disposable propane tank threads

[davidh]

i need to make a rig to keep my "club" type copper soldering irons hot when im using them. now, its a real pain to fire up the propane and wait for the copper to reheat each time it cools down a bit.

i have a 20# tank i use for my solder pot stove, and other things, using quick disconnects, and i will use a "big birtha" type tip i have htat fits on a disposable tank as the burner and make me a holder for that tip, and a saddle of sorts to hold the solder irons.

i measured the threads on a tank and they appear to be close to 1"-20 but thats without my reading glasses this morning.

i've checked out the plumbers heaters but they are way larger than i need for the smaller jobs i do.

or, does anyone have an empty bottle they would like to cut the top off of and stick it in a priority mail envelope ? that would be the easiest .

i would gladly pay the postage or even send a prepaid label. . . . .

never know till you ask . . . .

[barts]

They're 1" x 20 - but wouldn't it be simpler and leak proof to get
a F-144 (bottom of page) from here:

http://www.flameengineering.com/Cyli...onnectors.html

Google FTW

- Bart

[Timewarp]

These are the big old timey soldering irons? I've seen them but never in use. Can you describe your setup,how they are used, and what you are using them for?
Thanks, Paul

Usually at the dump here they have lots of free old bottles. Please be careful!

[Scishopguy]

Re: Soldering irons

The old copper irons used by sheet metal workers used to be kept in a little cast iron pot, like they used to melt lead in, with a bunch of burning charcoal. They even hoisted the pots up and hung them from the ladder while soldering gutter on warehouse buildings. An old friend used to do that kind of work in his younger days.

[davidh]

[QUOTE=Timewarp]These are the big old timey soldering irons? I've seen them but never in use. Can you describe your setup,how they are used, and what you are using them for?

QUOTE]

my first real encounter of need was to float solder on a snowmobile tank that was built into the body of the machine. makes lots fo heat without the risk of fire. clean, flux, solder !

also did the fuel tank on my tractor the same way.

now i rebuild portable tool battery pacs and do not have the 2500$ spot welder for making the connections. with the "club" you can get the heat you need almost instantly when applied to a thin object. seems to work just fine for this. . . . .

thanks for the information. i didn't think they would be on the market to purchase. dang, should i spend a hour making what i need or spend the $20 or so and have that hour for a nap ? ? ?

[pcarpenter]

David-- Just FYI, I have only rebuilt one rechargable pack so far, but I found two things that help: 1. I buy cheap (on sale at HF and others) packs and rob the cells for my Dewalt. I leave as many of them spot welded together as possible. The one I did was using an 18v pack to make a 14.4 for my Dewalt. My theory is that I might have had *no* soldering to speak of had I used a 14.4 pack as the donor.

2. I used my 200W Weller gun without any problems. The "skin" on those batteries must be really thin as they heat quickly. I pre-tin the wire rather heavily, set it on top of the battery and then just touch it with the hot iron until the solder flows....just a second or two.

Paul

[rotate]

1. I buy cheap (on sale at HF and others) packs and rob the cells for my Dewalt. I leave as many of them spot welded together as possible. The one I did was using an 18v pack to make a 14.4 for my Dewalt. My theory is that I might have had *no* soldering to speak of had I used a 14.4 pack as the donor.

I did the same but found that the cheap battery packs perform much poorer than the original. I think the mAh rating on the cheaper units are lower. It's rarely printed on the cell so it's difficult to determine.

[davidh]

i made my little adapter last night from a chunk of aluminum..... works great.

now for the stand for holding it and the irons. . . might be a good weekend project as its suppose to rain and maybe even snow. . . .

pixs to follow.

[JoeFin]

David

Hydrocarbons such as Propane tend to "leach" into the metal.

We just had an small explosion wensday as some one "New" to refinery work failed to keep positive airflow on a piece of old scrap pipe demo-ed out of the plant, while cutting it with a cutting torch

The worker, fortunately was unharmed with the exception of crapping his pants

[winchman]

Not that it matters anymore, but I'm confused.

David originally wanted the top off a propane tank. That's 1/2"-20 male threads.

The F-144 has 1/2"-20 female threads.

What kind of threads are on the adapter you ended up making?

Maybe Bart meant the F-140, which has 1/2"-20 male threads?

Roger

[dhammer]

1" throwaway

I don't know the TPI on those disposable LP bottles.. here at work we call it "1" throwaway". We have adaptors that are 1" throwaway to 1/4" male pipe, they sell for about $7.00. These adaptors have spring loaded internal valve similar to tire valves, rolling your own might be complicated and not worth the effort.

You should be able to find one of these adaptors at any full service propane company, if not, PM me and I'll send you one.

Steve

[GKman]

I've rebuilt a few battery packs. Started using brass shim stock for straps and a 60w iron. Something that really helps me is to use hot melt glue to position and hold the battery cases aligned before I solder. Any slack and they won't go back in the case.

[davidh]

made the adaptor..

well, i machined my little propane tank top gadget. aluminum of course because its fast and easy and i had a chunk. and it only took about an hour. (im only worth about $7 an hour according to this)

the burner is shown here too, i figured it would be a nice blowtorch kind of burner as it did make a nice fire when hooked to a small tank. except for the little plate that the flame was aimed at down inside the burner.

i thought something might be missing on the burner head so i called benz o matic about it. seems that is a really old and obsolete freon sniffer burner head thats used to detect refridgeration leaks. a sniffer hose is suppose to be attached to the side of the burner head.

crap. now i need to make a burner head of some kind.

this is getting complicated now. back to the drawing board.

thanks for the offers to send me an adaptor. how about some ideas of of how to make a home made burner ?

[barts]

Propane burners are easy to make....

Check out the blacksmith's sites... a good example is:

http://www.zoellerforge.com/sidearm.html

check out the mini one at the bottom of the page.

A good google phrase is

propane forge burner


- Bart