hoses aren't the only thing cracking up these days. my welding lead insulation is in bad shape. it must be the environment.

 

Anyone remember the Rocky Cornstalker boot soles? Everyone and their brother had a pair for 10 years before I bought mine. Bragged on how light and warm they were. So I finally bought a new pair near the end of deer season and put them in the top of the closet. Next year when I got them down the soles were literally rotted off. They had melted to the shelf and when I flexed them the whole sole just cracked to pieces. Took them back to the shoe shop and they said the ozone deteriorated them and gave me a refund. :dizzy:

 

Amazon has quite a few options

 

Yes Sir, Amazon Prime is my GO-TO for just about everything, except this time they came up empty. I spend maybe $1,000/mth on Amazon Prime for almost everything I need, sometimes 2K.

Amazon does list USA made Goodyear T rated hose, but only in 800ft bulk reels for almost 1800 bucks...They sell that hose to Parker and Parker assembles gas welding hoses from it, but Amazon don't yet carry Parker hoses in my choice lengths and diameters....All other Amazon welding hose suppliers including Horbart either don't mention country of origin(which means China when silent), or yhey do admit China or tiawan origin.

There is ONE amazon USA made hose set made by Goss, but they want 100 bucks for it in 25' length.

Thanks for your reply, and please keep in mind your suggestion will help others that follow seeking same....not just me.

 

How do you know?? My last set of O/A hoses I bought off the shelf at a farm supply that isn't even in this area anymore, they are holding up fine. I bought some air hose from HF (yeh I shoulda known) that had "good year" stamped all over it. It lasted just about a year and started cracking to h and gone. Bought the next roll from Tractor Supply, stamped "good year" and it is still looking good after 4 or 5 years. I don't think the manufacturer name means much anymore.

 

I learned a very important lesson that needs to be explained here......Goodyear, and many other large USA manufactures can now license their 'engineering' specs to global(Chinese) manufactures where that manufacturer can label their products "GoodYear" or whatever to make it appear Made In USA, but it actually isn't.

So yes, my hoses too say 'GoodYear' but they made in China and they about ready to blow.

Edited to add: you will also now see hoses that are labled 'GoodYear USA" stamped on them , but that just means the maker supposedly used GoodYear licensed specs to make the hose....If it don't say "made in USA, it isn't made in USA, but even then they sometimes lie.

 

Type in" grade T welding hose" . First one to come up is a hobart#770131, 60$ on prime

 

...And made in China

 

Maybe, I didn't see a country of origin. Personally I never used grade T. If I used propane I just bled out the lines when I was done. Not saying its right or wrong, but it worked OK for me.

 

Lots of folks do just that....I read that propane is corrosive to acet rated regulators and hoses....I'ma anal retentive sort and wanted to play it safe....I've seen regulators that blowed out...they was 02 regulators, but it still registered in my mind.

Besides that, it really scary to see my fuel hose all cracked up knowing how easy it is to ignite acet.

And oh, now a days if it don;t say made in USA, it ain't. A call to hobart will verify.

 

I got mine from Tractor Supply over 5 years ago and they are still nice. I don't know if there is a name on them or not but I will check.

I like HF air hose. No they do not last but a couple years but the feel of them is more important to me than having to replace them. I never tried to armor all them or anything but it might help. The yellow ones from Hf feel nice to but I can't keep oil and grit off of them. I cleaned them up once and in a few days they were caked up again. The industrial maybe made in USA ones stay clean but it is like working with a pressurized fire hose.

 

I bought the HF 50' air hose retractable reel with hose knowing the hose would go bad in a few years, and is it starting to crack like expected....but it was still a good buy even without the hose.....Last I looked, HF sold a USA made GoodYear hose to replace the one on the reel...I need to go in there next week to get some more clamps and blast media where I will take a look at new air hoses....Thanks for reminding me

 

Netwelder on eBay has Parker T and B hoses, made in USA. Search for "Parker Grade T Twin"

 

Thanks!

 

my o/a hoses are holding up ok after 5 or six years. this is after they been sitting on my shelf for about ten years. they are themacote/welco. grade "R" whatever the heck that means. they are packaged in shrink wrap clear plastic. made in usa.

 

Thanks Doc.

Grade R means rated for acet fuel, not propane...LPG/propane hoses are rated/graded "T".

Thanks for posting because lots of folks with Acet hoses experiencing cracks will see your post and know what to buy.

Shifting to propane seems really easy at first, but it's appearing there are a few things that folks need to be aware of...hoses, regulators and tips must be changed to do it properly.

Next week all my propane junk will arrive and I will post pics and attempt to total costs and reasons for it....so far I ain't found a single info source that explains exactly what a guy needs and why...maybe we here can put it all together.

 

I know I've made a post earlier about the composition of different grade hoses, but I cannot find it right now.
But here's my take on visible cracking (that I did not bring up before): Grade R hoses are rubber both inside and out (usually SBR). This material is prone to what amount to stress corrosion cracking due to its extreme sensitivity to ozone. Additives can be put into the rubber blend to improve ozone resistance, but it only helps so much. Rubber is also sensitive to oils and many fuel gases (which is why propane will damage it from the inside out, where the damage is not visible until it fails). This ozone cracking requires only extremely low concentrations of ozone to start the process, and happens, even in storage.

Grade RM uses an oil resistant outer layer, that is generally neoprene. Neoprene is also highly resistant to ozone caused cracking, so a grade RM hose used properly with acetylene should last a long time.
Grade T uses the neoprene on both the inside and outside layers. Again, it should not fail due to ozone cracking.

If you have a grade R hose that is severely cracked, I would suggest looking over anything else rubber that lived in the same environment (like brake hoses, fuel hoses on equipment stored in your shop area, even old power cords), to see if this problem runs deeper than just this one hose, since this cracking is environmentally caused.

 

That's good info....Makes me want to look.

I remember 30 years ago when my old shop was infested with black widow spiders and I set off 4 bug bombs inside..weeks later, all my portable tool power cords were cracking and insulation falling off...had to replace all of them.

But i also remember when my Uncle had a welding trailer that sat outside in the Oklahoma sun and winter for years and his gas hoses were black from dirt and use, but never failed....He used his gas rig in the shop every night where he ran out in the rain and drug them old hoses in from his trailer outside for many years.....it was hard to see which were green and red.

 

I'm not sure if Dayco still makes O/A hoses, but I have a spare set squirreled away. You might want to search for them as well. I can't tell if Parker bought out a bit of the Dayco product line, like the hoses.

 

Thanks, but it ain't like I need old school hoses that hold up to acet......I'm looking for quality USA made propane/oxy compatible hoses.

I guess should have re titled this thread to say so.

But thanks for your reply cause someone will benefit from it.

 

I got a new set of Radnor hoses from Air Gas this spring and they have "made in USA" all over them.

 

Got new T grade hoses today.....Made by "Best Welds"....Stamped "Made is USA" on package and both hoses...Also stamped "GoodYear"...sorry for mistake above, but I ordered hoses from Cyberweld, not Weldersupply...Along with Miller/Smith Propane/Acet/NG regulator and Victor Propane cutting tip....All for 135 bucks.

The regulator is beautiful chrome and brass and certainly made by Smith.

Cyberweld sent wrong cutting tip. They sent 000-01-101 Victor acet tip, but invoice showed I was charged for propane tip...I called and they instantly agreed to reship proper tip and told me to keep the incorrectt one....OK

So it will be a few days before I can try the converted propane cutting rig.

so you guys looking for USA made Grade T gas hoses, make sure to check out "Best Welds" brand.....1/4" X 25 foot was only 38 bucks.

 

They sent 000-01-101 Victor acet tip, but invoice showed I was charged for propane tip...

FYI, the differences between an acetylene and a propane cutting tip are subtle, but you can work around them.
The propane tip has a small recess in it. If you use an acetylene cutting tip with propane, the slower burning flame will likely separate from the tip and blow out. The recess prevents this. People have modified acetylene tips to work with propane by wrapping them in a short length of copper tubing to replicate this recess (it only needs to stick out around 1/8").

 

Ok......on the left is a new acet welding/brazing tip...a 00 size complete with mixer and tube for like 14 bucks off the Amazon, whereas the 'genuine' Victor from my LWS cost me 100 bucks to order, and I still ain't gone to town to pick it up, but I will sometime next week when I want a steak dinner.

On the right is the new but incorrect 101 tip just received from the CyberWeld guys....it is also an acet tip as evidenced by flat nose and single piece construction...It's installed in my new, free, Victor 2460 head my bud gave me recently....So I can't bytch cause the torch and tip were both free, huh?

Now here is my new question for you propane weldors/brazers here.......I been doing the Google thang and kinda-sorta think I discovered that the welding/brazing tip needs to ALSO be different like the cutting tip when it comes to propane....Is that true?...does a proper propane welding/brazing tip have to also exhibit a recessed tip or simply have larger and more gas ports in the mixer adapter to work well?

Thanks for sticking with this thread and dealing with my questions.

 

Ok......on the left is a new acet welding/brazing tip...a 00 size complete with mixer and tube for like 14 bucks off the Amazon, whereas the 'genuine' Victor from my LWS cost me 100 bucks to order, and I still ain't gone to town to pick it up, but I will sometime next week when I want a steak dinner.
...

Now here is my new question for you propane weldors/brazers here.......I been doing the Google thang and kinda-sorta think I discovered that the welding/brazing tip needs to ALSO be different like the cutting tip when it comes to propane....Is that true?...does a proper propane welding/brazing tip have to also exhibit a recessed tip or simply have larger and more gas ports in the mixer adapter to work well?

$100?!? Holy crap you're being raped. I've paid $30-40 for genuine Victor welding/brazing tips, and have seen them for as much as $50ish, but that's just nuts.

No, there is no difference between a propane and an acetylene brazing tip. It's just that you cannot weld with propane.
The FLAME characteristics are quite different, but the orifice is the same.

 

So ok...here is the correct propane cutting tip(victor)

Here is the correct USA made Goodyear hose(grade T)

And here is a beautiful Miller/Smith all gas regulator...Wait, the gage scale still reads for acet, but it only does so because this regulator is for all gases where if you attach it to an acet tank, then they want you to remember the 15 PSI rule...What is important about the regulator is it is built and rated for corrosive propane, and pressure is pressure no matter what gas you using, so it will read correctly no matter which gas you use.

I ain't saying CyberWeld has the best prices, but I will say the total propane conversion from them using top quality name branded stuff was only 135 bucks delivered.

The hose in particular was really important to me because I insisted on genuine USA made Goodyear grade T, and not some imported GoodYear licensed hose....CyberWeld description of the hose didn't say if it was USA made GoodYear, but turns out it is.....The hose is branded "Best Weld's", so make sure to check their hoses out to save big bucks on the real stuff....anyway, here are a few pics.

And remember this; Go ahead when you buy a new gas rig and insist on an "all gas" regulator and "Grade T" hoses no matter what gas you end up using....All you will then need to do in most cases is simply change the cutting tip and it will be cheap and easy....On a new rig, the costs is the same, so corner your options at the start.

Correct propane cutting tip is on bottom in this pic...The tip on top is for acet....Keep in mind for this 300 class torch head, you should expect the correct propane cutting tip be made in two pieces where the center nozzle is brass, and outer nozzle is copper like shown...Also note the recessed inner tip required for propane to maintain stable flame.

I hope my post and pics help others attempting to shift to propane oxy/fuel torch rigs....turns out it is not expensive to do even when using very high quality USA made equipment....My hat is off to the guys a CyberWeld.

 

Shucks....It looks like these victor propane two piece tips will be really easy to clean...Just take center nozzle out and scrub the grooves with brass tooth brush...yup, me happy

 

So ok....I'm sleepy and I'm hungry and I want a great big juicy rib eye steak served to me by a cute little gal totin hot yeast rolls with real butter, and I ain't had a sit down restaurant meal in well over 2 yers, or is it 3 years?...five years? I don't eat every day, never have, but I'm hungry.

All I know is I'm gonna get up early tomorrow(about noon) and shave and head to town to pick up my LWS supplied 100 buck Victor welding/brazing tip, and then go to that great big Texas roadhouse steakhouse and make me a great big fluffy turd from a huge thick medium rare rib eye and yeast rolls and a salad and prolly eat the table cloth too.

I'ma tote with me my Amazon $14.38 imported victor clone 300 series welding/brazing tip to compare with the "Genuine", made in Mexico Victor hundred buck LWS supplied tip...just for grins.

Then, while I am in town, I'll swing by Harbor Freight and get me some more sacrificial clamps and blast media...If I ain't to full from steak to hit HF.

The problem in the big city here in Lousyanna, is you don't leave stuff in your truck bed while you eat or shop or the Democrats will steal it, so I have to first stop by LWS, then eat, then go by HF...If I get the first 2 done, I'll be good to go.

 

I read that propane is corrosive to acet rated regulators and hoses....

Not the regs. All modern regs are bisexual and their soft parts can take both gases. If in doubt, simply email the makers tech support. Many people have used R hoses for LP for years with no problem though T are recommended.