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Posted by Gunner on February 27, 2008, 1:41 pm
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I just filled my CO2 tank yesterday. $9
Its lasted me nearly 3 yrs, and well over 33 lbs of wire mig welding.
I found a small leak, so figure it would have gone longer if it hadnt
had the slow leak.
Now I do mostly rough welding, pipe, structural stuff around the
homestead, rusty nasty metal, so CO2 is perfect for me.
Just curious as to why more folks dont use it? It does splatter more,
but PAM is cheap.
Gunner
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Posted by Grant Erwin on February 27, 2008, 1:48 pm
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Gunner wrote:
> I just filled my CO2 tank yesterday. $9
> Its lasted me nearly 3 yrs, and well over 33 lbs of wire mig welding.
> I found a small leak, so figure it would have gone longer if it hadnt
> had the slow leak.
>
> Now I do mostly rough welding, pipe, structural stuff around the
> homestead, rusty nasty metal, so CO2 is perfect for me.
>
> Just curious as to why more folks dont use it? It does splatter more,
> but PAM is cheap.
Next time look for leaks when you first hook up your cylinder.
There aren't too many CO2 cylinders around, just the little ones. At your usage
rate (11 pounds of wire a year) you might get away with a little cylinder, but
lots of us burn about 8 times that amount and don't want to be running to the
welding supply all the time. Plus, if you pull much CO2 out of a cylinder it
will freeze up the regulator, requiring one of those heated regulators. Again,
not applicable in your case due to low volume.
I picked up a large CO2 cylinder recently, paid $35 for it (full) and figured
I'd give it a try. Then just for grins I threw it on CL for $150. Some guy with
teenagers who were way into paintball bought it instantly. Shrug.
Grant
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Posted by Gunner on February 27, 2008, 2:50 pm
Please log in for more thread options On Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:48:36 GMT, Grant Erwin
>Gunner wrote:
>
>> I just filled my CO2 tank yesterday. $9
>> Its lasted me nearly 3 yrs, and well over 33 lbs of wire mig welding.
>> I found a small leak, so figure it would have gone longer if it hadnt
>> had the slow leak.
>>
>> Now I do mostly rough welding, pipe, structural stuff around the
>> homestead, rusty nasty metal, so CO2 is perfect for me.
>>
>> Just curious as to why more folks dont use it? It does splatter more,
>> but PAM is cheap.
>
>Next time look for leaks when you first hook up your cylinder.
The leak was internal at the solinoid. Took some digging to find it. I
noticed my flow meter (gauge type) was dancing a smidge right off the
zero mark with the welder not running. My hearing is so bad I never
could hear it..but then..I cant hear most leaks unless they are huge.
>
>There aren't too many CO2 cylinders around, just the little ones. At your usage
>rate (11 pounds of wire a year) you might get away with a little cylinder, but
>lots of us burn about 8 times that amount and don't want to be running to the
>welding supply all the time. Plus, if you pull much CO2 out of a cylinder it
>will freeze up the regulator, requiring one of those heated regulators. Again,
>not applicable in your case due to low volume.
Ive welded aprox 15' of welds in less than 10 minutes, with no
freezing noted, even in winter. I mistyped btw..that should have been
33lbs per year. Im not home all that much...shrug.
>
>I picked up a large CO2 cylinder recently, paid $35 for it (full) and figured
>I'd give it a try. Then just for grins I threw it on CL for $150. Some guy with
>teenagers who were way into paintball bought it instantly. Shrug.
>
>Grant
It will be intersting to see others responses.
Gunner
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Posted by Ernie Leimkuhler on February 28, 2008, 1:29 am
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> I just filled my CO2 tank yesterday. $9
> Its lasted me nearly 3 yrs, and well over 33 lbs of wire mig welding.
> I found a small leak, so figure it would have gone longer if it hadnt
> had the slow leak.
>
> Now I do mostly rough welding, pipe, structural stuff around the
> homestead, rusty nasty metal, so CO2 is perfect for me.
>
> Just curious as to why more folks dont use it? It does splatter more,
> but PAM is cheap.
>
>
> Gunner
CO2 does work for steel heavier than 1/8", but on sheet metal I found it
difficult to not burn holes.
C25 will cover a wider range, from 18 ga sheet to spray mode on heavy
plate.
When I started at South Seattle we still ran CO2 for some heavy MIG,
but after a few years we went all C25.
We did that because industry has pretty much abandoned CO2.
While a lone welder working on his own projects can afford to remove a
bit of spatter, but not having to remove spatter saves production
welders a LOT of time.
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Posted by Gunner on February 28, 2008, 2:22 am
Please log in for more thread options On Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:29:24 -0800, Ernie Leimkuhler
>
>> I just filled my CO2 tank yesterday. $9
>> Its lasted me nearly 3 yrs, and well over 33 lbs of wire mig welding.
>> I found a small leak, so figure it would have gone longer if it hadnt
>> had the slow leak.
>>
>> Now I do mostly rough welding, pipe, structural stuff around the
>> homestead, rusty nasty metal, so CO2 is perfect for me.
>>
>> Just curious as to why more folks dont use it? It does splatter more,
>> but PAM is cheap.
>>
>>
>> Gunner
>
>CO2 does work for steel heavier than 1/8", but on sheet metal I found it
>difficult to not burn holes.
True indeed. Its MUCH hotter than C25. Which is nice on rusty nasty
metal. No more spare tire carriers going AWOL...(blush)
>C25 will cover a wider range, from 18 ga sheet to spray mode on heavy
>plate.
>
>When I started at South Seattle we still ran CO2 for some heavy MIG,
>but after a few years we went all C25.
>We did that because industry has pretty much abandoned CO2.
>While a lone welder working on his own projects can afford to remove a
>bit of spatter, but not having to remove spatter saves production
>welders a LOT of time.
Good answer and good reason.
With most of the rough welding I do, a bit of splatter isnt an issue,
and spraying the work piece with Pam or antisplatter spray works
pretty well. Hitting the area with a knotted cup brush usually takes
any splatter off anyways.
I do have 5 tanks of C25..but hate to spend the money filling them so
often for rough work.
I still stick weld a great deal, and cleanup on that is far far more
problematic than the tiny amount of splatter from CO2 welding.
So for the sort of work stick welding would be used for..then CO2
makes sense?
Gunner
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> Its lasted me nearly 3 yrs, and well over 33 lbs of wire mig welding.
> I found a small leak, so figure it would have gone longer if it hadnt
> had the slow leak.
>
> Now I do mostly rough welding, pipe, structural stuff around the
> homestead, rusty nasty metal, so CO2 is perfect for me.
>
> Just curious as to why more folks dont use it? It does splatter more,
> but PAM is cheap.