disposable bottles

[dstealth]

Hi,

New to the forum. I weld with a Snap-On Snap-Mig 130 Turbo welder (lovely machine!) and I usually use big bottles of gas. However, I went to Machine Mart the other day and bought a disposable bottle of CO2/Argon Mix for it. It hasn't lasted 5 minutes!

My dad has had past experiences with these disposable bottles and he thinks that they leak and suggested that whenever I've finished welding I should disconnect the regulator from the gas feed and remove it from the bottle. I did this and I've still had hardly any use out of it.

Question is, do these tend to leak by themselves when the welder is not in use?

Cheers
Chris.

 

[Wozzaaah]

Hi Chris, welcome to the forum, I'm pretty certain 5-7 mins is about right for those little disposables. Much better to use refillable ones. Those little snap-on/BOC/cebora 130 turbos are great little machines, you can still buy torch parts for them. I would definitely recommend unscrewing the regulator when you've finished using it.

 

[dstealth]

Hi Chris, welcome to the forum, I'm pretty certain 5-7 mins is about right for those little disposables. Much better to use refillable ones. Those little snap-on/BOC/cebora 130 turbos are great little machines, you can still buy torch parts for them. I would definitely recommend unscrewing the regulator when you've finished using it.

Yeah, think I might try and get my biggin refilled again. Thing is, it's a right pain carting it to and from the garage as the garage is quite a distance from the house and so the smaller disposables make sense. And with it being a such a small, cramped garage where my restoration project takes most of the space up, I dont want to keep the big bottle there.

Nevertheless, I should probably get it refilled anyway so my dad can use it with his SIP Migmate.