A quality flashback arrestor should have a stainless steel flame barrier and low porosity. (The flame barrier is the part of a flashback arrestor that actually stops the flashback.)
Low cost or discount flashback arrestors often use a barrier made of bronze and with a high level of porosity (20-40 microns). This allows the manufacturer to save money, but can possibly put the user in danger, because bronze is an alloy containing a large portion of copper.
Under certain circumstances acetylene can react with copper to form readily explosive compounds. As long as the flashback arrestor manufacturer is constantly monitoring the copper content of the bronze flame barrier, there is no reason to be concerned. However, many discount flashback arrestor manufacturers do not hold themselves to the level of testing and self-scrutiny that is required for these safety devices.
All SuperFlash flashback arrestors use a high quality sintered stainless steel flame barrier with a porosity of 3-5 microns, enabling the arrestor to stop flashbacks. Also, all SuperFlash flashback arrestors are 100% tested with actual flashbacks to ensure they are capable of providing you protection in case of an incident.
Click here to see our options for high quality, SuperFlash flashback arrestors.