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Pressure regulators



Before I get started, let me make this PERFECTLY clear. The information 
contained in this post is MY OPINION only. Read this post at your own risk.

I did a "victor +regulator" search on e-bay and found several regulators 
that I thought might be adaptable to CO2 service. Victor makes a lot of 
pressure regulators for the welding and medical fields.

I contacted a Victor representative about converting a regulator from one 
service to another. He stated that would void the warranty. I telephoned a 
Victor repair facility and asked them the same question. He stated that 
there was no significant difference in the design and materials, the only 
real difference being the CGA connection. The CGA connection is the one 
that screws onto the cylinder. I was asking about a specific model number, 
the VTS250 A, which is for air, oxygen and inert gas service. As I have had 
extensive experience with these regulators, working in the oil and gas 
industry for the past 25 ears, I am comfortable making this switch. I plan 
on buying a CGA 320 fitting and replace the CGA 540 fitting now on the 
regulator. As always, before making any change such as this, do your own 
research. Here is a link to the page about this regulator.

http://www.thermadyne.com/vec/literature/pdfs/013_65-2007.pdf

This regulator normal sells for $150 or more. I picked this up for $25 on 
ebay. If you notice this model is more 3-dimensional than some of the 
others. The protrusion on the back of the regulator body indicates a 2 
stage regulator in most Victor regulators. The regulators with a flat back 
panel are usually, if not always, single stage regulators.

The regulator I currently have on my cylinder is a single stage with only 
an output gauge. I wanted one with dual gauges so I could easily determine 
when it is time to refill the cylinder.

The repairman did say that a CO2 cylinder should never be used for another 
service such as nitrogen, argon, or other high pressure gases. The CO2 
regulators are not built to withstand the 2500 psig of pressure these other 
cylinders may contain. He also said that any regulator used for with oxygen 
should not have been used in any other service, because of the danger the 
regulator had been contaminated. Oxygen makes a lot of things burn that 
would not ordinarily do so, such as steel wool. High pressure oxygen makes 
things explode that normally would not. That is why the gauges on all 
oxygen regulators say "Use no oil"

Here is a link to the website with information on Victor Regulators. If 
your looking to purchase a regulator for your CO2 system, this is a good 
place to start your research.

http://www.thermadyne.com/evolution/category.asp?div=vec



Douglas Guynn
	dguynn at nwol_net
	915.368.5411

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