Thread: Henrob/DHC/Cobra 2000 Oxy Torch

Hi Justin,



The school I last worked at purchased a set ,There were four of us with about 70 combined years of oxy welding experience between us,who tried to set, adjust and run the blasted thing with limited effect,nothing like what was promoted in the advertising blurb.

The ads at that time included a young woman using the equipment indicating that it is was relatively easy to use.

The set didn't at that stage include the special low pressure regulators required so we went with providing our own, having the services of a trained oxy and gas fitter who was licensed to repair the regulators and torches.

He built the low pressure regulators which gave 2 psi recommended for the Special regs.

The distributors were not very keen on this after sales service stuff with apparently their hands being too short to reach the keyboard as they never replied to our emails for advice and assistance.

I had not encountered a single person to say a good thing about them save a jeweler a who contributed to a thread on this very forum four or five years back.

The lack of response here would seem to indicate that the low penetration of the product into the general community. That alone tells us something.

Grahame

Thanks Grahame!

I don't feel so bad now!

If 70 years of experience had problems I won't be so hard on myself.

When playing with some square stainless tube I could run a nice puddle and bead but right before my eyes the weld promptly cracked! All the way along.

Trying to weld something 90 degrees to a flat surface is damm near impossible the flame is so sensitive and easily blows out. Also I have the special regulators but I find the tip size is almost without fail to big or too small and very little adjustment of the flame to make it stronger or weaker.

I'm no expert oxy welder but in high school metal work 20 years ago now I was a gun. If anyone in the class was having problems I'd help out and finish off the job.

Thing with this welder is I know what I want to do but the torch won't play ball.

Cheers

Justin

I have one and I'm very happy with it. That said, I'm not that great at welding so my welds with the DHC 2000 don't seem massively better/different to standard oxy welds. I think my short experience with standard oxy then deciding on the DHC2000 when buying my own gear has meant that I've developed a reasonable technique on it rather than trying to apply/unlearn good techniques from standard oxy welding.

Graeme

GRd,

That being the case what can you offer Justin in the way of advice to help him get the best out of his Dillion/Henrob/Cobra torch unit?

Thanks
Grahame

I have the same opinion and would never purchase one however A good mate of mine bought one and said he would never go back to a convetional unit.

Same as China, My best mate has one and says he will never go back to a normal unit again. He swears by the accuracy and ease of use. Also the gas savings are brilliant.

I've got one.

They are a tricky pain in the a%$^e to get right. You have to be constantly checking the pressures at the regs. It HAS to be spot on. Especially more so when getting low on gas and the pressure fluctuates. Don't buy the regs the distributor sells. Plastic garbage. Get yourself some gooduns.

They are not for big jobs. I crank out the inverter stick for general welding like building benches etc. But for tricky fine little jobs and repairs they can be wonderful. I use it for making brackets and stuff for motorcycles. It's handy in that it cuts, welds and heats. Very handy. The cutting, once you get the knack of it, produces a really nice clean edge.

Like all welding, the preperation of the job is the key. Clean Clean Clean..
But (like normal gas welding) the job gets REAL hot REAL quick. If you have a big weld to do, stop lots and let it cool. It's slow.

It's taught me LOTS about puddle control.

I second the aluminium welding comment 'though. Useless.

The problem for me is that the hire cost of gas bottles now is just stupid. Prohibitive. It IS a useful workshop tool and their in lies it's attraction. It's great for hobbyists like me. But not for anyone doing big jobs.

I keep eyeing the tokentools MMA/TIG/plasma and hoping Mr Swan comes good at tax refund time... But then I'll miss the heating ability of the torch..

The leasing cost of gas bottles REALLY bothers me. Stitched up by a duopoly.. Grrrr....

Happy to answer any questions.

They are a tricky pain in the a%$^e to get right.
The cutting, once you get the knack of it, produces a really nice clean edge.
A very true point, I don't own one, but have used one for a limited time and it does cut nicely on thin materials in particular.

I second the aluminium welding comment 'though. Useless.
Same for stainless, their instruction to use a carburising flame is nonsense, anyone with an idea about stainless and it's chemical composition will know that this is not right. Sure, you may join two pieces of stainless together, but will have absolutely destroyed the properties that you selected the stainless for in the first place. Are the distributors/sellers still making the claim that they are approved by the european nuclear institute for stainless welding? I asked about the use of their torch and voiced my concerns regarding carbide precipitation at a field day once and was told they were approved by said organisation and that they would show me the documents, that was 11 years ago and I am still waiting.

I keep eyeing the tokentools MMA/TIG/plasma and hoping Mr Swan comes good at tax refund time... But then I'll miss the heating ability of the torch.
Be very careful of the 3 in one units, I have heard nothing good about them.
Plasma is the invention of the devil! By this I mean that it is one of the more touchy processes that you will find in a workshop, they never seem to quite run properly and always seem to need a little tlc when you want to use them. Secondly with the high voltages and hf used in the process they do not seem to integrate well with other electronic circuitry.
I have never seen a 3 in one unit produced by any of the well known manufacturers and that must tell us something.

Thanks mate!

Yeah, the more investigate the '3 in 1' the more I am advised against them.

The 'torch is good. But the cylinder rental is something else! I don't know what to do now....... Hmmmm...

I have had a henrob for about 7 years, and I think it is quite good. The bottle rental kills me, but for welding panel stuff it is great.

I've found it welds stainless beautifully, but I agree that it isn't stainless anymore. I did some stuff for my mums boat and all the welds rusted.

I had limited success with alloy, but have also not had much reason to do it, I bought if more for rust repairs, which it is quite good. I have found the HAZ to be quite small, but I generally only ever use the smallest tip. It does blow the flame out a lot, this may be regs (I'm just using normal ones and it does fluctuate with them) and it seems hopeless when welding into a corner or if there is much of a gap sometimes.

Anyway, I like mine, most of the time.

Madmorrie