Is air acetylene torch backfire normal?

[Sugarkryptonite]

Hi guys

I just inherited this old Prest-A-Lite air acetylene torch (not oxy-acetylene).

I took it all apart and cleaned it in my ultra sonic cleaner, and now it runs really nice, a nice solid blue flame.

My question is when turning the gas regulator off, there is a sort of backfire from I guess where the holes are in the torch nozzle. It’s nothing extreme, just a pop.

Is this normal operation for these air acetylene torches?

Also yes the tank is full, just have it turned off in the pictures

 

[The Cobbler]

Yes, normal on those torches

 

[RegeSullivan]

Yes... I know that sound well... if you are not familiar with those B-tanks it's worth mentioning you should only turn the key about a 1/4 to 1/2 turn when you open it.

 

[rlitman]

I've got several Prest-O-Lite torches, with possibly every air-acetylene tip they made. Some of them pop more than others on shutdown (usually the bigger tips), but in any case, its not abnormal behavior. That nice flame is what makes them so pleasant to work with.

 

[The Cobbler]

with possibly every air-acetylene tip they made

do you have the flame spreader tip? I had one that got ripped off and it was too costly to replace . I think they are now discontinued




got one of these?

 

[rlitman]

do you have the flame spreader tip? I had one that got ripped off and it was too costly to replace . I think they are now discontinued




got one of these?

I have that same monster soldering iron setup stored away somewhere as well as a soldering iron tip, but never used it. Flame spreader too, which I used only a little before deciding that a heat gun was better for me. I've used the hook tip quite a bit. Never owned the halogen gas detector tip. I also have some swirl tips that screw into a Prest-O-Lite handle (normally I would switch to my TurboTorch handle for that), and though I have several handles, I usually use the quick one, with the quarter turn knob up front and [in theory] pilot flame.