welding gas

Tobers

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2008
Location
durham
ok I have a problem, I'm almost out of gas!! for the first few days it seemed like I was using it fast so I sprayed soapy water on it and sure enough there was a small leek at the regulator but I took it off and put teflon tape on it and then it wasn't leaking any more. so I didn't use it much for a while and as of two days ago it was about 3000 psi. I started welding a good bit in the last few days and today it was just dropping like crazy, I welded like two braces on the bottom of the jeep then one square foot of sheet metal and its at the lowest tick mark now, I always turn it off after I stop welding and I don't feel like I'm welding a ton, it just seems like it went too fast, Today I have sprayed soapy water EVERYWHERE and no bubble or apparent leeks, What am I doing wrong? Is it possible the regulator is wrong or do you think there is a leak I can't find?
 
You can turn down the flow, but I reccomend a bigger bottle. Most weld supply will all you just just pay the difference and upgrade. Also there's not much cost difference in filling a little one or big one.
 
gas

it's the 4ft bottle, and its at 20psi, there must be something else wrong I just can't find it. :confused:
 
Something else to consider is they dont empty out on a linear scale, pressure wise. They will stay around 100% pressure, then drop off rapidly. Hard to say if what you are experiencing is in the realm of normal of not.
 
Tobers said:
ok I have a problem, I'm almost out of gas!! I always turn it off after I stop welding
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You are talking about the bottle, when you say "turn it off" right? Having welded for A living, for 16 years, turn the bottle off, whenever you aren't using it. Also, does your regulator, show the bottle pressure?( two stage) I've seen, where A newly refilled tank, had only 400lbs. in it, instead of the usual 2700 lbs! If they get one back, that has 400. or 500 lbs, they might crack the valve open to see if it's M/T or not. 400 lbs, or so will sometimes, fool them into thinking that it's full, & they put the bottle, in the full pile by accident.
 
Tobers said:
yes I turn the bottle off when I'm finished and the regulator shows the pressure in the bottle,
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Did you actually check that it was full, when you connected it? If so, then it must be leaking from somewhere. Try dunking the hoses in water bucket, while they are pressurized, to look for bubbles.
 
a 4 ft tall bottle would be 160 cu ft cylinder. Cylinder pressure when full will be 2200 psi.@ 70*F. A welding gauge measures cu. ft /hr So 160/20cfh means about 8 hr of weld time.
When using argon /co2 mixes pressure will drop as used.
 
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