Thanks for doing this video. I was a plumber for 51 years and used these everyday, all day. We had this happen a lot and it even caused me to catch a lady’s closet on fire repairing a tub. When they leak it can be one hell of a fireball in your hand. We used to just throw out the torch and get another but I kept several in a box until today when my last good one failed. I figured there had to be a fix and it lead me to you. One thing I found that was the case in all four was slight corrosion in the housing where the bottom screw in piece makes an o ring seal. Replacing the o-ring was not enough to stop the leak entirely. I emery clothed the corrosion and tried again. Still leaked but still better yet. What I found was if you ditch the no. 30 o-ring and use a no. 13 instead it compensates for the issue in the housing. The no.13 fits perfectly and has no issue going on or back in. That solved the problem in a couple I had. The other thing I found was the one that you demonstrated was an older model and it had the removable piercing nozzle made of brass. The newer ones are easier to disassemble. The piercing nozzle is one piece with the base and not removable but you don’t have to on either model anyway. The new one has a tiny set screw on the outside of the housing just below the vent hole. Remove it and you can either use your drill method and pliers or put a punch into the hole that is provided already and simply tap it loose. It will spin right out easily. It isn’t retained like the old brass one. The set screw does it instead. They made it repairable I suppose. The bottom line is that that lower first o ring and wall corrosion are the cause of the leaks, at least on all the ones I had. Anyway, I now have four safe and working torches so far. I’ll do the rest another day. Thanks again.
Nice, glad it helped you out! Good thinking keeping all the old torches. Strange about the corrosion, I would have thought that part was stainless, (it should be silver with how much these things cost). Thanks for your comment, I'll keep the o-ring in mind for future reference.
Yeah not sure if wd40 will cause the rubber o-rings to degrade quickly or not. May be better off using a silicone based lubricant product, but great idea to try spraying it it in without dismantling everything!
Tank you for sharing tutorials! I just repair 2 mine "superfire 2". One working excellent like other 2- new (i have 4 off them) , but second have much stronger flame, furyos. Dou you maybe have anny idea why?
Cool, questions: 1) Did you do anything to the brass plate once you screwed it in to stop it coming out again (as you drilled it), 2) What made you pick silicon over say mineral oil you used with it being a bit more viscous? do you think people could maintain it by dripping a small amount of oil onto the bottom threads (hopefully seeping into the seal? Thanks for the video, this seems to be a very common problem and Rotherberger do not care about out of warranty products or safety for those people.
Hi, thanks for the great questions! 1) I haven't yet, but thinking about it, I should really flare out those edges again (with a punch and hammer). This is an extra safety precaution which I'm guessing helps prevent the brass bit accidently coming unscrewed when the gas bottle is detached (which I think would lead to gas getting sprayed everywhere if it were to happen) 2) mineral oil and rubber seals don't tend to mix very well. If I remember rightly from plumbers academy the mineral oil will degrade rubber over time and cause more problems in this case. Silicone lubricant should be easily available from your local plumbers merchant. I would always prefer to open it up and know what's going on rather than spray some lube in and hope for the best. Easier to ensure the lube is getting to where it needs to be and not getting clogged up in unwanted areas. That's just my opinion though. 😊
Thanks for doing this video. I was a plumber for 51 years and used these everyday, all day. We had this happen a lot and it even caused me to catch a lady’s closet on fire repairing a tub. When they leak it can be one hell of a fireball in your hand. We used to just throw out the torch and get another but I kept several in a box until today when my last good one failed. I figured there had to be a fix and it lead me to you.
One thing I found that was the case in all four was slight corrosion in the housing where the bottom screw in piece makes an o ring seal. Replacing the o-ring was not enough to stop the leak entirely. I emery clothed the corrosion and tried again. Still leaked but still better yet. What I found was if you ditch the no. 30 o-ring and use a no. 13 instead it compensates for the issue in the housing. The no.13 fits perfectly and has no issue going on or back in. That solved the problem in a couple I had.
The other thing I found was the one that you demonstrated was an older model and it had the removable piercing nozzle made of brass. The newer ones are easier to disassemble. The piercing nozzle is one piece with the base and not removable but you don’t have to on either model anyway. The new one has a tiny set screw on the outside of the housing just below the vent hole. Remove it and you can either use your drill method and pliers or put a punch into the hole that is provided already and simply tap it loose. It will spin right out easily. It isn’t retained like the old brass one. The set screw does it instead. They made it repairable I suppose.
The bottom line is that that lower first o ring and wall corrosion are the cause of the leaks, at least on all the ones I had. Anyway, I now have four safe and working torches so far. I’ll do the rest another day. Thanks again.
Nice, glad it helped you out! Good thinking keeping all the old torches. Strange about the corrosion, I would have thought that part was stainless, (it should be silver with how much these things cost).
Thanks for your comment, I'll keep the o-ring in mind for future reference.
Cheers. What a nice easy fix. All seals cleaned and lubed. Thanks for doing the video. 🙏👍
Never bothered going that far with them. I will now. Cheers.
Mine was doing the same. Watched the video and thought just needs lubed .sprayed some wd 40 and now it works perfectly fyi😂
Yeah not sure if wd40 will cause the rubber o-rings to degrade quickly or not. May be better off using a silicone based lubricant product, but great idea to try spraying it it in without dismantling everything!
So they make them difficult to service. Many of the suppliers dont even stock spare parts
Tank you for sharing tutorials!
I just repair 2 mine "superfire 2". One working excellent like other 2- new (i have 4 off them) , but second have much stronger flame, furyos.
Dou you maybe have anny idea why?
Cool, questions: 1) Did you do anything to the brass plate once you screwed it in to stop it coming out again (as you drilled it), 2) What made you pick silicon over say mineral oil you used with it being a bit more viscous? do you think people could maintain it by dripping a small amount of oil onto the bottom threads (hopefully seeping into the seal?
Thanks for the video, this seems to be a very common problem and Rotherberger do not care about out of warranty products or safety for those people.
Hi, thanks for the great questions!
1) I haven't yet, but thinking about it, I should really flare out those edges again (with a punch and hammer). This is an extra safety precaution which I'm guessing helps prevent the brass bit accidently coming unscrewed when the gas bottle is detached (which I think would lead to gas getting sprayed everywhere if it were to happen)
2) mineral oil and rubber seals don't tend to mix very well. If I remember rightly from plumbers academy the mineral oil will degrade rubber over time and cause more problems in this case. Silicone lubricant should be easily available from your local plumbers merchant.
I would always prefer to open it up and know what's going on rather than spray some lube in and hope for the best. Easier to ensure the lube is getting to where it needs to be and not getting clogged up in unwanted areas. That's just my opinion though. 😊
Another option might be red rubber grease. I use it in motorcycle brakes so it's good for temperatures and contact with seals.
where can you get that black rubber washer?
I'm not sure to be honest because I didn't replace mine in the end. You can probably take it off and measure it and order the same size one online!
@@ParadiseUnplugged i just flipped mine and ordered a new bottle it’s brand new again
"Promo SM" 😝