Welding Gas Already Empty?

[ApertureS]

Hi there guys,

This is my first post on these forums and am just getting in to welding.

I have purchased a 10 litre 200 bar bottle of pure argon and set it up on my gauge/regulator and to start with it was only reading around 15 bar which is a bit odd so i thought hmmm maybe the gauge is faulty and set it all up to weld.

TIG Welding some small holes in my boot floor was the first task of the day so set the LPM to 8 on my flow gauge, after around 15 minutes of welding the tank was now at 0 and the flow was off so basically the tank was bone dry.

My questions are, what kind of recourse do I have for being sent a cylinder with such low pressure in it? (i did take pictures before hand of the low pressure).
And is this around the speed at which I should get through that amount of gas?

Thank you.

 

[ApertureS]

Have to wait to monday to phone but it was sealed yes.

 

[PTvor]

If you imagine a gas bottle filling plant, mistakes are going to happen from time to time and they will sometimes send out an unfilled bottle as refilled. OTOH they are going to have a few customers who haven't got a clue or are trying it on. There are going to be other odd problems such as valves being defective or not sealed in properly, maybe after a bump in transit.

I'd say the thing to do would be to complain ASAP as a complaint in three weeks time wouldn't be as credible. What happens then is between you and them. They could be hard nosed and tell you to like it or lump it, in which case you don't have to deal with them again, or they might take you at your word and supply a replacement full cylinder.

 

[gordon stephenson]

How long is it since you got the cylinder? If you have had it a little while they might be inclined to think that you have used it Good luck with getting a replacement

 

[chevy2]

Depends on your gas supplier?
I had an acetylene cylinder supplied by boc several weeks back that only had 3bar when it should have been around 15bar, they swapped it no questions the next day,

The valve opened real easy at the first turn so i had a suspicion it may have been low before i even looked at the guage.

 

[ApertureS]

Had the cylinder 24 hours, they should be sorting a replacement.

And weird cause this valve was really loose too.

 

[colnerov]

The lesson to be learnt is to put a gauge on it as soon as you can and react if it's faulty, which would be a check for pressure and listen to the valve both closed and open for any leak. When you're not using the machine then close the valve and again listen to make sure it's closed and not leaking. I've had cylinders from BOC that have been down on pressure and leaked from the valve and taken them straight back, I always pick them up during the morning so I can do that, not on a Friday afternoon and end up with it over the weekend because it dilutes your case.