Hobby Weld Small - Only lasted a couple of welds

[osdecar]

Hi all,

I have recently bought my first mig welder, and decided to go solid wire + gas.

I purchased a hobbyweld gas bottle from my local distributor. It's the Hobbyweld 5 in small size.

I am in the middle of my very first welding cart project and I have already run out of gas. Just a quick math, I estimate that the welding cart itself has aproximattely 40-50 weld beads of aprox 20mm each, so maybe 1m in total + a few practice beads to set up the machine, I reckon I must have done approx 1.5m meter of welding in total and I have already run out of gas.

Is this normal? Seems quite a low duration in my opinion.

If it's not normal, what could be the cause? I always close the valve at the end of the day.


EDIT: I am using this hobbyweld regulator

Hobbyweld Argon/CO2/N Regulator Gas Welding - TFM Farm & Country Superstore

www.tfmsuperstore.co.uk

Thanks!

 

[MoreWellie]

closing the regulator valve (black knob in your picture) isn't enough, you should be turning the black valve on the cylinder off when you have finished your welding session

The small size is 9 litre at 137 bar which means 1233 litres of gas, assuming you have set a flow rate of 10litre per min or less then it should last around 2 hours of welding

If you don't turn the bottle off after the session then it could all leak out in a few hours depending on the leak rate

If your setup has any other leaks on the hose joints then you could also be "using" gas at a much higher rate than expected

I have said "you" it could also have been the welding pixies who sneak into workshops when all the people have gone and turn on taps that you are certain you turned off

 

[osdecar]

Thanks,

Yes Im closing the bottle, not the regulator.

Also, I remember when I first attached the regulator, I tightened it and it was still hissing. I tightened it just a bit more than what I was comfortable with (had snapped a few brass connections in the past) and the hissing sound was not audible anymore. But maybe I have a small leak somewhere.

How can I identify a leak in the system apart from any hissing sounds?

Thanks

 

[Richiew]

Soapy water. Look for bubbles.

 

[chunkolini]

Washing up liquid and water is perfect for the job on shielding gases. I always do this when changing bottles
just dont try this on oxygen cylinders as it can react with the gas

 

[Munkul]

A leaky reg or pipe can cause this, also solenoids can leak inside welders

 

[osdecar]

Thank you all,

I will go to my local gas supplier tomorrow for a refill, and will check with soapy water after install. Let's see how long does it last the next bottle.

Thanks

 

[a111r]

Was it showing 137 bar when you bought it?

I assumed that they check all cyls. and valves before refilling them. The one I've just got in exchanged is marked up to 2026.

 

[gaz1]

you can pretest with a car pump and a tyre valve handy things for testing stuff including pipes

 

[Bobupndown]

By comparison, using the same make and size of gas bottle I have made a welding trolley, seat frames and a complete 7'x5' single axle trailer frame. My 1st cylinder is just about empty now!

 

[Bullet2012]

IMHO. the supplier mentioned do not seem to fill the bottles to the amount advertised, of course I may be incorrect but, that is my findings.

 

[Robert Weaver]

Your gas usage is not normal. You should get far more out of that size bottle.
Probably stating the obvious, and reiterating what others have said, either the bottle was almost empty when you had it, or there's a leak somewhere that's let most of the magic gas out.

I use hobbyweld5 too, and my first bottle had a dodgy primary valve (before regulator) which was very hard to completely close. The second bottle (current) is much better and can be completely closed to isolate the regulator easily.

 

[osdecar]

Thanks again guys.

Lots of lessons learned for next time. I will check for leaks as well as the pressure as soon as I get the bottle home.

Thanks again

 

[Monty_jon]

I purchased a hobbyweld, and my gauge read 100bar, I put this down to my gauges not being 100% accurate

 

[osdecar]

I went to the distributor yesterday, and the new bottle reads just above 137bar.

I also checked the connections with soapy water and there was a small leak after the regulator and another small leak before the welder. Now fixed.

Let's see how much this one lasts.

 

[Trevorleach]

I got one of the larger bottles yesterday, gauge reckons 230bar.