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1295 Review
54 Karma

Review on Little Preset Oxygen Regulator 249 499B by Mike Larkin

Revainrating 1 out of 5

This regulator works great, but the bottle costs!

I have used this and a matching fuel regulator with a Smith Little torch for hardening, silver soldering and light soldering. That works great. But I would advise you NOT to buy it. The reason is the cost of the oxygen cylinder. I usually use oxygen and propane. I use about four oxygen tanks for each propane tank. At Lowe's this week, oxygen tanks are about $17.50 each. After standing in the aisle with four oxygen tanks trying to justify $70 plus tax, I put them back on the shelf and went to the local welding shop. They suggest these tiny bottles contain less than 0.5cc. Foot; the gas volume is not indicated on the bottle. I bought a 20cc for less than $200. ft oxygen cylinder, regulator and filled the cylinder. That's about 40 times more oxygen than one of the small bottles. Refilling my new tank is $18. By the way, I don't use this setting every day. My first thought was that the rare times I have to buy tiny, expensive bottles makes up for the cost of the bottle, but that's not the case. And the lack of oxygen in the middle of heating is very discouraging. So let's summarize. The regulator is a very good product, but the cost of the vials that come with it make it a good idea for only the rarest of uses.

Pros
  • handy item
Cons
  • so far so good