Gasoline blow torches?

[Butch(OH)]

I have an old oil fueled engine that requires the head to be heated up for starting. Originaly they used a gasoline blow torch or blowlamp. Would be neat to do it the old timey way instead of using propane but I am a bit worried about safety with people around watching. Believe me I know the lore but has anyone had a bad experiance with one? I remember some of the old timers saying they are perfectly safe as long as you keep the pot pressure up but let it get too low look out! What do you think, safe to use at an engine show to start my engine or no?

 

[jackinok]

I have not used a gasolene torch,but i have used deisel,or kerosene torches.the biggest problem with them is having a leak just like it is on any other liquid fuel torch..back when I was using them,we would fill tank with fuel,fill the generator heating ring with alcahol,and light it.where many folks got into trouble is they would used deisel or kerosene in preheater to try to warm up generator.when that happened lots of times fresh fuel being pulled up out of tank would not vaporize and would run ignited ,liquid fuel all over.pump on the ones i used was not really a pressure pump like on a coleman stove but only a primer pump that would pump fuel up into generator.once heater ring warmed generator,fuel would naturally be pulled up through generator.they were pretty safe,as safe as a say coleman lantern would be.primus and servis type stoves still operate that way and they have been to both poles and everywhere in between,and is the primary cooking stove still yet in a lot of the world. maybe thats a different type of torch than the ones you are planning to use, but the key to any of them is to keep them in good repair,and to use it correctly.

 

[Jack345]

We had them in out school metal shop never heard of any problems.As with any tool one has to be careful .

 

[Butch(OH)]

Until your post I didnt realize there were kerosene fuel models. I will check them out.

 

[JMOR]

(quoted from post at 10:04:38 08/11/11) I have an old oil fueled engine that requires the head to be heated up for starting. Originaly they used a gasoline blow torch or blowlamp. Would be neat to do it the old timey way instead of using propane but I am a bit worried about safety with people around watching. Believe me I know the lore but has anyone had a bad experiance with one? I remember some of the old timers saying they are perfectly safe as long as you keep the pot pressure up but let it get too low look out! What do you think, safe to use at an engine show to start my engine or no?

y dad used them, brother & I played with them as kids, used one myself as adult. Never knew of any troubles with them......you hear horror stories about all kinds of things.......if I haven't seen it/experienced it, then it is just "talk" and believe me there are plenty of "talk" experts in this world!

Still got them. Propane & oxy/acetylene so much easier & quicker that haven't fired one up in awhile. Guess I ought to get some gasoline & light one off. Probably need leather washer work.

 

[Jim in Ma.]

I have used them. They DON'T use reg gasoline - They used White Gass = It's more like Colman fuel.

 

[jackinok]

your right,ive used white gas stoves also.BUT they are NOT gasolene.coleman fuel is basically white gas,sometimes called parrafin i believe. some folks even believe unleaded gasolene is white gas,not so.this i think came about when coleman started building stoves for the military.cant recall the model but a small one burner stove.they were advertised as being able to use unleaded gasolene, but what the spec called for was white gas,commonly called unleaded gasolene overseas at the time,when unleaded gas became available here folks thought it was the same,not so.there are some models being sold today as "multi fuel" that they say will use pump gas,i personally wouldnt try it. IVE never ran one of those torches like you show on anything other than kerosene or diesel,maybe they will run on white gas,but i personally wouldnt fill one with gasolene.

 

[John Harmon]

Seeing that Falstaff Beer can reminds me of back in 1976 we were building our new house and just about the whole family were there wife and I and kids,My mom and dad and brothers and some sisters with their spouses,any way we all took a break and my next brother got a big cooler out of his truck and it was filled with iced down Falstaff.One of my sisters got a dud,a sealed Falstaff can with nothing in it.I took a 2"x4" and cut it to length to fit right above the top right hand cornor of the main entrance door.We set that Falstaff can on this shelf along with another metal can with a tight metal lid with some papers describing who we were and what the weather was like on that day and a lot of other stuff we felt would be pertanent for a time capsule,put insulation around the cans and filled the area of the shelf,drywalled over it later and painted.As far as I know the time capsule and sealed empty Falstaff can is still hidden with in that wall.We sold the house in 2000 so it has b een about 11 years since I have been in that house to see but have not heard a word about the empty bear can hidden in the wall, yet.

 

[Dick2]

I've seen them leak gas out various places and start to burn all over. The seals were not very good and hard to keep from leaking.

We used them mostly in the winter time to warm cold engines to get them started. If they leaked gas and started to burn all over, we shot off the valve (sometimes that leaked too) and then pitch the whole thing out into a snow bank.

Sometimes those old torches would spew out enough gas to burn down the building if a person didn't think to move the whole thing outside to an area that wouldn't catch fire. Too many people didn't know how to handle them.

I've seen them shoot out a steady stream of gas when it didn't ignite proper - and then it would suddenly ignite that gas!

Personally, if I had one I'd make sure it was in the next load of scrap I took away.

 

[JMOR]

(quoted from post at 13:15:02 08/11/11) your right,ive used white gas stoves also.BUT they are NOT gasolene.coleman fuel is basically white gas,sometimes called parrafin i believe. some folks even believe unleaded gasolene is white gas,not so.this i think came about when coleman started building stoves for the military.cant recall the model but a small one burner stove.they were advertised as being able to use unleaded gasolene, but what the spec called for was white gas,commonly called unleaded gasolene overseas at the time,when unleaded gas became available here folks thought it was the same,not so.there are some models being sold today as "multi fuel" that they say will use pump gas,i personally wouldnt try it. IVE never ran one of those torches like you show on anything other than kerosene or diesel,maybe they will run on white gas,but i personally wouldnt fill one with gasolene.

have no doubt in all you said here, but dad, brother and myself always used plain old leaded pump gasoline and as Dick2 said, I have seen them squirt a stream of liquid, too.

 

[Richard from SE AZ]

I have a whole pile of those, small to large. Never lit one up. Kind of nervous about doing so.

 

[Bret4207]

I still use mine regularly. You light it outside, not inside. Once it's going it works about like a really big and hot propane torch. It's great for heating large areas the way a rose bud does, a little cooler, but a lot cheaper to run.

As far as safety, it's a no brainer. You have to get things so they don't leak, but beyond that it's about like using a Coleman lantern. As with so many other things like buzz saws, lead pots, creosote, stickler log splitters, tricycle tractors and lawn darts, it takes a little common sense to use. In todays wussified, limp wristed, pansy culture where you need safety glassed and work gloves to eat a hamburger, things like blowtorches and chainsaws without chain brakes are fast becoming things of the past.

 

[JMOR]

(quoted from post at 18:51:53 08/11/11) I still use mine regularly. You light it outside, not inside. Once it's going it works about like a really big and hot propane torch. It's great for heating large areas the way a rose bud does, a little cooler, but a lot cheaper to run.

As far as safety, it's a no brainer. You have to get things so they don't leak, but beyond that it's about like using a Coleman lantern. As with so many other things like buzz saws, lead pots, creosote, stickler log splitters, tricycle tractors and lawn darts, it takes a little common sense to use. In todays wussified, limp wristed, pansy culture where you need safety glassed and work gloves to eat a hamburger, things like blowtorches and chainsaws without chain brakes are fast becoming things of the past.

 

[brokenot]

My Dad and Grandfather used them once in a while.....and they used regular gasoline in them, not white gas. If you want to see them in action, there are LOTS of videos of them on YouTube.

Here's one:

http://youtu.be/346meunDloU

:wink: