welding

[messerschmitt owner]

What do those who weld a lot use for gas? I don't want to spend a fortune on teeny gas bottles for the mig and see a company called hobbyweld does larger bottles. Does anyone have any experience of them?

[catsinthewelder]

I shopped around a bit and ended up getting a bottle of argon mix from a local motor factor.  Thinking about it they have a branch in Hereford which might do the gas too if that's not too far for you http://www.ludfordparts.co.uk/aboutus.php

 

There were several cheaper places but they were up in Staffordshire or down on the south coast and it's not generally convenient to combine trips of you're carrying a big gas cylinder.

[messerschmitt owner]

I can get the hobby weld stuff in Mitcheldean on the way from work.

Thank you for the Hereford link. How much was the bottle?

[drum]

A mate of mine owns a pub, so I use co2.

[catsinthewelder]

I think it was about £120 with half that being deposit on the bottle.

[Sigmund Fraud]

I think it was about £120 with half that being deposit on the bottle.

 

Same around here, for 10l of argomix. Some companies would sell rather than rent you the bottle, for a small premium.

 

On the subject of CO2, I've been advised against using it for thin stuff like car bodywork, unless one is a WELDING JEDI who can handle the extra penetration it affords (ooh... erm...).

[cort16]

I use adams gas. It's rent free and you can get the big 9 litre bottles, none of teeny hobby gas pish.

You have to fork out £(85+vat) for the first one (including deposit) then it's £30 + vat a refill after that plus delivery or free if they've got a local stockist.

Even when I'm doing shit loads of welding these lasts me ages. I think I've had the current bottle for about 6 months and it's at about 80% although I've not been doing much weldage.

 

http://www.adamsgas.co.uk/index.php/hobby-gas-welding/hobby-gas-5-co2-argon-mix-refill-9l-137bar-detail

[catsinthewelder]

They sound good,  I don't think they had a local stockist last time I was shopping for gas but I might go for that next time now they have a place in Hereford.

[derskine]

I use hobbyweld and it's okay, the bottles don't last ages though, but certainly enough to do a good few repairs.

I'm looking at getting something bigger so might take the advice above on adams gas.

[cort16]

They're good it normally takes 1-2 days to get a refill sent out to you and they pick the old bottle up at the same time. There is/was a stockist in Dalkeith so if your passing you can save the delivery money although the last time I used them I left the regulator on the old bottle. Me=fud.

[jonny69]

Disposable CO2 bottles here. I really genuinely DO NOT get through loads of gas like others report and I weld quite a lot. I often wonder if they have faulty regulators.

 

For old car steel I find CO2 works better than Argon or Argon/CO2 mix. It leaves a harder weld behind which means more grinding, but it doesn't burn through or spatter as much and the resulting weld is neater. I think it's because years of corrosion, cheap steel and old paintwork leaves the steel quite polluted, so even if you grind it back to bright steel it's still quite impure and Argon isn't very forgiving if there are impurities present.

[Ratdat]

I now use an ALbee bottle of argon mix from Air Liquide. You buy the bottle which come with a built in regulator and gauge. I think mine was £126. Then you just take it back and swap it for the full one when needed for about £42. A bonus is you get a fresh regulator every time and of course no rental.

 

http://www.albeegascylinders.com/index.html

 

It's been a long time since I used CO2. I would never go back to it as it simply isn't as good regardless of what you weld. 

[derskine]

They're good it normally takes 1-2 days to get a refill sent out to you and they pick the old bottle up at the same time. There is/was a stockist in Dalkeith so if your passing you can save the delivery money although the last time I used them I left the regulator on the old bottle. Me=fud.

 

I go out to musselburgh sometimes so that could work well.

I get about 2 hours welding out of a hobbyweld bottle, which in reality lasts for a month or two depending on what I'm doing.

What type of regulator do the bottles use? The hobbyweld one is a side entry one.

[cort16]

The one I've got goes on the side of the bottle valve. It's pretty shit it only tells me how much gas I've got in it rather than the gas flow. I can't even remember where I got it from.

What size of bottles are you getting?

 

I've got my regulator set to the right volume then I just open the valve to the max so I know I'm getting a consistant amount of gas. Well that's the theory.

[derskine]

I think 9L but not at as high a pressure as you're getting.

I got a decent regulator from weldquip.co.uk which shows the gas flow, always try to set it as low as possible whilst still getting a good weld to save gas.

As the bottle runs out it seems to lose pressure and have to turn the regulator up a touch to get it flowing.

[garbaldy]

If anyone knows a supplier that could do a swap for full then you can have this off the record bottle.

I have been told they can be filled from another bottle but I have a smaller one now so this needs to go.

Any ideas how to get rid of this then as don't think local tip would entertain it.

 

[Station]

How long do the big ones last for? I estimated the small ones from Halfords I bought lasted 17.4 seconds in use.

[garbaldy]

That one in picture has earned me thousands and lasted me five years +, just to damn heavy to lug into boot every time I pop out to weld up a motor.

[New POD]

Gasless Mig. Quite low powered, but quality is acceptable, although my qualified welding engineering friend (8 weeks residential at The Welding Institute, plus project dissertation) laughs at me.

 

but no need to buy gas !!!!