Hi
So I need a regulator. Mine started leaking air, then I taped it and added a hose-clamp so it wouldn't leak, or leak as much and it worked for quite a while like that.
However today, to my utter amazement, it caught fire!. I burnt my finger and dropped my jaw as I seen this ball of burning plasma hover along the regulator. I can only assume that the O2 got too hot from being compressed as it worked its way out. It made a pop noise as it started to leak, but the fire was astonishing.

Anyways I need a regulator or two. I'm thinking a on demand one for like $300, which is hard to swallow. Yet I'll use it, and need it like nothing else.

I found this one on sale for $305, yet I'll still need a regulator, to my dismay.
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Can anyone help me out as to where I can get a fair priced regulator, and/or demand valve or suggest I just buck-up and get the Demand Valve and regulator for $100 or so from the same place (lifemedicalsupplier)?

I bought mine for $25, but the last thing I need is a cheap one that will fail when I need it most.

The oxygen caught on fire spontaneously??

            Potter

O2 doesn't get compressed as it works its way out of the bottle. It decompresses, and the physical act of decompression is actually a cooling process. Ever feel your regulator after you've been on the O2 for a few minutes? It's cold.

And let's dispense with a common myth - oxygen itself does not burn. It is not a fuel. It is necessary for combustion, but absent fuel, there can be no fire.

It was the electrical tape, or the gasses from it that was burning, but there was no "flame". It looked like an electrical arc, or welding plasma. It lasted about 3 seconds, and thankfully I turned the bottle off just as it started.

My theory is; As the oxygen decompresses, then squeezed its way through the clamp and tape, it gets hot. I tried using the regulator again briefly and it felt warm were it was escaping. The regulator is faulty and doesn't really regulate at 25 lpm, and probably just lets it pass at full bottle pressure. I'm aware of how foolish it appears, but I had little choice but use it. I had to open the bottle just enough then close it, to use it.  :-[

I took physics too, and fire is actually a chemical reaction between oxygen and a fuel source, which usually requires heat to begin.

Yes, tape and adhesive can function as fuel.

But no, decompression is a cooling process. More space between the molecules, less friction, etc. Compressing a gas makes it heat up.

It could've happened.

          Potter

ya, I got you and understand decompression causes a gas to drop in temperature. Charles's law

Yet after it decompresses (out of the bottle), it is then re-compressed as it squeezes through the small space (leak), at high pressure (2200 PSI), it gets hot. To my amazement, hot enough to spontaneously combust the tape/adhesive.

So the moral of the story is don't tape and clamp a leaking regulator.  :-[

Brew wrote on Dec 8^th, 2011 at 3:04pm:

Yes, tape and adhesive can function as fuel. But no, decompression is a cooling process. More space between the molecules, less friction, etc. Compressing a gas makes it heat up.

Totally agree with Brew.

Why is there tape on the regulator? This implies there is an underlying fault with it. If there is then you should stop using it until it's fixed as if a regulator fails there is a potential risk of an accident.

I do know that you are not suppose to use oil on the fittings of your O2 stuff, as it will catch fire, some form of reaction. Just can't remember the how or why. It's a bitch getting old   :P. It may be something along that line. Some one with more knowledge may come along with clarification.

Mike the old