Hobby bottle problem

[MK999]

Bought a couple of hobby bottles and a regulator from weldequips shop, but I can't seem to get more than a "leak" sized flow out of the regulator, even open to air screwed all the way out it makes a slight hiss you can just about hear... not quite the 10l/min that I thought was ideal

 

[Bigjoe]

Have you contacted him regarding the matter,could be faulty bottle or regulator....i know you dont always get much gas out until the valve is fully open on small bottles.

 

[Debs.]

I had a disposable-bottle regulator (of a different brand) whose chrome outlet fitting; had a 'teenie' flow-restrictor orifice inside (just where the nylon pipe attaches) which had had a partial blockage......cleaned it out and there was much more flow.

.....may be something else at fault; but worth a look at the easiest one first!

 

[Endacy]

10l/min doesn't sound like much as it comes out, a light sound which you have to have you ear within 1 or 2 feet of it to hear. It's not like a loud hiss or anything.

Or when you say light leak do you mean hold-it-to-your ear quiet?

 

[HasBean]

If it's a disposable bottle you have I've never got more than 6lpm out of one (basically unscrewed the reg all the way) & I doubt it was that much.

Paul

 

[MK999]

Or when you say light leak do you mean hold-it-to-your ear quiet?

Hold it near enough *inside* your ear quiet, and that's with the tube off of the torch, you can't hear a thing with it all rigged up as it should be! Have one of these: http://www.weldequip.com/gas-flow-tester.htm also and it doesn't even register a thing on the end of the torch.

edit: just played around with it some more, found a leak on a tube connector, and now get a "burst" as the trigger goes down that bounces the little meter off the top, and then it just about manages something like 0.25l/min, just barely raises the ball in it.

 

[MK999]

Have you contacted him regarding the matter,could be faulty bottle or regulator....i know you dont always get much gas out until the valve is fully open on small bottles.

Don't want to contact him until I know it's a problem! This is all with the valve cracked open fully.

I had a disposable-bottle regulator (of a different brand) whose chrome outlet fitting; had a 'teenie' flow-restrictor orifice inside (just where the nylon pipe attaches) which had had a partial blockage......cleaned it out and there was much more flow.

.....may be something else at fault; but worth a look at the easiest one first!

I've had a look down it/obviously blown a little gas through it and can't see anything, how did you clean yours out? Does seem to be an intermittent problem that could be a bit of debris rattling around maybe.

10l/min doesn't sound like much as it comes out, a light sound which you have to have you ear within 1 or 2 feet of it to hear. It's not like a loud hiss or anything.

Or when you say light leak do you mean hold-it-to-your ear quiet?

After playing around it's now very audible just out of an open regulator, but hold it to your ear quiet through the torch, they're obviously quite restrictive with the little 4mm hose running gas through it, but i'd expect a fairly large hiss out of the open regulator, which comes down to a barely audible flow at the torch from 1-2 feet as you say?

If it's a disposable bottle you have I've never got more than 6lpm out of one (basically unscrewed the reg all the way) & I doubt it was that much.

Paul

6lpm would be far better than what I'm getting at the moment!

Added reply to clear up all the questions/suggestions I didn't reply to before

 

[Debs.]

Originally Posted by Debs.
I had a disposable-bottle regulator (of a different brand) whose chrome outlet fitting; had a 'teenie' flow-restrictor orifice inside (just where the nylon pipe attaches) which had had a partial blockage......cleaned it out and there was much more flow.
.....may be something else at fault; but worth a look at the easiest one first!

I've had a look down it/obviously blown a little gas through it and can't see anything, how did you clean yours out? Does seem to be an intermittent problem that could be a bit of debris rattling around maybe.

There is also the chance that (on a older machine, or one that has been standing unused) the torch has rust/dust or somesuch restricting the gas flow.....but, I`d begin with a simple, quick check for gas flow with the nylon pipe disconnected from the regulator fitting......if there is adequate flow/hiss there then the restriction may lie elsewhere.

On the Machine Mart disposable reg. I had (which was not as good as weldequip`s: as shown below): to get to the orifice I released the nylon pipe from the chromed fitting on the side of the regulator by pushing both the nylon pipe and the knurled outer-ring inwards, hold the knurled ring in and then pull the pipe outwards......I unscrewed the small chromed fitting out of the brass body of the regulator and then was able to see both sides of the orifice within the chrome fitting.

 

[MK999]

ah ok, I tried unscrewing the chrome fitting and it seems to come out so far and then refuse to unscrew any further With the pipe disconnected from the regulator it will quite happily hiss away but I have no experience with them to be able to say what is "adequate"

Just tried taking it all apart and just having the torch attached to the bottle, was just as feeble so that pretty much rules out anything in the tubing being the source of the resistance, and i also just about managed to get a good enough seal to get the gas moving through the flow meter with the reg and a bit of tube pushed against my thumb, obviously not entirely leak proof but I could feel much going the wrong way and would estimate I'm getting about 2lpm out of the bottle/reg... the bottle can't be at fault as I have 2 and have tried both!

EDIT: Right got the chrome bit off, reason it got stiff was theres a sealant on the threads which seems to solidify to seal, I seem to be able to blow through it ok, although with a little resistance as is to be expected as it's obviously not mean to blow out all 110l at once, so I'm not sure where my problem is coming from really

 

[chedz]

hi,
I had the same problem with mine, what I found was if I did the regulator up too tight onto the bottle it would just about seal it up. Inside the regulator was a little rubber washer that was squashing down and blocking it all up. If I did it up then undid it about half a turn it was fine. I found I could undo it just enough that it didn't leak round the neck but flowed much better.

I would strongly advise a bigger bottle if you plan on doing anything more than a teeny bit of welding though, those bottles cost a bomb and always run out before the jobs done...I think they leak a bit too as soon as the pressure drops a bit.

hope this helps

Graham

 

[weldequip]

The valve in the gas canisters can quite often 'stick' from new, just try prodding it momentarily with a small screwdriver (face well away!) to release it. Fit the regulator back on & see how you go. You shouldn't have to touch the regulator (nor is it recommended!).
I've also had it in the past where the gas canister valve doesn't depress down far enough (even with regulator screwed right down) to release enough gas; a couple of mill of 2.4mm welding rod placed in the top of the valve before fitting the regulator does the trick
You shouldn't have to mess like this I know, but these disposable canisters & regulators are a bit crude at best.

 

[MK999]

Just gave it a go and despite it seeming a much higher pressure (was very hard to seal the 4mm tube in the chrome fitting and it kept popping one of the seals out of the bare torch) It still only registered about 1.5lpm It seems to hiss through the torch a lot better though, I think I'll just have to give it a go and see what results I get.

Also tried giving the valve a quick prod on my other bottle and hooking that up, that seemed even stronger but again only 1.5lpm I know the gauge works as it's hardly a complicated thing and goes up/down depending how hard you blow through it, I'm just gonna give it a go welding and see what the results are I think, if it looks like it was done on a gasless I'll fiddle with the bottles etc some more.

I was going to get a larger bottle but lack of info on local non rental schemes put me off, and someone in my car club managed to do a roll cage, weld in strut brace and half a trailer with a disposable bottle, I've heard differing reviews on disposables so thought I'd try them myself before committing to an expensive rental scheme. I'm only stitch welding a car shell and doing a rollcage myself.