Bernzomatic load of absolute rubbish!

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zanwan

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I recently purchased a Bernzomatic "Professional" Blow torch for £25 from Wickes and what a load of rubbish its turned out to be. It has a pathetically weak flame, takes ages to heat up and solder yorkshire fittings. In fact a lighter would probably provide more heat.

I was doing a bathroom install at the weekend and after several attempts to solder a few elbows i gave up. Luckly the homeowner said there was some old tools in his shed which the previoous owner had left, including a prehistoric blow torch. Managed to find it, connected to gas can and it worked a treat! It must have been at least 20 years old, yet worked a million times better then the latest modern blow torch.

I've had the Bernzomatic too long to be able to get a refund.

Whats the best blow torch to purchase for a professional plumber? I'm looking to spend about £50, can i get a quality torch for this price? Or must i make do with my crappy Bernzomatic?
 
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Rothenberger put their name on the modt common one, which might be made by Bernzomatic, I can't remember now. Comes in two forms, one adjustable one not. Quick/Superfire
http://www.tradecounterdirect.com/listproducts.php?cid=102

The nozzle on the dearer one is a bit big. You can get spares for these in plumbers merchantts, including the smaller nozzle. which I prefer. I've soldered many a 42mm fitting with the small nozzle.

There's one around which looks similar, called a Turbotorch, costs £70, and is crap after the first week.
 
I recently bought a rothenburger one thinking it would be the dogs, but its ok. My biggest gripe with it is the flame "spreads" quite a bit even on low flame, which makes tight spaces close to flammables etc a little tricky. I have an auto ignitor that I got from BG which is better but plays up now on ignition(about6yrs old) if anyone knows what make/model these are then I'd go for that, perhaps one of the BG boys can help. The flame when low goes down to a nice sharp point. tbh some of the traditional ones are just as good , just you need to keep lighting the damn thing.

edit: just read chris's post again, didn't know you could get a smaller nozzle. :oops: off I go to PC for one of those!
 
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ChrisR said:
The nozzle on the dearer one is a bit big. You can get spares for these in plumbers merchantts, including the smaller nozzle. which I prefer. I've soldered many a 42mm fitting with the small nozzle.
Click to expand...

I have one of the Surefire which was made by Benzomatic but does work very well.

The small one Naz has is OK for 15 mm fittings during the summer but just does not evaporate the gas fast enough during the winter TIP unless you warm the cylinder first in hot water then it runs for 5-10 minutes but its still a too small flame. It does not work upside down unlike the surefire.

The end of my surefire become unscrewed and I dropped it somewhere outside. Which merchant stocks the spare parts?

Tony
 
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I've been using a Bernzomatic TS7000 for about two years, no complaints at all, it seems to basically be a rebadged Roth Superfire 2. They've just released the TS8000 as well which is supposed to be a bit faster, so go for either of those.

Less convinced about the design of the new Roth Superfire 3, looks less practical to me.
 
Where can you get the TS8000? I have looked all over and only seem to be able to find it on Ebay and all American sellers.
 
Never seen one over here, B&Q used to do the Bernzo range but not been in for a while so no idea whether they still do. Nothing on the website but not everything is on the website that they sell AFAIK
 
IronNaz said:
I recently purchased a Bernzomatic "Professional" Blow torch for £25 from Wickes and what a load of rubbish its turned out to be. It has a pathetically weak flame, takes ages to heat up and solder yorkshire fittings. In fact a lighter would probably provide more heat.

I was doing a bathroom install at the weekend and after several attempts to solder a few elbows i gave up. Luckly the homeowner said there was some old tools in his shed which the previoous owner had left, including a prehistoric blow torch. Managed to find it, connected to gas can and it worked a treat! It must have been at least 20 years old, yet worked a million times better then the latest modern blow torch.

I've had the Bernzomatic too long to be able to get a refund.

Whats the best blow torch to purchase for a professional plumber? I'm looking to spend about £50, can i get a quality torch for this price? Or must i make do with my crappy Bernzomatic?
Click to expand...

i've been using this for the past 3 years
http://www.bernzomatic.com/PRODUCTS...etail/mid/1009/xmid/6943/xmfid/3/Default.aspx
 
I've got TS7000 as a spare for when my Superfire decides to die. I can't even find any more TS7000's about. Think I'll e-mail Bernzomatic and see what they come up with.
 
Bernzomatic appear to have disappeared from the UK market completely, shame as they were cheaper than Roth
 
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