Co2 gauges

[Aaronc1990]

Ok so I’ve done welding in the past when I worked in a garage, I’ve bought my self a welder and it came with this gauge and a bottle of co2...is it possible to set up the flow with these gauges they aren’t like what I’ve seen before...any help appreciated thanks

 

[brightspark]

there's contents gauge and regulated output pressure gauge set in 10 psi increments to set the output flow

 

[Aaronc1990]

there's contents gauge and regulated output pressure gauge set in 10 psi increments to set the output flow

Do you no roughly where I need the second gauge setting to with the trigger pressed I’m used to a flow rate meter never used one of these.

 

[mike 109444]

Not very accurately!
The gauge on left is your bottle pressure and on CO2 will only lift the needle form it's current position (0) call it 7 o'clock to about 8 or 9 o'clock as CO2 is a liqued under pressure and you measure bottle contents by weight.
The "flow" gauge on right is in fact a pressure gauge and so won't show a clear flow rate but about half way between the 0 and 5 (outer ring) with trigger on torch pulled should be about 10 lts per min. You need to add a flow gauge to get a correct reading. In pic my gauges are reverse of yours.
And welcome BTW

 

[Aaronc1990]

Not very accurately!
The gauge on left is your bottle pressure and on CO2 will only lift the needle form it's current position (0) call it 7 o'clock to about 8 or 9 o'clock as CO2 is a liqued under pressure and you measure bottle contents by weight.
The "flow" gauge on right is in fact a pressure gauge and so won't show a clear flow rate but about half way between the 0 and 5 (outer ring) with trigger on torch pulled should be about 10 lts per min. You need to add a flow gauge to get a correct reading. In pic my gauges are reverse of yours.
And welcome BTW

Thanks for your help I thought something wasn’t right with those gauges..so I should be able to get a flow gauge from eBay remove that second pressure gauge and install the flow gauge there ?

 

[brightspark]

Thanks for your help I thought something wasn’t right with those gauges..so I should be able to get a flow gauge from eBay remove that second pressure gauge and install the flow gauge there ?

no don't remove the gauge .that isn't the outlet

 

[mike 109444]

Thanks for your help I thought something wasn’t right with those gauges..so I should be able to get a flow gauge from eBay remove that second pressure gauge and install the flow gauge there ?

NO you add it to the out put connector. Remove the barb connector on right side then add in flow gauge like this one https://www.weldequip.com/flowmeter.htm Then connect barb fitting to bottom (on this type) and then connect pipe going into welder.
Some prefer this type https://www.weldequip.com/gas-flow-tester.htm as it gives a flow at the final output of the torch.
Note it you use a fitted type you may have to sort male/femal connections to match.

 

[Aaronc1990]

no don't remove the gauge .that isn't the outlet

Thanks for your help cheers I understand now

 

[Aaronc1990]

NO you add it to the out put connector. Remove the barb connector on right side then add in flow gauge like this one https://www.weldequip.com/flowmeter.htm Then connect barb fitting to bottom (on this type) and then connect pipe going into welder.
Some prefer this type https://www.weldequip.com/gas-flow-tester.htm as it gives a flow at the final output of the torch.
Note it you use a fitted type you may have to sort male/femal connections to match.

Thanks I understand I maybe get one of those that goes on end of torch so I can get the reading from right at the end

 

[Paul.]

Dont remove any gauges, fit a flowmeter to the outlet of the regulator,
Here is my setup, this is a twin unit using a splitter on a tig set set up for purging, your mig setup will not need the splitter,

Peashooter gauges can be useful but on mig you will need to disable the wirefeed to use one

 

[no idea]

Weldequip sells a couple of flow gauges that will do what you want - the 14lpm one should do everything you need. You can even use it on other regulators so if you change to an argon mix in future the flow meter will work with the new regulator.

https://www.weldequip.com/flowmeter.htm?cat2=24

 

[Aaronc1990]

So I got on with the welding today the co2 working fine apart from I noticed my regulator started to freeze up is this normal with co2

 

[Paul.]

Its not unusual, we used to have heaters on ours, try reducing your flow rate a bit.

 

[Aaronc1990]

Its not unusual, we used to have heaters on ours, try reducing your flow rate a bit.

Ok cheers I’ll reduce the flow a little and put the electric heater near it

 

[mike 109444]

It could be that you bottle has a dip tube. This tube goes from the top of the bottle down to the bottom. This draws up the CO2 from the liquid CO2 at the bottom (this is what they do with fire extinguishers) not sure why though. Any way if this is the case you will need to use the bottle up side down !! Have had to do this myself today as my normal cylinder of CO 2 ran out and only have an extinguisher to hand Ball ache as had to re jig the reg and bottle mounting.
Note if you have the flow set correctly is should only sound like a slight hiss from the torch when trigger is pressed (there may be a slightly higher hiss at first pull of trigger due to build up of pressure in pipe work)