Anyone have experiences blasting with cheap and expensive butane? I just use the cheap 3 dollar a can but someone recently told me if you use butane like the vector 14x refined it nearly gets double the yield. Its kinda hard to believe so I thought I would ask you guys.
Is there any truth to more expensive butane increasing yield? And if so is it nearly double the yield? Or these mother fuckers blowing smoke up my ass
I've got certifications in pyrotechnics and done a lot of micro soldering as well as my uses of my mini torches during my private recreational time. I've had more than a few in my 25+ years of using them including had a few that exploded for various reasons. I've also had to take the colibri certified maintenance courses to not void the warranties for their lighters when I worked at a shop that custom engraved them. I know lighters inside out upside down and backwards in my sleep. So the first idiot that responds with an N grade comment is getting smacked in the head. N grade is a broad range. Unless you can describe the criteria for each grade shut up about what you don't understand. I'm gonna dumb it down a bit for the rest of the world now.
Easiest explanation to understand is this ...
The more refined it is the less oils separate while it's stored in a compressed state in the canister. The less oils the faster the expansion which gives a super cooled reaction because oils conduct heat and vapor cools faster. That's why we use oil to make food crisper and moving air to cool things down. Makes sense so far right???
So how does that apply to the mini torch? Well, knowing what it's made of makes all the difference. The canister is generally a thick plastic resin, Spouts and nozzles are metal, the surround around the jets is ceramic, and there's a rubber hose that connects them. All those things have different levels of porous to them and will hold different amounts of oil that soaks in as it sprays. The longer the torch is lit and hotter it gets the more oils soak in and hold heat and get sticky to hold grime both of which will degrade the material resulting in burn marks on the ceramic and widening of the flame to the edges of the casing (if it gets that wide replace the torch cuz it's not long till it's gonna blow up or sputter and become a flame thrower), holes in the hose or loosening at the ends, thinning and cracking of the plastic resin and if it's a plastic case unit .. the screws conduct heat and the screw holes start to stretch and you'll see loosening of the head unit. All these can send the gas spraying out of places it shouldn't which is dangerous and painful, trust me i have firsthand experience and the burn scars to prove it.
The higher refined leaves less oil residue to hold heat in addition to super cooling the torch. This can be helpful if it overheats because you can burp the current air bubbles out the fill valve and shoot a little more in and voila insta cooled torch which equals less damage time to the melty parts. Always burp the air out tho cuz heat makes gas expand ergo the pressure to spray flame and over filling the tank in that condition can cause it to crack and explode so just a quick press or 2 on the fill k.
(Also, make sure you don't bump the button while filling if it's a side button. The gas in the lighter will ignite and explode igniting the canister in your hand attached to it. Hopeful not sending shrapnel toward your face. The gas will hover around your arm and hand for a few seconds without pain and look pretty cool but there will be some pain later after it gets back to room temp and the shock wears off. Not massive burns though, just fry the hair off your arm and mega peeling sunburn variety. (Also firsthand experience... Shot the bottom across my face too burning the bridge of my nose and frying off my eyelashes and eyebrows for a few weeks. As a female roadie for concert tours, not the most attractive look.)
Next point, cooler cleaner fuel does burn longer... But only by about 30% in the average torch lighter that's kept clean and well maintained. Most aren't. So you won't see a huge difference in the consumption of fuel, but you will see one helluva difference in how long your torch lives and how pinpoint the flame stays. The hottest part of the flame is the white just above the very tip of the dark blue. Best way to utilize that is extending how long what it's used on lasts. Rather than keeping the flame stationary on it.... Use the white at the tip, count to 3 then take it off until it needs a bit more then just tap that same part 3 times fast and take it away again to keep it going. Your product will last twice as long because it's not sitting on something that's continuing to overcook it when it's not being used. Ya heat as small an area as possible then maintain it as needed instead of overheating a large area that takes 4xs as long to cool back down.
Physics class actually taught ya how to have fun. Ya just weren't paying any attention. Look at how much fun time and money ya wasted because of it. Ain't karma a b**ch???
