I recently purchased the meco midget torch as depicted at the following
website. http://www.tinmantech.com/html/meco_midget_torch.php

I researched this torch on the internet and learned that I could loosen
the valve nuts a bit to adjust the tension on the valves, so that they
are easier to turn. I noticed that one of the valves had a grinding
feel to it, while the other appeared to be relatively smooth. So, I
took the valves apart to find out where the problem was.

I discovered that the valve was nothing more than a metal pin with a
brass knob at one end and a tapered point at the other end. The metal
pin is threaded so that it may open and close the valve as you turn it.
The grinding noise was coming from a brass spring that fits over the
tapered end of the pin and seats against the brass valve seat. The
brass spring had been filed flat on either end and had a rough finish
that was also making the outside area of the valve seat very rough.

I removed the springs and put the torch back together. I am not really
sure why they put these brass springs in there in the first place? The
valve seat appears to be part of the torch body and doesn't appear to
be removeable, so I don't see any benefit for these springs to be in
there. With the rough filed finish on the ends of the springs, they
are more of a hazard than a help as they slowly chew away the brass on
the outer area of the valve seat. I am wondering if anyone else has
seen this sort of design or knows why they would put them in there in
the first place?

The springs provide some resistance. Once you have the flame adjusted
you don't want the knobs to turn easily if you bump into them while you
are working

Buy_Sell wrote:
snip
I removed the springs and put the torch back together. I am not really
sure why they put these brass springs in there in the first place? The
valve seat appears to be part of the torch body and doesn't appear to
be removeable, so I don't see any benefit for these springs to be in
there. With the rough filed finish on the ends of the springs, they
are more of a hazard than a help as they slowly chew away the brass on
the outer area of the valve seat. I am wondering if anyone else has
seen this sort of design or knows why they would put them in there in
the first place?

I have a Meco Midget and the valves are very smooth. Thats what I like
about it. The valves can be adjusted with one hand. I'd return it for a
new one. Its a personal pet peeve of mine...not having something work
correctly right out of the box. YMMV
-Mike

I know what you are saying. Its just like the springs that they put on
the idle screws on a carburator but in this case the adjustable nuts on
the knob end of the valve provide a sufficient means of adjusting the
friction. The only way that I could find these springs useful would be
if the brass valve seat was removeable. Then the spring would keep the
valve seat pushed in place but that doesn't appear to be the case.
From what I can see these springs don't really serve a useful purpose
and the valves appear to work much smoother with them removed.

PS: Normally I would just return the torch and get a new one but I had
to special order it, to get it and I don't like playing the waiting
game. I'll either just leave the springs out. or resurface the ends
of the springs to make them smoother. I can't believe that they did
this in the first place.

---------------------------------------
s_mouse Jan 27, 7:27 am

The springs provide some resistance. Once you have the flame adjusted
you don't want the knobs to turn easily if you bump into them while you
are working

Buy_Sell wrote:

snip

- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
I removed the springs and put the torch back together. I am not really
sure why they put these brass springs in there in the first place? The
valve seat appears to be part of the torch body and doesn't appear to
be removeable, so I don't see any benefit for these springs to be in
there. With the rough filed finish on the ends of the springs, they
are more of a hazard than a help as they slowly chew away the brass on
the outer area of the valve seat. I am wondering if anyone else has
seen this sort of design or knows why they would put them in there in
the first place?

Perhaps the springs keep tension on the threads. As they loosen up with
use it may be useful if the male thread seats on the back of the female
thread. I have used torches where the flame jumps if you touch the knob
because of slop in the threads. With the spring indexing to the rear of
the thread your adjustment will remain consistent. Does that make any
sense? Just a guess.... You could always use it and if a problem with
flame-mixture-stability rears its ugly head pop the springs back in and
see if that solves the problem.


Buy_Sell wrote:
I know what you are saying. Its just like the springs that they put on
the idle screws on a carburator but in this case the adjustable nuts on
the knob end of the valve provide a sufficient means of adjusting the
friction. The only way that I could find these springs useful would be
if the brass valve seat was removeable. Then the spring would keep the
valve seat pushed in place but that doesn't appear to be the case.
From what I can see these springs don't really serve a useful purpose
and the valves appear to work much smoother with them removed.

PS: Normally I would just return the torch and get a new one but I had
to special order it, to get it and I don't like playing the waiting
game. I'll either just leave the springs out. or resurface the ends
of the springs to make them smoother. I can't believe that they did
this in the first place.

---------------------------------------
s_mouse Jan 27, 7:27 am

The springs provide some resistance. Once you have the flame adjusted
you don't want the knobs to turn easily if you bump into them while you
are working

Buy_Sell wrote:

snip

- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
I removed the springs and put the torch back together. I am not really
sure why they put these brass springs in there in the first place? The
valve seat appears to be part of the torch body and doesn't appear to
be removeable, so I don't see any benefit for these springs to be in
there. With the rough filed finish on the ends of the springs, they
are more of a hazard than a help as they slowly chew away the brass on
the outer area of the valve seat. I am wondering if anyone else has
seen this sort of design or knows why they would put them in there in
the first place?

Buy_Sell wrote:
.... I'll either just leave the springs out. or resurface the ends
of the springs to make them smoother. ...

Or put washers at the ends of the springs. When the spring grabs it, it
will turn with the spring. Even if the springs grinds on it, it's
sacrificial. Bob

Now, that makes sense to me. You could be right. As the threads start
to wear a spring would keep a positive tension on the valve pin all the
time. I'm going to try leaving them out for a while but I'll refinish
the rough filed ends of the springs and keep them handy just in case I
need them in the future. They sure are smooth with the springs
removed...
---------------------------------------
s_mouse Jan 27, 4:05 pm

Perhaps the springs keep tension on the threads. As they loosen up with
use it may be useful if the male thread seats on the back of the female
thread. I have used torches where the flame jumps if you touch the knob
because of slop in the threads. With the spring indexing to the rear of
the thread your adjustment will remain consistent. Does that make any
sense? Just a guess.... You could always use it and if a problem with
flame-mixture-stability rears its ugly head pop the springs back in and
see if that solves the problem.

- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

On 27 Jan 2006 07:53:01 -0800, "Buy_Sell"
wrote:

I know what you are saying. Its just like the springs that they put on
the idle screws on a carburator but in this case the adjustable nuts on
the knob end of the valve provide a sufficient means of adjusting the
friction. The only way that I could find these springs useful would be
if the brass valve seat was removeable. Then the spring would keep the
valve seat pushed in place but that doesn't appear to be the case.
From what I can see these springs don't really serve a useful purpose
and the valves appear to work much smoother with them removed.

PS: Normally I would just return the torch and get a new one but I had
to special order it, to get it and I don't like playing the waiting
game. I'll either just leave the springs out. or resurface the ends
of the springs to make them smoother. I can't believe that they did
this in the first place.

I'd ask the tinman to send a new one, for which he might want a Visa
number , old one to be returned and credited when new one arrives.

Meco torches should not do that. Mine is very smooth. Kent and Meco
might want to know that they had a QC problem with their springs.

I didn't purchase it thru the tinman. I special ordered it thru my
local welding supplier. It is pretty obvious that someone tried to
square off the ends of the brass spring with a file but failed to
finish the job with some 600 grit sand paper.

For the moment, I'm going to leave the springs out and see how the
torch performs. There is definitely less tension without springs. The
nut on the knob end has two O-rings inside that provide a seal and
sufficient tension control so that the knobs are not easily moved. I
just adjust these with my fingers to provide the friction that I want.
-----------------------------------------------
Don Foreman Jan 27, 11:42 pm

I'd ask the tinman to send a new one, for which he might want a Visa
number , old one to be returned and credited when new one arrives.

Meco torches should not do that. Mine is very smooth. Kent and Meco
might want to know that they had a QC problem with their springs.