welding gas bottle differences

Hi guys
i hope somone can help me out here.

im looking for some info on welding gas bottles and also to settle a small dispute over them

these are the bottles in question



and this is a close up pic of the connector and as you can see the cos only has a much shorter valve insert and the mix valve insert comes all the way to the top of the connector valve



and this is my welder and is set up as it come out of the box and nothing has been changed exept for sticking it on a welding cart




do both bottles need diff regulators for them or can you use the same regulator

when i connected the mix bottle and turned on the rgulator and it didnt let any gas out of the bottle and when i had the co2 it was fine.

have i got a dodgy bottle or do both bottles use totally diff regulators

also been told by a mate that he has been told by machine mart that there should not be a diff in the bottles and that it will work fine

if it was the case then surely then the both bottles will work with both gases with no other regulators needed for diff bottles

i hope someone can help before i go and pay out on anything else

Looks like the valve is stuck in on the CO2 canister, try depressing it (face well away!) with a small screw driver or something to release it. Both canisters use exactly the same regulator, although I have had similar problems in the past with both canisters & canister regulators (regulators usually needing to be wound all the way to the maximum number 6 before any gas comes out ).
weldequip

hi thanx for the reply

its not the bottle on the right thats at fault its the one on the left, the one with the valve sticking out.

the one on the right is what came with the welder and it worked fine so i bought another one and that also worked fine, its the bottle with the stickout valve that wont work unless i force the regulator past the 6 mark on it

as i said with my regulator is it does not release any gas until i force the regulator past 6, nearly breaking the regulator screw, iv already broke one regulator using these bottles too.

That's the trouble with disposables - the regulators are junk. I've already broken 2, and so I'm waiting for Mrs MnG to allow me to ge hold of a nice big refillable to go on the nice, shiny regulator I bought off some geezer on here...

Disposables are way expensive ,consider boc,air liquid, for rental agonmix ,adams gas for non rental argomix,or pub gas for pure co2 ,even after buying new reg u will save cash if you use welder more than occasionally

its not the bottle on the right thats at fault its the one on the left, the one with the valve sticking out.

Click to expand...

Try just the same trick as I suggested, briefly depress the valve with a small screwdriver...they stick, and that will release it
weldequip

i had the same problem with one bottle i had i had to undo the regulator slightly for gass to come through

why oh why are you still using disposables?!?!

Disposables are a waste of money if you're doing a significant amount of welding, such as a restoration project. Go get yourself a biggin

im still using the disposable bottles because im new to welding and owning my own unit rather than using a welder that belongs to a company that iv worked for

how do i get big bottles because iv heard you are limited on how much gas you can have and also i would like to get oxy acetalene bottles in my workshop but i dont know how to get them or use them as iv only used a set once a very long time ago

iv also heard things about pub gas does this work or is it not the best thing to use ?

how do i go about geting big bottles for welding and also what gas is best, the mix botles or just plain welding bottles, if i could get them and are not limited on how much gas you can have in a year etc then i would like to get it

also if i decide on using big bottles will i have to change the gas feed hose for a thicker one instead of the hose thats attached when you use dissposable

1.pub gas (100% co2),is fine for automotive welding because its mostly ground off flush,is very cheap and can be had without rental contract,welds are not quite as smooth and arc is not as smooth as argon/co2 mix......decide yourself using disposable's which suits your welding style and work .....then compare prices,make up your own mind .To use argon mix or (100%co2)u will need a regulator suitable for the bottles u decide to go with and a convertor tube to attach to existing gas pipe....all readily available ....pub gas must be pure co2 and not mix which has nitrogen in as well........
2.oxy/acet , if only wishing to burn/heat ,oxy propane is cheaper,(i'm told brazing can be done but have no experience myself)....propane through air liquide has no rental charge oxygen would require a contract as would acetylene,if u wish to gas weld /cut/heat /braze then acetylene is better choice ,but is more expensive due to contract,acetylene and propane require different nozzles so purchase torches/nozzle for gas u will be using.............i'm not aware of any restriction on numbers of bottles in a year ,hopefully someonelse will give you their opinion although may change your insurance having pressurized/flammable gas on site so they need to be informed....again i have no experiance with that ..........hope this helps Gav

pub gas works for me only use every now and then but cant see much difference in results (car panels etc)