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Posted by SteveB on April 24, 2008, 5:56 pm
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Ahhh. Spring has sprung. The trees have all blossomed and turned to
leaves. And the gophers are out.
I tried my new device today, and it has some failings I'd like to ask your
opinion of.
I have O2 and propane. Then flashback arrestors. Then through a common T
hose. Then there's a coupling where both gases go through the same line and
down into the hole through a weed burner with a close off valve. The
igniter is at the end of the line.
I seem not to be getting good gas mixing. It appears to me that if I have
the O2 pressure over the propane pressure that the propane does not flow.
Could this be something in the OPD that senses this and cuts it off?
I have alternated putting O2 and propane in the hole, then hitting the
igniter. So far, I had four good blasts. Two were low volume thumps that I
read were a sign you were getting into the deep tunnels. Two of them were
what I would call very close to the report of a .357 Magnum pistol with a
short barrel.
I'm thinking of rethinking this. Using a torch mixing body, then a long
single flexible hose with the igniter in the bottom. All I need for an
igniter is two wires that run up to a stun gun. I'm also going to add
another pair of flashback arrestors and a 90 master valve. Also making the
stun gun box moveable so you don't have to stand in front of the tunnel.
Duh.
I did learn that the five foot long stiff weed burner head ain't gonna get
it, as I need the flex to get into tunnels without digging a big hole.
But for right now, it appears the gas just isn't mixing right for some
reason. I believe the pressure on the oxygen is pushing back on the
propane, possibly even closing the flashback arrestor, or activating
something in the OPD device of the tank.
I was turning the gas and O2 off between every spark, and apparently did
things right enough to write this. I still want more arrestors and safety
layers.
And this is going to make an awesome Fourth of July and New Years Eve
noisemaker. Ten foot of eight inch pipe ought to do it.
What do you think?
Steve
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Posted by Grant Erwin on April 24, 2008, 7:01 pm
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SteveB wrote:
> Ahhh. Spring has sprung. The trees have all blossomed and turned to
> leaves. And the gophers are out.
>
> I tried my new device today, and it has some failings I'd like to ask your
> opinion of.
>
> I have O2 and propane. Then flashback arrestors. Then through a common T
> hose. Then there's a coupling where both gases go through the same line and
> down into the hole through a weed burner with a close off valve. The
> igniter is at the end of the line.
>
> I seem not to be getting good gas mixing. It appears to me that if I have
> the O2 pressure over the propane pressure that the propane does not flow.
> Could this be something in the OPD that senses this and cuts it off?
>
> I have alternated putting O2 and propane in the hole, then hitting the
> igniter. So far, I had four good blasts. Two were low volume thumps that I
> read were a sign you were getting into the deep tunnels. Two of them were
> what I would call very close to the report of a .357 Magnum pistol with a
> short barrel.
>
> I'm thinking of rethinking this. Using a torch mixing body, then a long
> single flexible hose with the igniter in the bottom. All I need for an
> igniter is two wires that run up to a stun gun. I'm also going to add
> another pair of flashback arrestors and a 90 master valve. Also making the
> stun gun box moveable so you don't have to stand in front of the tunnel.
> Duh.
>
> I did learn that the five foot long stiff weed burner head ain't gonna get
> it, as I need the flex to get into tunnels without digging a big hole.
>
> But for right now, it appears the gas just isn't mixing right for some
> reason. I believe the pressure on the oxygen is pushing back on the
> propane, possibly even closing the flashback arrestor, or activating
> something in the OPD device of the tank.
>
> I was turning the gas and O2 off between every spark, and apparently did
> things right enough to write this. I still want more arrestors and safety
> layers.
>
> And this is going to make an awesome Fourth of July and New Years Eve
> noisemaker. Ten foot of eight inch pipe ought to do it.
>
> What do you think?
>
> Steve
>
>
Are these really gophers, or just moles?
Grant
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Posted by SteveB on April 24, 2008, 9:57 pm
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> SteveB wrote:
>
>> Ahhh. Spring has sprung. The trees have all blossomed and turned to
>> leaves. And the gophers are out.
>>
>> I tried my new device today, and it has some failings I'd like to ask
>> your opinion of.
>>
>> I have O2 and propane. Then flashback arrestors. Then through a common
>> T hose. Then there's a coupling where both gases go through the same
>> line and down into the hole through a weed burner with a close off valve.
>> The igniter is at the end of the line.
>>
>> I seem not to be getting good gas mixing. It appears to me that if I
>> have the O2 pressure over the propane pressure that the propane does not
>> flow. Could this be something in the OPD that senses this and cuts it
>> off?
>>
>> I have alternated putting O2 and propane in the hole, then hitting the
>> igniter. So far, I had four good blasts. Two were low volume thumps
>> that I read were a sign you were getting into the deep tunnels. Two of
>> them were what I would call very close to the report of a .357 Magnum
>> pistol with a short barrel.
>>
>> I'm thinking of rethinking this. Using a torch mixing body, then a long
>> single flexible hose with the igniter in the bottom. All I need for an
>> igniter is two wires that run up to a stun gun. I'm also going to add
>> another pair of flashback arrestors and a 90 master valve. Also making
>> the stun gun box moveable so you don't have to stand in front of the
>> tunnel. Duh.
>>
>> I did learn that the five foot long stiff weed burner head ain't gonna
>> get it, as I need the flex to get into tunnels without digging a big
>> hole.
>>
>> But for right now, it appears the gas just isn't mixing right for some
>> reason. I believe the pressure on the oxygen is pushing back on the
>> propane, possibly even closing the flashback arrestor, or activating
>> something in the OPD device of the tank.
>>
>> I was turning the gas and O2 off between every spark, and apparently did
>> things right enough to write this. I still want more arrestors and
>> safety layers.
>>
>> And this is going to make an awesome Fourth of July and New Years Eve
>> noisemaker. Ten foot of eight inch pipe ought to do it.
>>
>> What do you think?
>>
>> Steve
>
> Are these really gophers, or just moles?
>
> Grant
I have seen two. My Lab caught one of them. The other was flushed out with
water and killed with a stick.
They are about six to eight inches long. They are brown and hairy, but not
that hairy. They have huge front teeth and long claws. Their mounds can be
as large as two foot across, and made in a cone like an ant hill. Most
mounds are around a foot to eighteen inches. The tunnels underground are
big enough to put your fist into.
As I said, I have only seen two. I think they spend all their time
underground, and have never ever seen one sitting on top their mound, as one
would a prarie dog or meerkat. The mounds, when inspected, have no egress,
but at times you can tell they have pushed out a lot of fresh dirt, as the
mound or that section was not there the previous day. Sometimes there will
be holes where, I guess the tunnels collapse, and there is a small hole you
can push dirt into and it just keeps on going.
Upon Googling, I come up with photos of pocket gopher. That's the one. An
exact match.
Steve
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Posted by Larry Fishel on April 28, 2008, 4:06 pm
Please log in for more thread options I can't help with your mixing issue, but I have to say, if I were
going to be intentionally detonating gas, I'd sure rig up a set of
quick connects or something so I could completely disconnect the hoses
first rather than relying on arrestors. Just a thought...
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Posted by SteveB on April 28, 2008, 6:23 pm
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>I can't help with your mixing issue, but I have to say, if I were
> going to be intentionally detonating gas, I'd sure rig up a set of
> quick connects or something so I could completely disconnect the hoses
> first rather than relying on arrestors. Just a thought...
As I have gotten this together, and made it work, I have realized that it
really needs more layers of safety. Quick connects would be a good thing.
A couple of Canadians set 20 acres on fire and destroyed $200,000 in
buildings last month with one. But another bad thing would be a self
detonation of one's own equipment.
Steve
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> leaves. And the gophers are out.
>
> I tried my new device today, and it has some failings I'd like to ask your
> opinion of.
>
> I have O2 and propane. Then flashback arrestors. Then through a common T
> hose. Then there's a coupling where both gases go through the same line and
> down into the hole through a weed burner with a close off valve. The
> igniter is at the end of the line.
>
> I seem not to be getting good gas mixing. It appears to me that if I have
> the O2 pressure over the propane pressure that the propane does not flow.
> Could this be something in the OPD that senses this and cuts it off?
>
> I have alternated putting O2 and propane in the hole, then hitting the
> igniter. So far, I had four good blasts. Two were low volume thumps that I
> read were a sign you were getting into the deep tunnels. Two of them were
> what I would call very close to the report of a .357 Magnum pistol with a
> short barrel.
>
> I'm thinking of rethinking this. Using a torch mixing body, then a long
> single flexible hose with the igniter in the bottom. All I need for an
> igniter is two wires that run up to a stun gun. I'm also going to add
> another pair of flashback arrestors and a 90 master valve. Also making the
> stun gun box moveable so you don't have to stand in front of the tunnel.
> Duh.
>
> I did learn that the five foot long stiff weed burner head ain't gonna get
> it, as I need the flex to get into tunnels without digging a big hole.
>
> But for right now, it appears the gas just isn't mixing right for some
> reason. I believe the pressure on the oxygen is pushing back on the
> propane, possibly even closing the flashback arrestor, or activating
> something in the OPD device of the tank.
>
> I was turning the gas and O2 off between every spark, and apparently did
> things right enough to write this. I still want more arrestors and safety
> layers.
>
> And this is going to make an awesome Fourth of July and New Years Eve
> noisemaker. Ten foot of eight inch pipe ought to do it.
>
> What do you think?
>
> Steve
>
>