Fire Engineering Training Community

Where firefighters come to talk training

Wether you carry it on the rig or had a chance to use it someplace else, which system do you perfer. I recently had a chance to play a Petrogen system and I have to say, I'll take that over a OxyAcety system. I found that it was easier to put into operation and it cut faster. Although the O/A system had a cleaner cut, I'm not worried about that since if and when I ever have to cut with it, it'll be for demolition purposes.

Views: 1666

Replies to This Discussion

The Petrogen works great for thick stuff but if it's less than an inch I prefer the plasma cutter. The nice thing about the Petrogen is you don't have to worry about transporting the acetyalene tanks always upright.
I have used both and prefer the Petrogen torch over the OA torch. I like the way it cuts and also look at it this way, if you need it in a disaster type situation I believe it will be much easier to get gas than it will be to get Acetylene.
Good point Chris!

Gasoline and Oxygen are a little easier to procure in a natural disaster. The petrogen seems to have more "bang" for the buck (no pun intended).
To me the pros of the Petro system is the fuel is easily obtained, and you don't have the same level of hazards as you do with Accetylene (tipping the cylinder on it's side ect...). The one draw back I have heard of with the Petrogen is it might be difficult to ignite in cold conditions. Our department does not own one but I have trained with one on several occasions...unfortunately they were fairly temperate (above 45 degrees).

Good luck,
Captain Sal
We carry PCS Petrogen on the Rescue's and a larger system on the support unit. It is also part of the US&R cache. I definitely favor the Petrogen over OA for several reasons. Ease of ignition, availability of fuel, safety of fuel source, ease of operation, and forgiveness for the operator make it favorite for most firefighters.

While Plasma gives a nice cut, power is sometimes an issue. It can also be finicky on the street. The SLICE pack is also another cutting system we have used. Rods go quick and the igniter gets fouled quickly.

The biggest issue with Petrogen is Oxygen. The solution is feathering the O2. Most folks have a tendency to flow the O2 wide-open, depleting the bottle too quickly. You only need enough O2 to blow out the slag. The other is issue is dipping the tip in your work.

For general use, we use the 8/3 tip.

Customer service has also been great with Petrogen.
Only had a chance to use Petrogen once. I must admit I like the system over the OA for the same reasons as everyone stated but mostly because of the ease of operation and forgiveness for the operator. Have a chance to work with some ironworkers in a couple of weeks, we're going to get to cut with all the systems. I'll let you know how it goes. Anybody have any problems or have heard of any problems due to cold weather operations like Jim S stated? We're in the northeast, so if cold weather is a problem, that may effect our decision in purchasing a Petro system
It is very important to keep you gasoline fresh. Long periods between uses and the gas gums up everything. One solution is to fill the tank with white gas when storing for long periods and still need it ready to go. We also drain the gas out of the hose when storing.
Ditto to everything said here so far. Petrogen over OA any day. One advantage that I have found with the Petrogen is that it produces less slag than OA which can be beneficial when cutting near a victim

RSS

Policy Page

PLEASE NOTE

The login above DOES NOT provide access to Fire Engineering magazine archives. Please go here for our archives.

CONTRIBUTORS NOTE

Our contributors' posts are not vetted by the Fire Engineering technical board, and reflect the views and opinions of the individual authors. Anyone is welcome to participate.

For vetted content, please go to www.fireengineering.com/issues.

We are excited to have you participate in our discussions and interactive forums. Before you begin posting, please take a moment to read our community policy page.  

Be Alert for Spam
We actively monitor the community for spam, however some does slip through. Please use common sense and caution when clicking links. If you suspect you've been hit by spam, e-mail peter.prochilo@clarionevents.com.

FE Podcasts


Check out the most recent episode and schedule of
UPCOMING PODCASTS

Groups

© 2024   Created by fireeng.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service