cleaning bunsens

[Tina]

Hi
I know there have been previous posts on cleaning bunsens. I have read on there to melt wax clogging the top of the bunsen above the flame of another bunsen. I have done this and it worked well. But what about the little pinhole in the bottom of the bunsen? I cant force a pin down there because the blockage is too hard. I've tried heating it above a bunsen. No effect. There is some moisture in the gas outlet part. Maybe rusted inside? What sort of things could have been pushed in there or dripped in there? Has anyone got ideas on this or could refer me to a previous thread? We have very few working bunsens at the moment!
Thanks
Tina

[Ocker]

Take the offending Bunsen to industrial arts metal work teacher and ask him if he has any broaches for cleaning his Oxy cutting torch there should be one to fit the jet in bunsen, smile sweetly at him and he might even clean them for you.

[dime]

I assume you have screwed the barrel off. Hanging on to the hose, run the bunsen under very hot water. This is hot enough to melt any wax. Then use a fine piece of wire or a fine needle to work into the hole to clear the rest of the wax. A pin is generally too thick for this.

[Robdean]

Have been poking bits of fine wire, teased out from stripping connecting wires, into those tiny jets for years and generally it has worked but at times the wire has snapped off! Last time I was tackling this job with a line up of blocked bunsens the plumber was attending to the lab taps. I asked him if there was a tool to use for unblocking gas jets and he lent me a magic little tool (don't know what it is called) bit it had a range of strong wires in various diameters, each with a very fine "raspy" surface like a miniature round file. It worked a treat and in no time all the bunsens were unblocked (and some had resisted all other efforts). He tells me that thay should be available at our local gas supplier so next time one of our teachers or I are there we'll enquire! Perhaps even a hardware or barbeque supply place would have something similar. Hope this helps!

[Ocker]

They are Broaches for Oxy Welding tips SeeTAS

[kimm]

You can get them from any BOC or norstate gas. Not sure if you have them down south but anywhere your tradies get their gas you can pick them up.

[Robdean]

Thanks for that, at least now I know what to ask for by name rather than a description, which sometimes draws blank faces when asking about bits and pieces we need!

[trish armstrong]

My Family own A gas shop and on the labell to these tools they are called a 'TIP CLEANERS/SET' They are between $3 and $5
a set.
Trish.

[RICEPAPER170487]

Ive found that kerosene works to disolve the wax. I have a bottle full of kero that I use just for that and you don't need much either. I also unscrew the jet from the base and use a single bristle from a wire brush to clear the nozzle. That usually seems to work. The trick is to not deform the thread of the jet nozzle when you remove it from the base using pliers...lol. Hope this helps.

[Tina]

Thank you so much everyone. I've only just found time to think about bunsens again and get back on to chemtalk to check for answers! I am going to try to find one of these tip cleaner sets. Sounds like just the thing! BOC says they are $8 each and they only have one size of wire on them. I'll go and have a look.
Thanks again
Tina

[judygee]

Dear Tina - Purchased my Tip cleaning set of 10 from Q Stores for approx. $8 The item No: is 1969242. Hope this helps. Judy