"Barry" <barry_owen@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:480818B3.9060904@sbcglobal.net...


SteveB wrote:

Today, while at the local welding supply, the counter guy asked how my
conversion to propane cutting was over acetylene. I said it was coming
along, although it is still quite a bit different to me than acetylene.
He asked what type of torch I was using. I said Victor. He said that
the Harris torches had a much better mixing chamber for propane than a
standard Victor, and that the cut with the Harris equipment was a lot
better.

Has anyone used both of these and can compare? I'd like to get the best
cut now that I've gone to propane. I have two sets of OA regs, one
Victor, and one Generico, a Victor clone, IIRC. It would seem the regs
would function the same, but what about the torch body?

I need to get all of it serviced soon, as it was purchased used, and has
quite a few miles on it, and needs gone through, especially the torches.
But I don't want to spend the $$ if Harris would do a better job.

Advice and experiences appreciated.

Steve

Steve,
I'm a professional welder, taught welding for six years, and for the last
sixteen years have been in the welding supply business myself, so I'll
give you my honest opinion.
Since Thermadyne bought Victor, and moved their manufacturing out of
country, they've really fallen in quality. Your local counter guy is
correct; Harris beats Victor hands down, especially with propane.
However, I will say this about Harris, they're owned by Lincoln, and made
in Holland. It seems everything Lincoln buys, eventually winds up doing
badly. Again, just my opinion.
Having said that, let me give you more options. Smith, Purox, and Oxweld,
are still made in The UNITED STATES, and all carry a LIFETIME warranty.
Where Smith Equipment is concerned, that's the lifetime of the
torch, not the owner. Hard to beat. All cut just as well with alternate
fuel gasses. As an added bonus, Purox, and Oxweld carry and extra 100
Day, 100% guarantee; meaning that if you're not happy with the equipment
in the first 100 days, your money is refunded in full.
I strongly suggest you buy AMERICAN made. Those three companies are very
competively priced, and I firmly believe in AMERICAN jobs.
Good luck,
Barry


Thanks. Your reply has been copied to my welding folder. Do you think
the Victor regs would be okay? They have to be around 25 years old, so
are of the older manufacture. Do you think I should have them rebuilt,
or just start with a whole new rig? The regs look in pretty good shape
on the surface, but could probably use a tune up to make sure.

If Smith is priced like Victor, that would be about $500 for the set. If
the regs will do okay, I can get by for less by just buying the torch.
Yet, I don't want to cheap out and be standing there with malfunctioning
equipment.

I have always been a fan of buying more than I need and buying quality.
The worst thing I can think of on a job (next to a safety incident) is
equipment that won't work right, and I don't care who made it.
Everything stops including the cash register.

Steve 25 year old torches and regulators were of better manufacturing,
and it may
not hurt to have an estimate on servicing them. The torch head might need
re-seating by now, and the diaphragms in the regulators might be
weakening. You can tell if the needles in your guages fluctuate or pulse,
or it seems you need to use more or less pressure than normal. One thing's
for sure; Your equipment is paid for, and it don't owe you anything. Don't
buy new unless you have to, or if it's not cost effective to have them
serviced. By the way, if your regulators say
San Francisco on them, they're way older than 25 years, and are
collectible.
Barry

"SteveB" <pittmanpirate@henderson.com> wrote in message
news:8mfld5-v7e.ln1@news.infowest.com...
Today, while at the local welding supply, the counter guy asked how my
conversion to propane cutting was over acetylene. I said it was coming
along, although it is still quite a bit different to me than acetylene.
He asked what type of torch I was using. I said Victor. He said that the
Harris torches had a much better mixing chamber for propane than a
standard Victor, and that the cut with the Harris equipment was a lot
better.

Has anyone used both of these and can compare? I'd like to get the best
cut now that I've gone to propane. I have two sets of OA regs, one
Victor, and one Generico, a Victor clone, IIRC. It would seem the regs
would function the same, but what about the torch body?

I need to get all of it serviced soon, as it was purchased used, and has
quite a few miles on it, and needs gone through, especially the torches.
But I don't want to spend the $$ if Harris would do a better job.

Advice and experiences appreciated.

Steve

A manual spray bottle (Windex type) filled with strong (dishwasher)
detergent & water mix is your best helper. Use it on your regulators,
gauges, torch and lots on your hoses to find small leaks.

Good luck,

Today, while at the local welding supply, the counter guy asked how my
conversion to propane cutting was over acetylene. I said it was coming
along, although it is still quite a bit different to me than acetylene.
He asked what type of torch I was using. I said Victor. He said that the
Harris torches had a much better mixing chamber for propane than a
standard Victor, and that the cut with the Harris equipment was a lot
better.

Has anyone used both of these and can compare? I'd like to get the best
cut now that I've gone to propane. I have two sets of OA regs, one
Victor, and one Generico, a Victor clone, IIRC. It would seem the regs
would function the same, but what about the torch body?

I need to get all of it serviced soon, as it was purchased used, and has
quite a few miles on it, and needs gone through, especially the torches.
But I don't want to spend the $$ if Harris would do a better job.

Advice and experiences appreciated.

Steve

Private wrote:

"SteveB" <pittmanpirate@henderson.com> wrote in message
news:8mfld5-v7e.ln1@news.infowest.com...
Today, while at the local welding supply, the counter guy asked how my
conversion to propane cutting was over acetylene. I said it was coming
along, although it is still quite a bit different to me than acetylene.
He asked what type of torch I was using. I said Victor. He said that
the
Harris torches had a much better mixing chamber for propane than a
standard Victor, and that the cut with the Harris equipment was a lot
better.

Has anyone used both of these and can compare? I'd like to get the
best
cut now that I've gone to propane. I have two sets of OA regs, one
Victor, and one Generico, a Victor clone, IIRC. It would seem the regs
would function the same, but what about the torch body?

I need to get all of it serviced soon, as it was purchased used, and
has
quite a few miles on it, and needs gone through, especially the
torches.
But I don't want to spend the $$ if Harris would do a better job.

Advice and experiences appreciated.

Steve

A manual spray bottle (Windex type) filled with strong (dishwasher)
detergent & water mix is your best helper. Use it on your regulators,
gauges, torch and lots on your hoses to find small leaks.

Good luck,

External only I hope on those regulators. I don't recall dishwasher
detergent as being an approved cleaner or even pre-cleaner for O2
servicing.

Should I just get a new Smith head and use the Victor regulators?

Steve