Short answer: A used Carlisle CC is a sound buy when four things check out: the burner is the CC family member the seller says it is (count the outer rows of porting), the centerfire tip is the right one for your fuel and is undamaged, all four metering valves turn and shut off cleanly, and the inlet plumbing (two hoses through crossovers, or four separate inlets) matches how you plan to feed it. A pop at shutdown is normal: Carlisle’s sheet puts it down to the slow escape of gases leaving the burner and says turning off the oxygen first, then waiting two to three seconds before the gas, avoids it. Repeated bangs during a correct startup are not normal. Carlisle does not sell internal parts, and internal repairs go back to Carlisle, so budget for an evaluation if anything inside is in doubt.
This page is the Carlisle CC companion to our used lampworking torch buying guide, which covers the general inspection routine and how to price a used torch against the current catalog figure. Everything model-specific below comes from our catalog records and the notes they carry from Carlisle’s CC Burner Series Instruction Sheet.
Which CC is it? Count the outer rows
Three burners share the CC name and the same combination design, a premixed centre fire inside a surface-mix outer fire: the Carlisle CC itself and the larger Carlisle CC+ and Carlisle CC++. Carlisle’s instruction sheet, as recorded in our catalog, gives the easiest way to tell them apart on a bench: the outer fire has two rows of porting on the CC, three on the CC+, and four on the CC++. Which size you should want in the first place is the subject of Carlisle CC vs CC+ vs CC++.
| Model | Mix | Outer rows (manual) | Hydrogen (Carlisle’s sheet) | Reference price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CC | Hybrid (surface and premix) | Two | CC-H configuration only | $2,052 (a “from” price) |
| CC+ | Hybrid (surface and premix) | Three | CC-H configuration only | $2,796 |
| CC++ | Hybrid (surface and premix) | Four | CC-H configuration only | $4,286 |
Carlisle’s instruction sheet covers the whole family and says it runs propane, natural gas, or hydrogen (“CC-H model only”), and that the CC, CC+, CC++ and RP all use the same centerfire tips. Hydrogen is therefore the CC-H configuration with its non-piloted tip, for any member of the family, not a tip swap on a standard burner.
Two lookalikes trip up buyers. The Carlisle Mini CC shares the name but not the design: Carlisle describes it as seven stainless steel tubes in a brass body, and our catalog records it as Surface mix throughout, with no premixed center. A “CC” listing whose face shows a small cluster of tubes and no centerfire tip is probably a Mini CC, which is a fine torch at a very different price. The other lookalike is the RP, a CC+ variant specified by Roger Parramore with a stainless nose cone, 45 degree inlets, and a rack and pinion mount; it is a CC+ underneath, so inspect it as one.
The centerfire tip: the part that decides your fuel
The centre of the face holds a removable centerfire tip, and the tip on the torch should match the fuel you will run. Carlisle offers three for the CC family, as our catalog records from the manual:
- #5, the largest piloted orifice, the natural gas standard.
- #3, a smaller, more defined flame, suited to propane.
- Hydrogen, unpiloted, with the same orifice size as the #5, for hydrogen only.
Carlisle states that the piloted #3 and #5 tips will be damaged if used with hydrogen. So inspect the tip itself, not just the listing: look at the pilot openings around the central orifice for burning, erosion, or blockage, and ask which fuel the torch ran on. A piloted tip that spent time on hydrogen is suspect. Because Carlisle ties hydrogen to the CC-H configuration across the family, a CC, CC+ or CC++ offered “for hydrogen” needs a closer conversation with Carlisle about whether it is a CC-H, and a buyer planning to run hydrogen needs the non-piloted CC-H tip present, never a piloted one pressed into service. The fuel question in general is covered in hydrogen vs propane for glassworking.
The heat exchanger and the body
Behind the nose, the CC carries an aluminium finned heat exchanger. Carlisle describes it as standard on any CC burner, there to dissipate heat from the burner body. On a used torch, check that it is present, seated, and not crushed or bent out of shape, and ask whether it has ever been removed. On the CC+ series, Carlisle adds a perforated stainless steel heat shield as standard, to protect the user from the heat of the burner body; our catalog records a stainless heat shield as standard on the CC++ as well. A CC+ or CC++ offered without its shield is missing a standard part, which is worth knowing before you agree a price.
Carlisle builds the shell in brass, with stainless offered as an option, so either finish can be original. Dents at the nose, a cracked tip seat, or signs the head was clamped hard in a vise are all questions for Carlisle rather than for a bench repair.
The four valves, and why internal work goes home
Every CC family burner carries four color-coded metering valves at the back of the body: red handles for fuel and green for oxygen, one pair for the center fire and one for the outer fire. Open and close each through its full travel. Smooth, even movement and a positive shutoff are what you want. Stiffness from a torch that has sat is common.
What you cannot do is rebuild them yourself from parts. Carlisle’s customer notification says it will not sell the internal parts of its torches, because repairing and replacing those components is intricate work for a qualified Carlisle technician at its South Jersey facility (Carlisle Machine Works). Carlisle also runs a published torch evaluation and repair procedure covering the CC series (Torch Evaluation and Repair). So if a valve leaks at the stem, will not shut off, or binds, price the torch as one that needs a factory evaluation.
Editor’s note: Carlisle publishes a separate CC valve replacement sheet, which may describe what an owner can adjust at the stem. We have not been able to read it, so we do not describe a packing or stem adjustment here; ask Carlisle before you turn anything beyond the handle.
Two inlets or four: read the plumbing
On a standard CC the four valves are joined by crossover attachments, so the whole burner feeds from just two hoses, one fuel and one oxygen. Carlisle also builds the CC with four separate inlets, which exists so a studio can put foot controllers on the circuits. Our catalog records the same choice on the CC++: two hoses standard, or four separate inlets for foot controllers.
On a used torch, the inlet layout tells you what you are buying into:
- Two inlets with crossovers. Check that both crossovers are present, straight, and tight at every joint, since a leak there is a leak on the supply side of all four valves.
- Four separate inlets. You need four supply connections, or foot controllers, or a plan confirmed with Carlisle to combine them. Ask whether the controllers come with the torch.
Leak test every joint with soapy water on a pressurized system before you light it. Our fittings and hoses guide covers the connection side.
The test fire, and the pop that is normal
The CC’s documented quirk is noise, including a pop at shutdown. Carlisle’s instruction sheet says that pop is most likely the slow escape of gases leaving the burner after it is shut off, that it is not dangerous to the user or the burner, and that turning off the oxygen first and waiting two to three seconds before turning off the gas avoids it. So on a test, follow the startup and shutdown sequence in Carlisle’s instruction sheet exactly, and judge the torch on what happens when the sequence is right.
Set the pressures the manual gives for your fuel rather than any figure from the listing. Carlisle’s sheet, as our catalog records it, calls for 5 psi gas with 10 psi oxygen on natural gas, and 5 psi gas with 25 psi oxygen on propane. Both sit above unboosted household gas pressure, so a seller demonstrating on a bare house line may not be showing you the full flame. The same sheet gives a maximum oxygen capacity for the CC (180 cubic feet per hour on natural gas); that is a ceiling, not a working-flame figure, and our catalog’s working estimate of ~26 LPM for the CC is an editor’s placement, not a Carlisle number.
What to watch: a center fire that holds a crisp cone at every tip size you plan to use, an outer fire that burns evenly around both rows (or three, or four), and a quiet light-up when the sequence is followed. Carlisle says small differences in length between outer-fire candles are normal and not a defect; large differences between the flames are its cue to contact Carlisle. Repeated bangs during a correct startup, a center flame that will not stabilize, or large differences across the outer fire are reasons for an evaluation. For why a premix center behaves differently from surface mix, see surface mix vs premix torches.
Questions to ask the seller
- Which model is it: CC, CC+, CC++, or RP? How many outer rows?
- Which centerfire tips come with it, and which fuel did it run on?
- Two inlets or four, and do foot controllers or crossovers come with it?
- Is the heat exchanger original, and on a CC+ or CC++, is the heat shield present?
- Has it been through Carlisle’s evaluation and repair program, and when?
- Can I see it lit, through a full startup and shutdown?
The bottom line
Count the rows, read the tip, turn the four valves, trace the inlets, and watch a correct startup and shutdown. Then price it against the current Carlisle figure for the same model, less the cost of any factory evaluation it needs. If you are still choosing between a CC and a modern surface-mix burner, our Carlisle CC vs GTT Phantom comparison sets the two approaches side by side, and the Nortel Minor vs Mini CC comparison covers the smaller Carlisle.
Related guides
- Used lampworking torch buying guide
- Carlisle CC vs GTT Phantom
- Surface mix vs premix torches
- Hydrogen vs propane for glassworking
- Nortel Minor vs Carlisle Mini CC
- Carlisle CC vs CC+ vs CC++
- Regulator troubleshooting
Sources
- Carlisle Machine Works, CC Burner
- Carlisle Machine Works, CC Plus
- Carlisle Machine Works, CC Plus Plus
- Carlisle Machine Works, CC Burner Series Instruction Sheet (PDF)
- Carlisle Machine Works, Mini CC Burner
- Carlisle Machine Works, Torch Evaluation and Repair
- Carlisle Machine Works, Customer Notification (internal parts and repairs)