Thread: Bunnings Oxygen and Acetylene

I have a set of Oxygen/ Acetylene gauges that was used on G size cylinders, I was wondering if the Bunning cylinders use the same size gauges?

If you are asking if the threaded connections are the same, the answer is yes.

Selected Bunnings shops carry Coregas D size size cylinders in both Oxy and Acetylene .

The threaded connections on the D cylinders - left and right hand threads, respectively, will accept gauges that screw into the G cylinders.

Grahame

The guages will fit and can be used on any size cylinder BUT a while back the max pressure that a cylinder can be filled to was increased on a lot of cylinders in particular Argon and mixed argon.
Just make sure the pressure rating of the guages will suit the cylinder pressure.

Originally Posted by Sparksy

The guages will fit and can be used on any size cylinder BUT a while back the max pressure that a cylinder can be filled to was increased on a lot of cylinders in particular Argon and mixed argon.
Just make sure the pressure rating of the guages will suit the cylinder pressure.

Can you tell me when this change occurred and what the change was?

The reason I ask is that some of the guys in the UK are using cylinders filled to 300 BAR (30 MPa) and having to use regulators specified for 300 BAR. This seems odd to me as I don't think I have seen a 300 BAR Argon regulator. Also, the cylinders from BOC in Australia that are filled to 300 BAR have an integral regulator dropping the cylinder pressure from 300 to about 80 BAR. This allows the use of a standard 200 BAR (20 MPa) regulator but makes it hard to determine the current contents of the cylinder.

Thanks

To the OP, how old are the regulators? They may need to be rebuilt.

Jack

The OPs question referred to Oxygen and Acetylene cylinders available from Bunnings which are Coregas cylinders.

Some high pressure weld shielding gas cylinders run at 25,000 and 30000 KPAs but they are multi cylinder gang packs.
Under 3 different reference no,s there a 6 pack-25000KPA, a 12 pack at 20000 KPA and another 12 pack at 25000 KPA.

No idea why the other 12 pack pressure is higher, maybe to get more volume out of the pack- used with suitable gauges.

Hopefully those of you using 6 and 12 packs oxygen packs with use the correct cylinder regulator gauges.

Coregas single Oxygen cylinder fill pressure is currently 200 BAR. Single cylinder Argon fills, the same.

SEE LINKs from Coregas

https://www.coregas.com.au/gases/oxygen-gas/oxygen-2-5
https://www.coregas.com.au/gases/argon-gas/argon-4-7


As with any other pressure affected component parts of the oxy acetylene cutting system, cylinder the gauges should be checked on a regular and ongoing basis.

Does this help?

Grahame

Originally Posted by Grahame Collins

The OPs question referred to Oxygen and Acetylene cylinders available from Bunnings which are Coregas cylinders.

Some high pressure weld shielding gas cylinders run at 25,000 and 30000 KPAs but they are multi cylinder gang packs.
Under 3 different reference no,s there a 6 pack-25000KPA, a 12 pack at 20000 KPA and another 12 pack at 25000 KPA.

No idea why the other 12 pack pressure is higher, maybe to get more volume out of the pack- used with suitable gauges.

Hopefully those of you using 6 and 12 packs oxygen packs with use the correct cylinder regulator gauges.

Thanks for that. I don't work in the trade and I have not used manifolded cylinders - I was really referring to single cylinders such as D, E, G etc.

Coregas single Oxygen cylinder fill pressure is currently 200 BAR. Single cylinder Argon fills, the same.

SEE LINKs from Coregas

https://www.coregas.com.au/gases/oxygen-gas/oxygen-2-5
https://www.coregas.com.au/gases/argon-gas/argon-4-7

That is the same as what is generally available from BOC but in addition, BOC has 300 BAR cylinders that contain integrated (pre) regulators to make them compatible with common 200 BAR regulators. I don't think 300 BAR regulators are readily available in Australia. Victor and Harris regulators mostly are 300 BAR but not on many shelves.

Sparksy made the comment that cylinder pressures had been lifted and I wasn't sure if he meant from 200 to 300 BAR or the earlier change from E to E2 and G to G2 etc.

As with any other pressure affected component parts of the oxy acetylene cutting system, cylinder the gauges should be checked on a regular and ongoing basis.

The general recommendation is to test/rebuild every 5 years but home users might extend that to 20 or 30 years. Not a good idea.

Jack

To answer OP's question. Simple answer is yes.
Industrial cylinders are fitted with Australian standard valve outlets per AS2473.

Short of the miniature portable oxy and DA cylinders used in the carry caddy cases, you'll be looking at type 10 for oxy and type 21 for acetylene.

Most industrial cylinders are filled to somewhere between 160 and 300 BAR, fill pressure is labelled on the cylinder. 300 Bar is limited to packs and larger cylinders usually with integrated reg/flowmeter attached, due to complexity of regs that hold that type of inlet pressure (Coregas, BOC and Air Liquide have these offerings in their VIPR and Al-top sizes.

Oxy packs I've seen run the type10 outlet. Same as acetylene manifold packs with the type 20. Some packs in other flavours can and do have built in regulators- keeping in mind packs usually interface with piped systems or equipment (laser cutting machines, profile cutters etc), which all have their own regulator / distribution board at the point of attachment with the end user side of the system.

Most regs these days are good for 200Bar- older regs probably not. Despite popular belief, regulators also do not last forever, so per aus standard have a 5 year replacement interval.

So, since mine regulators that is) are now approaching 40yo, is it feasible or practical to have them tested or refurbished? Or should I just replace? 😔
I did replace the hoses not very long ago.

Originally Posted by russ57

So, since mine regulators that is) are now approaching 40yo, is it feasible or practical to have them tested or refurbished? Or should I just replace? 😔
I did replace the hoses not very long ago.

put it this way...
You'd probably spend half a day on the phone finding someone who would do it.
If they will, they may find that parts are NLA.
And then, you'd probably be up for a service charge, call-out fee (some of these fellas are mobile- also do flashback testing etc), and by that stage, a new reg for $60-150 is looking pretty darn attractive.

Originally Posted by Commander_Keen

put it this way...
You'd probably spend half a day on the phone finding someone who would do it.
If they will, they may find that parts are NLA.
And then, you'd probably be up for a service charge, call-out fee (some of these fellas are mobile- also do flashback testing etc), and by that stage, a new reg for $60-150 is looking pretty darn attractive.

Yes, what he said.

If I had some sentimental attachment to them I'd use them as decoration in the workshop and buy new ones for the job at hand.

Jack

Thanks for your replies, I don’t know how old they are but I have an vague idea that they replaced old regulators that were only in PSI. I am guessing that they are 20- 25 years old and haven’t been used much.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Dont know if any one can tell how old they are from the pics.

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I picked this one up somewhere,is this another oxy reg?

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I also have a brand new Argon reg still in the box that I will never use.
Joys of being a hoarder.

That's the early 90's CIG logo.

But there is sometimes a serial stamped into the body of the reg that may have a date code.

While not wanting to give the impression that I consider all safety regulations as B/S, a 5 year lifetime for oxy gear just provides lots of incentive to just buy the cheapest stuff you can IMO. Because if even the more expensive brand name equipment like CIG / BOC has poorly supported checking and repairing facilities as earlier comments in this thread suggest, why would you spend the extra? Quite possibly none of this stuff is made in Australia now, but when I was a young feller, my grandmother in Melbourne lived within walking distance from GIG's factory in Heidelberg, and as far as I know they made all this sort of equipment there. Overhaul kits would have been available and it probably was considered normal to install them yourself, just following the included instructions.
Today it seems that it is no longer economically feasible to get regulators checked and overhauled, let alone do it yourself, it is just cheaper to replace them. Even the cheapest Asian copies of old school regs will most likely last 5 years, so why bother paying several times as much for possibly much better equipment if the overhaul facilities are not there to support it.
Sometimes I think that we have multiple universes when it comes to safety issues. We can be extremely risk averse with gas equipment in this case, but allow many other activities and materials to continue to be used, even when we know that injury will occur.
No-one seriously wants cars banned, alcohol, junk food, and a myriad of other harmful substances and procedures, all of which entail risk, and yet more and more regulation clutters our lives, we need tickets to use various equipment, or even do various jobs, which we may have been doing for years.
For years trade unions have been blamed for unreasonable wage demands killing industry, but I don't know anyone who would be happy to just earn a few dollars a day like many third world residents are faced with. All this regulation must have a huge cost for local employment, and if at the same time we allow imports from countries which have no such impediments, and all the fancy CNC manufacturing capacity, then how can we expect local manufacturers to compete with their hands tied behind their backs?
OK, rant over, – for now!

Originally Posted by Ropetangler

We can be extremely risk averse with gas equipment in this case, but allow many other activities and materials to continue to be used, even when we know that injury will occur.

Of course. Risk exists on a continuum. When things go wrong with gas the consequences are often death, possibly more than one.