Harbor Freight Torch Kit with Oxygen and Acetylene Tanks Review (Chicago Electric

[@drapakdave]

Ah. Two minutes in, and I have been Rick rolled twice!

[@jster1963]

LOL!! You must be one of my younger viewers! I never heard of “Rick rolled” until last week. My teenage sons were talking about it and explain it to me. When I edited this video I thought I would throw that in for them and none of my viewers would even catch it. My boys loved it so it was worth it 😬. And thank you very much.....

[@patrickbroaden9820]

Great video, and you have a good attitude towards your audience...👏🏿

[@jster1963]

Thank you so much!

[@royreynolds108]

That set is for portability instead of the volume, inconvenience, and weight of having to tote a large set of bottles unless you are doing a large job. I made a comment on the Part 1. I suggest you get a tip cleaner set for opening the holes in the tips when slag gets in them. You may want to go ahead and get No 1 & No 2 tips for larger jobs and more heat. For welding or cutting set the inner flame cone to a beautiful blue, neutral; for welding, both flames will be concentric; for cutting, make the small cones neutral then hit the cutting lever to see what flames you will get. To start cutting from an edge, heat the metal to a puddle then hit the cutting lever while aiming the tip very slightly in the direction of the cut; this preheats the metal to be cut. With experience and the correct settings, a piece of steel can be cut with almost no slag or grinding needed. The suggestion of several fire bricks is a very good one. When supporting the torch, welding or cutting, do so under it with your left hand similar to what you were doing but support that hand on something to steady the hand to be able to steady the torch. As you found out, aluminum doesn't cut very well. Cutting tips can be had in a large selection of sizes and configurations to make the job easier, look on line for those. I learned at work and at a high school night class. Just remember to not be complacent with those bottles or torch. Try to remember to not turn the acetylene up to or above 15 psi. and keep that bottle pretty much vertical. Acetylene is dissolved in acetone for storage. For working on cars, you may want to get a second set of bottles so they don't need to be refilled as often. Also remember that the oxygen bottle is under a lot of pressure so watch to prevent dropping either tank. It sounds like I am harping at you but I would hate to hear of an accident to you.

[@jster1963]

Now that’s what I need!! Thank you so much. I’ve been wanting fire bricks, but I’m not sure where to get them. I will try Lowe’s. My car doesn’t have a great deal of rust on the underside so I think I’ll only need to heat exhaust bolts. Once again thank you for the great information.....

[@eviltwinx]

I’m always tempted to buy this every time I walk pass it at HF. I just need to have more of a need before I buy.

[@jster1963]

I was the same way until I went to a buddy's house to help work on his car and he had one. When he told me how much he liked his, I was sold. And thank you very much.....

[@jster1963]

@Leonel Turner Awesome! Good luck....

[@pacowang283]

Nice. Takes me back to my shop days when I set the shop on fire. I like the humility and safety consciousnesses you put out. That Rick-Roll though. You need to get back in the air Captain.

[@jster1963]

LOL! I hadn't heard of "Rick rolling" until last week when my teenage boys were talking about it. I did that to make my boys laugh and I thought no one would catch it. I was wrong, LOL! And thank you very much! Ps. I'm loving not having to live out of my suitcase......

[@robertoswalt319]

Here are my tips: Check for air leaks especially the acetylene. Acetylene and Oxygen will make a HUGE boom as opposed to the Acetylene alone. ( check out baloon tests for a demo) Use in a well ventilated area away from flammable materials. Here in West Texas the price to refill those tanks is about the same as the larger tanks. When finished back the screws on the regulators out and turn the valves a t the tank off. Otherwise you probably won't have any gas when you try to use it next time. I hope this helps.

[@jster1963]

Excellent, excellent tips! Thank you very much.....

[@DireWolf28]

Uiukkkkkk

[@smeglip]

Noob to noob - pretty awesome you shared your experience. It answered a few questions I had. Thanks

[@jster1963]

Thank you very much! It’s a pretty cool setup for someone who likes cool tools 😬

[@intakepark]

Great video as always, I bought the Victor port a torch set, the one that didnt come with tanks, as the local gas company said they might not exchange the tanks until the saw them first. Trust me just because it has the Victor name on it doesnt mean its not made in the same country and or factory that the Harbor Frieght model is. The Victor has the same feel and weight of the Harbor Freight port a torch. Im sure I paid more for the same thing.

[@jster1963]

I think you’re right about one factory pumping out the same thing and putting a different name on it. I was worried that they wouldn’t take my tanks in on exchange, but they did. HF said they would give me new tanks if the welding place wouldn’t exchange them. It’s perfect for what I need. So far I love it. Great to hear from you! Stay warm up there. It’s 5 deg in Chicago today so it’s got to be -50 there, LOL! And thank you very much.....

[@RPMechanics]

Nice little set up that doesn't take much space. Thanks for the review!

[@jster1963]

It really is! And thank you so much.....

[@flatheadronsgarage7345]

Had one this size for plumbing and ac repair. It’ll come in handy. Thanks for sharing Jester. Enjoyed 👍👍👍

[@jster1963]

Thank you Ron!

[@colton5bucks]

Great follow up video

[@jster1963]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@TheToolReview]

Great little torch for heating up rusty nuts and bolts instead of drilling and retap. The reason for the aluminum popping like that is because molten steel and aluminum together create a thermite reaction.

[@jster1963]

I thought it would be great for that. A thermite reaction? Wow, that makes sense! And thank you very much.....

[@dhgepidemic7654]

Like your vids. Keep in mind torch is pretty much for iron. Can’t cut aluminum or stainless Bc there’s no iron keep the good vids coming 👍🏻

[@jster1963]

Great info! And thank you so much!

[@jareda9092]

I would suggest calling around and checking on the price to have the cylinders filled. I live in South Carolina and I don’t pay near what your paying for gas. I have a 251 cubic foot oxygen cylinder that cost me 15 dollars and an 130 cubic foot acetylene take which cost me 56 dollars to get filled. We can exchange or drop off and get them filled for the same price it just take a few days to get them back.

[@jster1963]

Wow! I better shop around. And thank you.....

[@malcolmtill]

Hi Capn Jster. The best instruction you can get on that is time spent using it. I know you're a proper safety guy so no worries there. But It's very safe in careful hands. Personally I would get separate Flashback arrestors but that's the only advice I could give and you have that already covered.

[@jster1963]

Thank you so much! I will look into the flashback arrestors. And you are so right about just spending time using it. I have watched and read many things, but until I put my hands on it.....It was just theory. And thank you again.....

[@wicklash9065]

I found a pretty cheap kit on amazon. I saw your previous video quite a while ago. Finally gonna pull the trigger i think.

[@jster1963]

Awesome! I still like mine. And thank you very much…..

[@akgoldbear7669]

Thanks for review 👍🙂

[@jster1963]

Thank you Sir...

[@HemiRod23]

You may want to check, some homeowner's insurance companies will drop you if you have oxy/acetylene in your garage. Co2 and Argon for welding are both inert gases, and would actually put out a fire rather than contribute to it. Acetylene is a flammable gas and oxygen is a combustion accelerant. I wanted an oxy/acetylene setup as well, but went with plasma so I wouldn't have any flammable gasses in my shop. It just gives them a reason to deny any claim and drop you rather than pay out for a claim.

[@jster1963]

I never thought of that, but Pierre said the same thing. And thank you so much.....

[@griffmustard]

The Tanks you get when you buy the Kit from (HF) are brand new, correct? But when you go to get them filled, you said the process is an "exchange". Does that mean you might end up getting some used and beat-up tank, after giving away your brand new ones?

[@jster1963]

Yes and yes. They are brand new tanks but to have them filled the same day, you have to exchange them. If you want to keep the new tanks, you have to wait a couple of weeks to get them back filled. I just didn’t want to wait. That’s how it worked at my welding place. The good news about exchanging is you don’t have to worry about the tanks expiring. So you can keep filling your new ones until the tanks expire, then exchange them if you want. And good luck.....

[@obfuscated3090]

There's no reason to care because the replacement tanks are inspected when filled. I strongly advise against turning in cylinders for refill as they often disappear among the thousands of other cylinders in the system. The "newness" of cylinders which can last in service nearly a century (not kidding) is no big deal. BTW I don't hesitate to buy used US-made torch kits with cylinders as that's often a great way to save money. I also buy used cylinders to swap out.

[@wallystewart1979]

where do you exchange tanks at

[@jster1963]

There is a welding supply shop about 15 minutes from me. Most welding suppliers will be able to help......

[@wags9777]

So this is a be careful because I don't know anything about it and I figured Id make a video, video.

[@michaelellington2496]

What’s with the “Rick Roll” video?

[@jster1963]

I wanted to make my sons laugh ;-)

[@michaelellington2496]

Lol 👍

[@pierresgarage2687]

I see you already got a few good advices from other viewers... A few more if it's all right with you. Check with your house insurance co. if they'll insure you with welding machines and torch sets, I've already had to deal with companies that WONT insure you if you own any welding tools aside from a little plumming torch. Read their small prints and/or have them explain the restrictions and confirm what they cover, I suggest you record the call... When working with welding equipment, NEVER wear clothing made with synthetic fibers, reason, it burn AND MELTS, this molten stuff wil stick to your flesh, natural fibers like cotton will burn also but wont melt and mix with your flesh, this makes a huge difference in case of an accident. Avoid frayed clothings since it will easily catch fire, ( I remember having to light off some co-workers having their pants on fire cause they were wearing jeans with frayed ends...) Use good leather clothings and boots, if not convinced, try with sandals and shorts.... 😈🥵🤣😱 The biggest use of gas is when you do some cutting, the oxygen will flow very fast, at least 2 to four times as fast as you'll change the acetylene... Get a good steady anchoring for your hands, try to keep the flame about 1/8" or so from the surface you're cutting, as soon as you see the flame getting irregular clean the little holes with a special nozle cleaner, this happens mostly after a popout... Enjoy you "mantoy"

[@jster1963]

Excellent advice my friend! And I'm not insulted for advice on safety! And thank you very much.....

[@obfuscated3090]

I don't store welding gases in or near my home as they live in a separate steel workshop. I also use an outdoor steel locker away from the house. That's worth noting because many people store flammables in detached garages that are better off elsewhere.