I appreciate the response - thank you. I have a concern though... I went
to see my local welding supply house (PraxAir) today. They suggested to me
that I should only use ONE set of flashback arresters or backflow
preventers. He said that if I were to put a set at both the reg and the
torch, I would lessen the pressure to the extent that I could cause a
problem. I didn't understand why slightly tweaking the positive pressure at
the reg wouldn't solve this but that's why I went to see the pros for an
opinion. He did, however, say that O/A welding without preventative
measures such as arresters or backflow prevention was risky and may or may
not be a problem. He mentioned that some guys like them at the torch and
some at the reg. He then went on to say that all Victor torches are now
built with them at the torch (he figures they must know what they're doing
or they'd be leaving them off the torch and advising them at the reg).

I just plain don't want to fall down and go boom!

Thanks again,
Andrew.


Acetylene isn't the most stable stuff in the world, it has been
known to go "BOOM!!" with little provocation and that will ruin your
day... Google "acetylene deflagration" - but only while wearing your
Peril Resistant Sunglasses.

Flame propagation in Oxy/Acetylene is 5000 FPS - a lot more vigorous
than MAPP, damn near explosive.

Even with a serious case of "New Toy Jitters" I would wait to fire
it up until you have a set of arrestors. They aren't that expensive
and are widely available at any decent welding supply store.

(The only reason they don't come with the torch is price - the
competition that doesn't include the check valves can sell for less.
Some people don't stop to realize that initial price alone isn't the
sole criteria for buying durable tools.)

I put a set of Western Enterprises hose QDs on both the torch and
regulator http://www.westernenterprises.com/en.../PDFS/wi25.pdf
that have arrestors built in - that gives you two check valves between
the torch and bottle, and more if you couple multiple lengths of hose.