Carlisle CC+ vs GTT Delta Elite: Two Ways to Build a Big Flame

Short answer: The Carlisle CC Plus and the GTT Delta Elite are both high-end bench torches that land near each other on price, roughly $2,796 and $2,575 as reference figures, and both sit around a ~30 LPM oxygen estimate at their largest usable flame. They get there by opposite designs. The CC Plus is a Hybrid (premix centre) “cannon style” torch: a genuinely premixed centerfire, a flame like a Carlisle hand torch, burning inside a separate surface-mixed outer fire, with the two controlled independently. The Delta Elite is a Surface mix torch: a layered 57-jet Triple Mix flame built around a 7-jet Lynx center with 50 outer jets in three rings, no premixed element anywhere. Buy the CC Plus if you want a hot, discrete premixed pinpoint sitting in a big soaking envelope for production and goblet work. Buy the Delta Elite if you want one deeply developed all-surface flame you tune across its whole chemistry range without changing tips.

If you are still mapping the larger decision, start with the complete glass torch buyer’s guide; this article zooms in on these two torches specifically.

The two designs side by side

Editor’s note: The oxygen figures above are estimates, not published working-flame specs. The Delta Elite’s ~30 LPM comes from GTT’s own flow table read at the largest usable flame on propane; the CC Plus figure is our comparative placement in the Delta Elite class, not a Carlisle-published working number. Treat both as rough sizing inputs. Carlisle’s manual lists large “cubic foot per hour” capacity ceilings for the CC family, but those are maximum throughput numbers, not what a working flame draws. See how many LPM does my torch need for why capacity and working demand are different questions.

How each torch mixes gas and oxygen

This is the real fork between them, and it is worth being precise about.

The CC Plus is a combination torch. Carlisle builds it to produce two distinct flames at once: a pre-mixed centerfire and a surface-mixed outer fire, controlled separately. The centerfire mixes fuel and oxygen together upstream, the way a premix hand torch does, and delivers a tight, hot, candle-like core. The outer fire keeps fuel and oxygen apart until they meet at the face, the gentler surface-mix behavior, and wraps that core in a broad envelope. It is the same design as the standard Carlisle CC, but built to pass about twice the gas and oxygen, with three rows of outer porting where the CC has two. Carlisle and its listings call the CC family “cannon style” burners, after the large outer case and the cannon-like output. Source: Carlisle CC Plus.

The Delta Elite has no premixed element at all. It is a completely surface-mix torch using GTT’s patented Triple Mix method. GTT describes Triple Mix as surrounding the fuel with oxygen and then injecting oxygen directly down the fuel stream for a hotter, cleaner burn, with the two oxygen streams controlled independently by separate valves. That lets the flame range and chemistry change without swapping tips. The torch is a 2-stage design: the 7-jet Lynx, itself the first Triple Mix torch GTT built and a standalone torch in its own right, serves as the center fire, and three rings of outer jets add 50 more for 57 total. Source: GTT Triple Mix.

So the CC Plus mixes gases two different ways in one head, premix in the middle and surface mix around it, while the Delta Elite mixes one way everywhere and layers it. If the difference between a premixed center and a surface-mixed one is new to you, the surface mix vs premix guide covers the flame behavior each produces.

Flame character and control

The practical result is two different feels at the bench.

The CC Plus gives you a hot discrete center sitting in a soaking outer fire, and because the two are independent, you can run the soft outer envelope for heat control and bring the sharp premixed core in when you need to drive heat into one spot. Carlisle documents the centerfire as a swappable tip: the catalog lists a #3, a #5, and a hydrogen centerfire, so the character of that core is something you specify. A premixed center is inherently tighter and hotter per unit area than a surface-mixed one, which is exactly why goblet and production makers reach for it. The soaking vs penetrating flame guide is the right companion here, because the CC Plus is really about running a soaking envelope and a penetrating core at the same time.

The Delta Elite concentrates its range in one flame instead. GTT says it produces everything from a soft bushy flame to a hard driving flame and works soft or hard glass, and that its Triple Mix chemistry spans a fuel-rich reduction flame, a neutral flame, an oxygen-rich oxidizing flame, and an over-oxidizing flame, all reached by valve, not by changing tips. Those are the company’s own framing of how the torch behaves, not measured figures we publish; treat them as GTT’s claims and confirm the character against your own bench. The appeal is that once you learn the one flame, its whole chemistry range is under your fingers on the valves. Source: GTT Delta Elite.

What each is built for

Both are high-output bench torches, but they lean toward different work.

The CC Plus is a production and goblet torch. The premixed center gives the concentrated, repeatable heat that goblet stems and production runs want, and the big surface-mix outer keeps a wide body warm around it. It is a larger CC with an added row of outer tubes and more throughput, which is what you buy when the standard CC runs out of envelope. For thick sculptural or large boro work, see the best bench burner for thick glass sculpture guide, which frames how much outer fire heavy work actually needs.

The Delta Elite is GTT’s large multi-stage bench torch, aimed at big boro and production where you want one refined layered flame rather than a separate premixed core. GTT sells it standard with a four-stud manifold and, per GTT, the primary intended use runs a foot pedal turning the outer fire on and off while the outer-fire valves stay preset. It is also sold as a hand-torch version with separate pricing, which is why the catalog lists it as Bench or hand.

Setup, mounting, and gas supply

The Delta Elite ships with a standard four-stud manifold, and the intended workflow is the foot pedal described above: preset the outer-fire valves, then pedal the outer fire in and out during work. GTT also offers a compressed-air option variant of the Delta Elite tied to its newer patented 4-Way Mix technology, which is a separate configuration.

The CC Plus uses a ball-and-post mount and comes with a #3 centerfire tip and two inlets with hose-barb adapters as standard, and it is available for use with hydrogen. On gas supply, the CC family shares one instruction sheet. Per that manual, the CC runs natural gas at 5 psi gas / 10 psi oxygen and propane at 5 psi gas / 25 psi oxygen, and the CC Plus roughly doubles the CC’s throughput capacity. The manual’s large “cubic foot per hour” numbers, such as the CC’s 180 CFH oxygen figure, are capacity ceilings, not working-flame draw, so do not read them as how much oxygen the flame consumes in use. As always, the manufacturer’s own manual sets the pressures for your specific torch and fuel; confirm against it before you plumb anything. Source: Carlisle CC Burner Series Instruction Sheet.

Editor’s note: Carlisle’s own materials disagree on the CC Plus flow ceiling. Our catalog notes a maximum capacity of about 360 CFH oxygen on natural gas, double the CC, while Carlisle’s product listing cites the CC Plus passing roughly 170 CFH gas and 320 CFH oxygen. Either way these are manufacturer capacity ceilings, not working-flame consumption; where a number matters, confirm the current figure against Carlisle before you buy.

Which to choose

Both torches are near $2,796 to $2,575 and both are serious high-band bench burners, so the choice is about how you want your heat delivered, not about which is “more” torch.

Choose the Carlisle CC Plus if you want a hot, discrete premixed centerfire inside a big soaking outer fire, and you like being able to specify and swap the center tip (#3, #5, or hydrogen). It suits production runs, goblets, and quartz, where a concentrated repeatable core in a warm envelope is the tool for the job, and it is the natural step up from a standard CC when you need more outer throughput.

Choose the GTT Delta Elite if you want one deeply developed all-surface Triple Mix flame that ranges from soft and bushy to hard and driving across its full chemistry, tuned by valve rather than by swapping tips, on a four-stud manifold built for foot-pedal production. It suits large boro and production work where you would rather master a single layered flame than manage a separate premixed core, and it is the model to pick if you are already invested in GTT’s Triple Mix approach.

If oxygen supply is your real question, size it from the how many LPM does my torch need guide rather than from either torch’s headline capacity, since both draw far less in a working flame than their ceilings suggest.

Related guides

• Surface mix vs premix torches
• Soaking vs penetrating flame
• GTT Triple Mix technology
• Best bench burner for thick glass sculpture
• How many LPM does my torch need

Sources

• GTT Delta Elite product page
• GTT Triple Mix torches
• GTT Lynx
• Carlisle CC Plus
• Carlisle CC
• Carlisle CC Burner Series Instruction Sheet (PDF)