Now that the OP's answer has been given, mind if I hijack for a minute? It's along the same lines as the original question:
I set myself up with and Oxy/Propane torch. Works great, I mostly use it for heating stuck nuts/bolts, and a bit of brazing. I have a plasma for cutting most things I need to cut.
My question is this- I don't have a garage yet and I certainly don't want a propane or oxy tank in my basement. The thought of either of them leaking gives me the heebyjeebies. Since I've had the setup (about a year), every time I'm done using it, I remove the regulators/hoses, store the tanks outside and the regs/hoses in the basement after they've bled off. Is it safe to leave the regs/hoses on and leave outside? How about if I build a small wood enclosure for it all to keep the sun off of it? They're chained to the wall, currently, so I could just chain the enclosure to the wall as well if need be.
I see mobile welders leaving their stuff out in the open on the trucks all the time, just wondering if it's safe for me to do the same?
I've got the same equipment and yes, the same fears about storing gases inside. Don't do that. And it's not only welding gasses, there's propane for us rural people and that scares me too. I take all precautions I can think of. My gear is good and I keep a close eye on it.
But torch welding is one of my hobbies and also how I do a lot of artwork, so my workshop is inside one end of my house. Sometimes I want to be able to work while clients and friends watch over my shoulder. That's half the fun and it's a lot of why I use a torch. Plus it is so versatile a tool.
Anyway, back to the tanks and gauges. Oxy and Acetylene tanks live outside the house in a little weather proof but unheated wooden overhang just as you are proposing. It's a sort of half-open to the weather shed of their own. Each tank has its own little canvas bag top to farther make sure any water or dirt is excluded from the gauge area. I cherish those 2 stage gauges. As I said, no heat....and winters are cold in the Rockies. The low pressure hoses run through a hole in the wall into my workshop inside the house where I weld at my bench. There is also a very quiet but powerful fume venting system, but that's now what we are talking about here.
So the tanks are outside. The lower halves sometimes in the direct sun & sometimes in the shade. The upper parts are always double protected from sun & weather with their zipper hoodies and the overhang. To use them I turn the tank handles on to weld during the day and leave them on until in the evening or when I'm sure I'm done for the day. I don't leave them on overnight. As you probably know, you only turn the acetylene on a quarter turn or so, but the oxygen gets rotated CCW all the way. (double sealing valve). Do not force the valves; just hand tight. If they are good valves cranking hard is not necessary, and it they are not it won't help.
When turning the tanks on and off I do NOT change the gauge pressure settings and do not drain pressure from the hoses. That's because pressure in the hose is my double check. It tends to hold hose pressure even after days of non use.
I've been doing it this way for right at 50 years now with never a problem and no wear I can detect. You do NOT have to take the regulators or hoses off as you are doing now. Doing so will put more unnecessary wear on them. They survive in the cold just fine. Caveat: If the outside temperature is below -20F and I want to be welding the next day I'll put an electric heating pad next to my tanks and wrap them in a few blankets. After all, there are elastomers in those valves & gauges and at some point any elastomer has to have some sensitivity to cold. Elastomers are all synthetic organic molecule after all.... Gotta be somewhat cold sensitive. However, with that simplest heat system either enough heat rises to the gauge area or else it wasn't a problem in the first place. Never had a problem with it. If the weather is that cold and I'm NOT going to weld - which means I'm not messing with the tanks, valves, and gauges - I don't bother to add heat.
However, as a clue to how rugged these oxy/acet systems are, 40 years ago I strapped my welding tanks to the back of a 1950 GMC milk truck and spend a year as an itinerant tinker down in the jungles of central America - going from village to village in the jungle repairing metal things more or less in return for meals or whatever. I was as careful as you can imagine with my equipment - but the environment was tough. Nary a problem, though.
Sheaff, I've kind overwritten this answer because I know how much I worried about the same thing. Just wanted to let you know someone else is out there.
rScotty
