There are five varieties of burner which can be attached to the end of a blow lamp to produce flames of different shapes. These flames determine the size of the copper pipe a blow lamp can solder, either in terms of soft soldering or brazing.
Most blow lamp burners are fitted with anti-flare technology to prevent flare-ups when the blow lamp is used upside down. These can be dangerous to the user. However some burners are not fitted with this technology as the blow lamps they are used with have integrated regulators, which prevents flare ups.
A flare up is where a blow lamp has been tilted upside down without any anti-flare technology and produces a fire ball. This happens due to the pressurised liquid gas in the canister as it works its way up into the blow lamp when it is tipped upside down.
When a large amount of the gas leaks out of the blow lamp, it produces a large uncontrolled yellow flame, known as a flare up.
Pin point burner
A pin point burner has a diameter of 14mm (0.55″) to 15mm (0.59″), making it the smallest of the burners. It produces a fine pointed flame, also known as a pin point flame.
It is used for intricate soldering where the heat needs to be concentrated on a small area. This is particularly useful for delicate work such as jewellery manufacture and model building.
This variety of burner can only be used on copper pipes up to 12.7mm (0.5″) in diameter.
Medium burner
A medium burner is the standard size burner for blow lamps, with a diameter of 16mm (0.6″) to 20mm (0.79″). It produces a medium size flame in terms of its width and length.
It can be used for soldering up to 22mm (0.87″) diameter copper pipes and light brazing up to 15mm (0.59″) diameter copper pipes.
Full flame burner
A full flame burner is the largest of the burners with a diameter of 22mm (0.87″). It can also be known as a large power burner or a shrinking burner.
It produces the largest width of flame and can be used for soldering copper pipes up to 42mm (1.7″) in diameter.
Flat flame burner
A flat flame burner is a wide, flat burner which produces a broad flame.
It is used for heat-shrink tubing up to 300mm (12″) diameter, for insulating electrical wires. It is also used for stripping paint from walls.
Heat-shrink tubing is a plastic tube which is fitted over bare electrical wires when the insulation has been damaged, or a group of wires need holding together. When heat is applied to the plastic tube it contracts and fits over the electrical wires securely.
Cyclone burner
A cyclone burner produces a different flame to the other burners: a swirl flame. The others produce what is known as a pencil flame, which has a primary and secondary flame.
A swirl flame, on the other hand, works like a tornado, mixing the two flames together. This makes the swirl flame more concentrated, with a higher temperature, which means the cyclone burner is best for brazing.
It can be used for brazing copper pipes up to 19mm (0.7″) in diameter to socket joints; and for soldering copper pipes up to 42mm (1.7″) in diameter.
