mig gas usage ??

[hr3]

Son picked up a used mig with gas , it's a Mac Tools 545000.. It had a bottle when he got it with some gas he tried it out and worked fine.. we turned the gas off and checked it again in a few days to see if it had dropped,, nope no leeks ..

Now new bottle and a project starts Sat. morning .. about 4 in the pm bottle empty and we didn't even use 1/3 of a spool of wire,,"the small ones" ,, not sure the bottle capacity but it's about 2- ,2.5 feet tall.. Gauge was set for 25 the whole time..

He thinks we got 1/2 a bottle when we got a new one but I'm
not sure ,, What do you guys think ???

 

[CNC Dan]

Did you check for leaks when you hooked up the new tank? If the tank valve has a damaged seating area where the regulator ataches, you could lose a lot of gas. Did you see what the pressure was when you started?

You can figure your tank 'life' by dividing your tank capacity by the rate of use. So my full 80 CF tank, when used at 15 CFH, should last for 5.3 hours.

 

[MinnesotaDaveChalmers]

Sounds like a 60 Cu.ft. tank. A setting on 25 CFH would get approx 2.4 hours of trigger time.
It's probably listed on you receipt if you don't remember how big it is.

When it was full your high pressure gauge would likely have read about 2200 psi.

 

[hr3]

No pressure gauge on it just a flow gauge,,

 

[2458n]

That means you are in the market for a pressure gauge. As I . My old mig was from TSC and Italy. Had a bottle that I bought but you never knew what was in it. No matter as the liner burnt up on the mig before I had ran 2.5 hours. No support from TSC nor from where I bought the bottle. One place I took it for repairs said they could get the shielding cable; could not and they charged me 50.00 dollars for their effort. Using a new welder without the required gauge.

 

[Scooby074]

A regulator with a pressure readout is invaluable.

Its possible but rare that there could have been a mixup at the LWS and a partial bottle got put in the full bottle rack, but that would be very rare, at least at my LWS.

Its also possible that you use the bottle in use. Small bottles dont last all that long.

Another thing is its possible the gas solenoid in the welder failed (or isnt closing completely). This can increase your usage a lot if you leave your tank on between welding sessions.

 

[TnAndy]

And I found a hole in the small rubber hose from the bottle regulator to the inlet on the back of the welder. THAT causes a lot of use too !

 

[hr3]

I picked up a combination flow and pressure gauge and a bigger tank today we will see how that goes,,

Thanks all

 

[BukitCase]

Double check the flow units marked on your flow meter - some are calibrated in SCFH (Standard Cubic Feet per Hour) - those should be set around 15-20 indoors (no wind) -

Others are calibrated in Liters per Minute - if yours is in LPM and you set it at 25, you would have been at 53 SCFH, which would have killed your tank PDQ

Handbook - Conversion Tables

Example pic of SCFH meter

AGPtek® Mig/Tig Welding Argon CO2 Flowmeter 10 to 60 cfh Regulator - Tig Welding Equipment - Amazon.com

Example pic of L/min meter

Argon CO2 Mig Tig Flowmeter Regulator Welding Regulator Gauge Gas Welder - - Amazon.com

Click the zoom feature and see the difference in scale labels, compare to yours -

Not saying this IS your problem, but I've seen enough confusion on this that it could be... Steve

 

[Big Barn]

Double check the flow units marked on your flow meter - some are calibrated in SCFH (Standard Cubic Feet per Hour) - those should be set around 15-20 indoors (no wind) - Others are calibrated in Liters per Minute - if yours is in LPM and you set it at 25, you would have been at 53 SCFH, which would have killed your tank PDQ Handbook - Conversion Tables Example pic of SCFH meter AGPtek® Mig/Tig Welding Argon CO2 Flowmeter 10 to 60 cfh Regulator - Tig Welding Equipment - Amazon.com Example pic of L/min meter Argon CO2 Mig Tig Flowmeter Regulator Welding Regulator Gauge Gas Welder - - Amazon.com Click the zoom feature and see the difference in scale labels, compare to yours - Not saying this IS your problem, but I've seen enough confusion on this that it could be... Steve

A little off topic, but this reminds me that my dream girlfriend would be a wealthy lingerie model who owns a chain of Airgas outlets.

Terry