How To Repair A Pencil Torch.

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re Problem with Pencil Torch Flame

Word in 'Electronic Repair' started past W. Curtiss Priest, Apr half-dozen, 2007.

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***
Due west. Curtiss Priest, Managing director, CITS
Center for Information, Technology & Society
466 Pleasant St., Melrose, MA 02176
Vocalism: 781-662-4044
http://world wide web.cybertrails.org
Chinese, Generic Pencil Torch Technical Note
March 12, 2007

Failure Mode:

No flame
No blue flame, torch flares, butane escapes very apace

Keywords: repairing torches, fixing torches, problem with
pencil torch, unable to light pencil torch

Introduction:

If you have found this note and have not tried to open up the
torch, you lot are probably in luck. If you take unscrewed
the torch burner head, you most likely have lost the orifice.

Why?

I had to purchase a second torch but to see what comprises
the orifice. It turns out that this is a thin sliver of
a disk and demanding for even good eye sight.

Those who are used to standard BernzOmatic propane torches
know that when the torch has low or no gas period (no audible
sound) and cannot be lit, that in that location is a brass orifice
between the tube from the tank and the burner head. Further,
the head has two apartment spots, equally the maker expects information technology to
be disassembled when the orifice is chock-full.

Included in about kits is a sheath of fine steel wires. To
articulate a clogged orifice, one pushes a wire through the center
drilled hole in the orifice. The bore of the wire is
9.5 mils, suggesting that the orifice is around 10 mils in
diameter. Near chiefly, the orifice is a largish object,
about 1/4" long and a taper fits into the end of the tube and
the face up is rounded to create a seal with the head.

Decades ago BernzOmatic made a pencil torch, model TX. It
used an before fashion stubby propane canister. Even so,
information technology tin can be adapted to use with a standard 14.v oz. propane
tank past using a valve plumbing equipment to the tank that has a ribbed
hose connection, a curt piece of high force per unit area polyethylene
tubing (the kind used to bring h2o to ice machines), and
adding a ribbed hose connection at the torch stop -- I cutting
the top of the empty tank so I could solder the hose connection
to that. I run across that BernzOmatic makes a similar hose
connected miniature torch, the ST-900.

When the orifice on the TX clogs, the hole is only 2.5 mils
in diameter and no common steel wire is easily available. The
smallest such wire is a common part of a sewing kit -- it is
the steel wire loop that is supplied to make threading
needles easier. That wire is v mils in diameter. Nonetheless,
in that location is the alternative of using an ultrasonic cleaner and
many people have one -- called a humidifier. The style that
uses a tank placed on acme of a white base uses a piezioelectric
element to aggitate the h2o plenty to create tiny aerosol
higher up the element. Those droplets are funnelled up and
dispersed into the air. That chemical element tin can hands be used as
an ultrasonic cleaner.

To clean an orifice, or annihilation small, like a small mechanical
watch or jewelry, remove the tank, articulate away the salts that
deposit effectually the element and and so use an appropriate solvent.
As the unit depends on the liquid (water) to cool the element,
these units always have a sensor for h2o level. If it is
a unit that senses conductivity from a pin to the chemical element, only
take a prune, a short slice of wire and clip to the pin and place
the wire into a little puddle of water over the chemical element. If it
is a float, use string to elevator it. Whatever, do not permit the
element run dry.

To clean an orifice, employ water with a driblet of detergent. First
run the unit for a infinitesimal with just h2o/detergent to clear
away anything soluble. So rinse the area. At present identify the
orifice into the h2o/detergent pool and turn the unit on
for a infinitesimal. After rinsing and shaking the orifice, see if
you now see a pin hole of light. If not, give it another
treatment.

Every bit for the orifice on the Chinese pencil torch, the orifice
is incredibly small-scale. From the factory it is a steel disk
that is 2.45 mm. in bore and .05 mm. thick. And the
pin hole is about the same size every bit on the BenzOmatic TX,
near 2 mils in diameter.

Repair if you have not lost or damaged the orifice:

If you lot withal have the orifice, immigration the pigsty is
simple but exacting. Most of us have no experience dealing
with a deejay this modest. It can be bearly handled with
fingers. Information technology defies tweezers, wanting to fly out when
pinched, equally it is slightly tapered at the edges.

So, clear a table space and place a white fine cloth down.
Now, if the disk falls, you'll see it. And the disk will
not travel far if information technology tries to curlicue or skate.

Removing the disk:

1. concur the body of the torch in one hand and standard
pliers in the other

2. lightly grip the head with the pliers, non besides tightly,
not as well lightly

3. loosen the head

4. holding the unit of measurement horizontally over the white textile
unscrew the threaded tube to the head

5. the disk tends to stay inside the head, but, every bit you
pull the two apart, look at the face of the threaded
tube, you should see a adequately big hole ... if the
disk is stuck over that, then brush it with your
finger to become the disk onto the fabric

6. when the disk is inside the head, you can try to
rap the disk out by tapping the threaded end of
the head confronting the cloth

7. if the disk will not fall out or rap out, y'all demand
a pin that is less than .07" in diameter. A #52
drill bit will do, or a largish sewing needle

you press the pin into the centre hole of the
front of the burner head. Yous will feel it hitting
the disk, now slowly button the disk onto the cloth

8. you might wish to verify if you can run across the clog,
merely, be warned -- property the disk up to a light
is pesky and be certain non to raise the deejay, say,
more than a pes above the white fabric

nine. as the disk is so thin, the clog is easily removed
using a fine sewing needle. Note, there are dozens
of ways sewing needles are sized. Singer, for instance,
sizes them with the British gauge number. But, Dritz
sizes them with a calibration that runs most 3-x, where
ten is the finest

also ... important ... the sewing needle is much
larger than this hole ... we are merely using the
sharp betoken on the tip of the needle. And, the
size of the point does not always correspond to
the size of the needle, merely, in general, the finer
needles take sharper points in the final 1 or 2 mils
of their length

So, a Vocalizer sized needle to use is a #26 or #27

And, a European sized needle to use is a #9 or #10

If yous have a Jo-Ann's Fabric store, go the Dritz
"20 Quilting Betweens" number 56B-ten. "Betweens
are merely shorter in length than "Sharps" -- and
both have the same points. The Betweens are available
in the smaller size because working on fine quilts,
the person wants a shorter needle for dexterity

10. with the needle on the fabric, but press the needle
into the hole until it stops. Now flip the disk
over and practice that again. The clog should be cleared

[Note: some people lick their fingers to piece of work with
small things, such as thumbing pages. But, do not.
Yous don't want to introduce junk. Natural levels
of body oils on the finger tip will typically provide
plenty stick to pick the disk up if yous scoot the disk
as y'all effort to heighten it.]

eleven. to replace the deejay exercise not attempt to either drop it
into the hole in the head or apply the threaded tube
to place information technology into the caput. If you drop the disk in,
it will most probable not be flat and will be crushed.
If yous endeavor to start screwing the threaded tube
onto the head, with the disk balanced on the end
of the tube, the disk can easily slip and go caught
in the threads, and become pulverized

12. to supplant the deejay, you want to residuum the disk
on the end of thin rod with a flat end that just
fits into the threaded region. A number twoscore drill
bit will do, or, you tin can utilise a common round tooth
selection -- Diamond "Elegant tooth picks." This
dowel is 2.one mm. (.0825"). 1 cease is slightly
rounded -- advisedly grind or sand that cease flat

with the toothpick pointed up, with the disk centered,
now simply lower the threaded hole of the torch head
downward onto it ... the toothpick will go in nigh 1/4"

yous can at present hold the caput horizontally and look
at a lamp through this hole ... yous should see
a tiny pin hole of light

xiii. with the torch head pointed down, clear lose cement
from the threaded tube and spiral the tube in, hand
tight. Now hold the trunk of the torch and with
the pliers give the head a snug plough ... you are
lightly crushing the copper onto the two brass
surfaces ... at present, the only opening volition exist the pin
hole

Some might enquire, is this worth it? Well, if you have simply
one pencil torch and are in the middle of a project that
requires that one torch, so surely this is worth the
20 minutes to practise this. And, while the #10 Dritz is
the ideal bespeak, probably well-nigh any of the smallest needles
in a pack volition practise, say, even a #23 (Singer size).

Now, what if you accept lost or damaged the disk?

If you lot have time and are not interested in a "structure
project" -- then stop here and order another torch. In
that I sense that these torches are sold in the millions,
peradventure a local hardware store or hobby shop has one, within
driving distance (however, I practise sense that small retail
hobby shops are dying out ... several that I called had
disconnected).

Nevertheless, if you enjoy projects, as a hobby, so it is
a fairly easy matter to make a disk, or many disks

To brand a deejay we fabricate a custom punch for copper
and nosotros use the above Dritz needle to create the 2 mil.
bore hole.

Copper flashing is commonly available. Too often the
interior of PC monitors are lined with a copper sheet
for RF interference protection. The following instructions
are for three mil. copper. If the copper is thicker or thinner,
you will accept to arrange the piercing force (beneath) as
appropriate.

Fabricating the punch:

I pondered how to make this tiny deejay and I realized that
the only applied fashion to make a "perfect" round disk
of this size is with a dial. If you lot are a hobbiest,
then you may take already caused a dial set for textile,
condom, or soft metals ... mine is called a "Maxi Punch
Ready" and has a handle and six punches ranging in size
from 8 mm. downwardly to 4.viii mm. Just, of course, not ii.45
mm.

And, to punch copper, nosotros can make a punch with soft
steel. It turns out that an 8-32 steel screw is a
usable size, so we machine one that is 1" long.

Y'all need, at to the lowest degree, a drill (preferably a drill press),
a number drill set, and a rotary grinder (preferably a
Dremel-like with a cutoff wheel). We will drill a hole
down the center of the screw and then taper the screw
from the outside with the cutoff bike at an angle, thus
creating the cut border.

Steps:

1. cut the head of the screw off with a hack saw
or cutoff wheel

2. to accurately centerpunch one end of the screw, place
the screw in the drill, and, with information technology turning, take
the rotary tool with a carbide cutter -- such as
a chishel tooth and holding the bit in the plane
of the screw, remove the threads on the part of
the spiral protruding from the chuck

as presently every bit you see no threads, y'all are washed, and
information technology does not matter if you were perfectly parallel --
nosotros are simply immigration the threads to see the stop.
Do not remove material further, we need the remaining
wall size

3. carefully locate the heart and centerpunch

4. with a #45 drill, identify the spiral in a machinest
vise (in that location are "V"s to hold round objects straight)
and drill in nearly one/4"

5. nosotros want to end with a #41 drill, but, because that
size drill bit gets close to the outer diameter of
this trimmed screw

at this indicate I never trust that the final drill
will exist centered if I see that the electric current hole is
not perfectly centered

my way of assuring centricity is to heart the hole
and with a carbide chishel flake of a size smaller
than the current hole (or any burr or diamond
coated bit) I advisedly remove fabric on the
within wall that is "too far in." You are "walking
the hole out." And, every bit yous do, you lot are also getting
it closer to .096" diameter -- the size of the hole
a #41 drill cuts.

now drill the finish with the #41. If you pause through
the wall, you must showtime over

six. tapering the outside is fairly quick and easy. You
again turn the screw with the threaded terminate in the
chuck. As you turn, you bending the cutoff wheel at
about 45 degrees to the end of the screw/punch

if the result is a punch with a ragged cease, simply
square the end off past pressing it against the side
of a spinning cutoff wheel, so angle the terminate
again

vii. to permit removing a punched disk we need to create
a hole to the other end of the punch. Take a #fifty
drill, place the punch in the bench vise, and drill
from the punch stop through to the other end. Every bit
this is almost an inch long hole, be sure to raise
the flake every few seconds so that the cut metal is
released and the bit does not bind

When done, the dial can be held with vise grips equally described
below.

Fabricating the torch orifice:

Ane is making a very small disk which is difficult to handle
because it is also thin. Work in a independent clear surface area
with bright light.

Tools:

1. small-scale bench vise with a 3/viii inch brass nut, with a side
confront, facing upwards
two. 2 small vise grips
3. one shortened #10 Dritz sewing needle
4. one home made copper punch
5. i postal scale (or, ideally, a slide bound scale)
six. 1 block of wood
7. a number 52 drill bit
8. a number forty drill bit
ix. a apartment punch -- around 1/4" diameter

Materials:

3 mil copper (for other thicknesses you'll have to adjust
the forcefulness on the piercing needle)

Preparation:

Equally ane will put the orifice into a copper disk, the scale
will button on the finish of the needle with a selected strength. Every bit
the #10 needle is simply .0180" in bore, it is easily bent.

One of the vise grips should be a pair with either a shine
or serrated jaw at its end, say, iii/8" of jaw width. The
sewing needle is shortened such that its point comes out ane
cease of the jaws about i/16" and does non come up out the other
end. (At present, pressure on the side of the vise grip will press
the needle into the copper foil.)

With practise, it takes most four minutes to dial and
fix the copper deejay. It takes almost one minute to
press the hole.

Steps:

1. With the dial in a "needle nosed" vise grip, pointing
out the front of the pliers, place the copper sheet
over the wood block, press the punch, and rotate well-nigh
half a turn left and correct with abiding pressure

Too little force per unit area, you will not press through to the
wood.

2. Press the copper disk out, using a #52 drill through the
far end of the dial onto the brass nut. Surround the area
with your fingers, as when the disk pops, information technology can wing. (you
tin can always punch another one

3. The disk will have an edge curl. This must be removed.
Have the end of a flat punch (or nigh anything with
a flat end) and press down on the disk, evenly. Wait
and assure yourself that you flattened the deejay evenly.
Press with a slight circular activity -- this will assure
contact with all edges.

3. Take a black permanent marker and scroll information technology on the disk to
mark that side. Roll off of the disk, as, merely lifting
will take the disk with the pen.

iv. Eyeball the center of the disk (not critical). Identify the
point of the Dritz #10 needle/vise grip in the center and
concord those pliers so that the needle is straight up.

5. A number 7 Petersen Vise Grip weights 160 grams. With
your scale you lot need to add somewhere effectually 1200-1500
grams.

This is sufficient force to bulldoze the point of the needle
through the disk and into the brass. But, it pushes only
the needle end which is nearly two mils diameter and not
the unabridged needle which is 18 mils in diameter.

Y'all should be able to pick up the deejay by just raising
the vise grips. You should see the point end of the
needle, just coming out the other side of the deejay.

half dozen. Inserting the disk is touchy. It cannot just be dropped
into the torch terminate of the unit because information technology will not lie
flat and screwing in the torch body will crush the disk.

So, y'all need to exercise a balancing act. And do this close
to the table so when the disk falls, you can easily
recover it. Note: the disk is light plenty that the
oils on your finger tip is enough to choice it upward from
a flat surface. Do not lick your finger -- that would
leave fabric that could clog the orifice. You will
find that pressing your finger on the disk, with a slight
sideward swiping activeness volition pick it up reliably.

One places the disk on the flat end of a #xl drill bit
with the blackness side facing the bit. Why? You take non
drilled a pigsty, you have pierced ane. So, there is a
tiny copper coller around the hole on the side the
needle came out. If yous point that towards the butane
source, information technology volition more than hands clog, so we bespeak it abroad.

Yous accept the disk/flake in i paw and the torch head
in the other, yous advisedly line the finish of the bit
up with the screw threaded hole in the torch head
and push it in (about 3/8"). You should be able to
hold the torch caput towards a light (keep the head
horizontal to keep the disk in) and see a tiny, tiny
pin pigsty of light.

If you see no pin hole, start over and press the needle
with another 200 grams of forcefulness.

7. Clear the threaded end of the torch body of lose cement

8. Spiral the thread into the torch head until information technology stops
turning

nine. Take regular pliers. Hold the torch torso in i mitt,
apply the pliers to the torch head, lightly. Too hard,
you'll score the head. Too soft, you'll skate. Now
simply give the head a snug plow. This compresses the
deejay/washer around its edges and then that the orifice is now
the merely passage for the butane into the caput

If you lot have a microscope you can view your result. Utilise
a 30x magnification. To determine the size of your hole,
place the deejay with the black side down. Now take the
needle threading wire (measure its thickness with a caliper
or micrometer; they tend to be 5 mils) and place the wire
next to the pigsty. You should see a hole that has a diameter
most one-half that of the wire -- i.e., the pierced hole is
about 2.0 mils.

This size -- 2.0 mils. -- is about as big equally the pigsty
should exist. The flame size will be somewhat greater than
the original.

One interesting side-issue of being able to make these orifices
is that you now have the ability to make the torch cooler or
hotter. The smaller the hole, of form, the smaller and thus
libation the flame. (This can likewise exist done by adjusting the gas
flow from the body, but, this behaves differently, and requires
fussing. If you are, say, a jeweler, you tin can tame the flame
to a known setting. If you lot take ii torches, yous tin can set
one for a small flame and another for a larger flame.

--

Westward. Curtiss Priest, Director, CITS
Heart for Information, Technology & Society
466 Pleasant St., Melrose, MA 02176
781-662-4044 http://Cybertrails.org
Way overlong; booorrring; mildly informative if you can stand it; well
written; waste material of fourth dimension every bit typical of cross-posting trollish pedants.
Bob (opinions are us) Swinney
Speaking of WAAAAY overlong, you really didn't need to quote the whole
fucking text to point that out....eh?
JR
Dweller in the cellar--------------------------------------------------------------
Abode Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth
If you lot're not the lead dog, the view never changes
Doubt yourself, and the real world volition eat y'all live
The world doesn't revolve around you, information technology revolves around me
No skeletons in the cupboard; just decomposing corpses
Northward sez:
"> Speaking of WAAAAY overlong, you actually didn't need to quote the whole
Are y'all the watchdog here? Read what y'all want, let the rest hang out.
Bob (BS filter off) Swinney
Least it wasnt in Chinglish..kinda sorta.
Gunner
Fred Thompson and Condi Rice in '08!!!
Gunner sez: "> Least information technology wasnt in Chinglish..kinda sorta. Watch it Gunner ! You might invoke the ire of the Bandwidth Police. They
are very sensitive to reposting stuff, don't y'all know ?
Bob Swinney
Ooops! My bad!
Lol

Gunner

A man existence should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion,
butcher a pig, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet,
residue accounts, build a wall, gear up a bone, comfort the dying,
take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations,
analyze a new trouble, pitch manure, plan a estimator,
cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, dice gallantly.
Specialization is for insects. Lazarus Long
Then I was making pinhole cameras in skool, I had goose egg but trouble
using sewing needles to brand the pinhole in aluminium or brass foil. I
read an old book that suggested using tiny cactus needles. I tried it
and institute that it makes a much smaller and cleaner hole (when viewed
with a microscope). The needles have almost no bending strength but
are very strong inline with the betoken (equally long as the needle isn't
aptitude). Building a tool to hold the cactus needle was catchy, only I
was impatient and simply used tweezers.
Fashion off topic simply interesting... pinhole eyeglasses:
<http://world wide web.pinholes.com>

Pinhole FAQ:
<http://glsmyth.com/Pinhole/Articles/FAQ/pin_faq.htm>
Beloved Mr. Liebermann,
I see that some folk simply accept no patience to larn the art of
engineering and redesign. Really also bad. They might become a life.

As for using a cactus needle, this is truly interesting. I wonder if
such
needles are as modest as 2 mil, or how their indicate is shaped? With
small
vise grips, gripping such things has become very predictable. 1
would
plumage the tightness on the cactus needle to the point it would non
slide, simply
non and so hard to crush information technology, to breaking.

Truly, the hole created with a sewing needle looks like a bullet
passed
through -- the copper is flared, thus the reason I put that "noise"
facing
abroad from the butane source. A cactus needle, of course, is barbed,
and
I presume information technology acts like a miniature rasp!

I'll try it some fourth dimension.

Curtiss

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