by Joey » Fri Aug 04, 2006 8:11 pm
My acetylene torch has no flame arrestor, or anti-blowback valve. I have never even heard of such a thing, and I have several years of metalworking experience. It has a regulator, the regulator has a diaphragm which will work as sort of a check valve. Yes, acetylene is fairly unstable, and it is possible for a tank to explode, but I canot remember ever hearing about an actual incident. The rule of thumb is not to exeed 15psi from the regulator, at higher presures it can become unstable. Inside the tank, the acetylene is dissolved in liquid acetone, which acts to stabilize it.