Regulator setting

[Anaconda666]

Ok , probably a silly beginner question but a little advice on the gas setting
I am thinking I need just under 10 litre/min but do I use the inner or outer reading on the dial?

 

[Anaconda666]

Hi possibility I got my terminology wrong.

 

[tom2207]

one cu ft is roughly 30 liters per min
one liter per min roughly 2 cuft per hour .
so outer scale is liters per min ,,, in real life you would be best to buy a pea shooter flow meter for about seven quid ,,,, after a while you just know by the sound , personally if its only steel Im welding I just trim the flow back as far as I can then add a tad ,,, but Im tight and pay for my own gas

 

[voipio]

Use the outer scale for litres/minute, showing just a little over 8 litres/min in the image, or the inner scale for cu.ft/hour, currently showing about 18 cu.ft/hr.

 

[Anaconda666]

I'm also tight and have to pay for my own gas!
Is 8 about ok then?

 

[voipio]

For what process, and welding current? If that is an Argon cylinder, 8 litres/min should be OK for TIG welding up to about 150A. The correct flowrate will vary. depending on conditions e.g. cup size, electrode stick out, and wind speed.

 

[Wozzaaah]

Outer. Don't forget you need to set the flowrate with the trigger pressed, 8-9 lpm is fine if you're welding indoors.

 

[tom2207]

and

Remember to turn the bottle off every night ,,, or the gas may not last as long as you think it should.

 

[Anaconda666]

Sorry I didn't give enough info.
Mig welding outside, mainly interested in learning to weld 2mm steel at the moment.
I will have to switch off the gas at the bottle and regulator and then remove the pipe at the moment. Not ideal but it's the only option at the moment.
Thanks for the help.

 

[tom2207]

Sorry I didn't give enough info.
Mig welding outside, mainly interested in learning to weld 2mm steel at the moment.
I will have to switch off the gas at the bottle and regulator and then remove the pipe at the moment. Not ideal but it's the only option at the moment.
Thanks for the help.

Ah ,,, if I have to weld outside with mig I use cardboard boxes , sheets of ply or anything else I can find to shelter the breeze ,,, its just a constant wrestle I hate , turn the gas up as much as you can afford , or go for stick , some folk get acceptable results with gassless wire , [ Im not one of them }.

 

[Anaconda666]

Ah ,,, if I have to weld outside with mig I use cardboard boxes , sheets of ply or anything else I can find to shelter the breeze ,,, its just a constant wrestle I hate , turn the gas up as much as you can afford , or go for stick , some folk get acceptable results with gassless wire , [ Im not one of them }.

Lucky there wasn't really any wind for a short practise session.
I did think about flux core wire, didn't realise how expensive the wire is.

 

[tom2207]

Lucky there wasn't really any wind for a short practise session.
I did think about flux core wire, didn't realise how expensive the wire is.

gas isnt cheap either ,, as long as its chargeable its not too bad ,,, lol

you should see me with argon ,,,,

 

[Anaconda666]

gas isnt cheap either ,, as long as its chargeable its not too bad ,,, lol

you should see me with argon ,,,,

Son paid for the gas as I need to weld up his Land Rover, somehow though I bought the welder.
Something went wrong somewhere!

 

[tom2207]

Son paid for the gas as I need to weld up his Land Rover, somehow though I bought the welder.
Something went wrong somewhere!

yep ,,, you bought too many Land Rovers ... and not enough ACF50.



I weld a lot of landrovers , as do many folk on this site ,, well as do many folk who drive land rovers really.
If you stand beside a land rover on a dark damp evening and listen really close ,,,


you can actually hear them rust.

 

[Ed.]

Currently, I am welding up a 8mx8mx4m shed using 100x50x3mm Galv. RHS and it is outside as I have no choice and it is quite blowy here, 15-25Km per hour, and haven't had too much drama with porous welds, just two or three here and there, those I just grind out and redid them again. So MIG welding outside is quite practical, I set my gas at 11 lt/minute and using a 250A Bizel torch which has a relatively small shroud opening compared to my usual 400A Tweco torch. When it gets extremely gusty I just either wait in between the main gusts and/or just put some protection in front of the weld such as some ply, gloved hand, my body or whatever I have lying around.

Pics 3 & 4 are of the 100mm x 50mm x 3mm Galv RHS welded to a 16mm baseplate, Pic 2 is a 8mm plate welded to the RHS as an end cap to seal off the RHS tube.
Pic 1 is the slab area. currently I don't have many problems welding outside, but most likely will have some when I have to weld the roof supports when I am on top of the scaffolding, which will be about 3.5 to 4m above the slab height. The welds will be harder to keep shielded at that height but will still be doable. The rain however is a different story!