# 20 lb. propane torch ICs runs how long



## 924T (Jul 22, 2013)

Was wondering if anybody can tell me how long a 20 lb. tank of propane would run a torch for incinerating
IC chips?

I suppose it would depend on the torch tip, pinpoint, spreader, etc.?

I'm evaluating this as my backup option for trying patnor1011's process.

Cheers,

Mike


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## chlaurite (Jul 22, 2013)

A great many hours? Days? I've had a small 1lb tank I've used for odd jobs (plumbing, lighting the woodstove, weed-torch, and yes, incinerating a chip or two) for literally years, and it doesn't seem like I've even used a measurable amount of fuel (consider that you can run a gas grill nonstop for a few hours on one cylinder).

That said, I noticed two things about trying to do chips with a torch...

Small RAM chips work great - The torch makes enough heat and a big enough flame that they flare up quickly, all the nasty fumes they make get burned away, and you have no cloud of toxic fumes hovering around you for hours. Trying to do a large chip like a northbridge, however - That gets ugly. The torch can't quite heat enough of it at a time, so the parts you don't have the flame on will spew fumes (I don't know about you, but it seems like once I get the smell of burning chip on me, I can't get rid of it no matter what I do).

More importantly, I think the Patnor process necessarily takes *time*, not just heat. With the RAM chip I did, I kept it cherry for about five minutes, flipped it over, and did another 3 or so minutes on that side. It looked beautiful, a nice uniform white ash. Then I crushed it, and although it did crush pretty easily, I found that only the outer half millimeter or so had turned to ash. The inside remained thoroughly black and fairly resilient.

I'll stick with the patient roasting on a campfire, thanks - At the very least, for the pyrolysis phase (the incineration phase doesn't outgas, so less of a problem). :wink:


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## bswartzwelder (Jul 22, 2013)

According to what I've read on the forum, you should pyrolyze first to get rid of the nasty fumes. The gasses given off by the pyrolysis can be fed back into the firebox where they keep the fire burning WITHOUT ANY additional fuel until the process is about complete. That's one way to tell when the pyrolysis is complete. Also, by reburning the off gasses, you get rid of most of the toxic chemicals. Once there is not enough gasses being given off to sustain the fire you know the pyrolysis is about complete. At that time, add some fuel and keep the fire burning for a while longer. Once pyrolysis is complete, open it up to the atmosphere and the oxygen from the atmosphere and the heat will finish the incineration process giving you the gray/white ash which contains your PM's. I have always been afraid of the pressure of the flame blowing the PM's away when just using a torch. I was in the process of building a pyrolyzer/incinerator (using charcoal for the fuel) and had all the materials and sizes of plate steel in a file on my computer when the computer was infected with a virus. I have been told the files are intact, but I haven't been able to set up a new computer and retrieve them as yet. Hopefully that will be soon and I can continue with the project at that time. I will try to post pictures as the project progresses.

I took the computer to Office Depot, but when I got it back, it was in worse shape than when they got it. Unfortunately, so was my wallet. This is the second time they have tried to fix a computer (my wifes computer was the first), and they screwed it up as well. If I ever have another computer problem, I WILL NEVER TAKE IT TO OFFICE DEPOT.


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## 924T (Jul 22, 2013)

chlaurite,

Many thanks!

I was hoping that someone who had already tried incinerating chips with a torch would weigh in, and let
me know if I was on the right track or not.

I can't get coal here, so charcoal and oak pellets, here i come!

Thanks again for sharing your first-hand experience,

Cheers,

Mike


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## 924T (Jul 22, 2013)

bswartzwelder,

Wow----another person zapped in the wallet for computer repair by a big box store, with bad results.
It is my personal opinion, based on experience, that their motives, and sometimes their procedures,
are perhaps less than pure.

I've done an awful lot of computer virus removal, and I'll try to help you out here.

Did you get the name of the virus that afflicted your PC? Was it 'ransomware' that was telling you you had to
send money somewhere, or did you just lose functionality?

If you will tell me what the symptoms were, I should be able to guide you through getting rid of the problem,
and have you set up so you shouldn't ever have to take your PC in for virus removal again.

And, back on topic, many thanks for your helpful advice on pyrolosis-------my first experiment, with one of those
$15 quasi-disposable charcoal grills, was a smoky (we're talking a huge, sustained cloud), stenchy disaster, because
I wasn't forcing any air into it. Luckily it was a breezy day, and I didn't rile the neighbors.

Cheers,

Mike


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## rickbb (Jul 22, 2013)

I also have tried to torch a few chips and without a good "oven" it just makes a nasty mess.

Get some fire bricks and cast iron pot with a lid you can then use the torch without blowing away the ash. Somewhere on the forum is a post explaining how to make a furnace like that. 

It will heat up the chips without making as much of a smoky stink and sending poison fumes up in your back yard. As to how long, you'll have to experiment, depends on the size of the batch, size of the pot, how well you've stacked the fire bricks to contain the heat, etc. 

As for the bad PC repair, you have to remember the big box places hire kid’s right out of school and pay them barely above min wage. You get what you pay for.


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## 924T (Jul 23, 2013)

rickbb,

Thanks for weighing in!

I'm going to do a forum search on just that, cast iron pot and firebricks, because that sounds like something
I could actually put together.

We get quite a bit of rain and snow where I'm at------I might have to make some kind of lean-to so I could
run chips in any kind of weather.

Any thoughts on a lean-to?

Cheers,

Mike


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## 924T (Jul 26, 2013)

I watched Goldnscrap's video of how he incinerates chips (with very little smoke) with a propane torch and
firebricks.

The firebricks appear to be stacked in a Rocket Stove type of alignment, with a minimalist chimney.

I couldn't figure out what kind of torch he had-----------it took me quite a lot of web searching before I 
found out it's called a 'side arm burner'.

I found what looks to be a pretty high quality side arm burner, the JF#1 from ThermalArtDesign
http://www.thermalartdesign.com/.

Has anybody on the forum used one of these? 

Opinions?

Cheers,

Mike


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