Faulty Smith Regulators???

admin

Hey Guys,I'm having regulators problems. The smith regulator that came with my MM252 would slowly leak between the high pressure and low pressure, causing the low pressure/ output side to slowly increase pressure until equalized. I returned the regulator and they even upgraded me to a Smith 235424. this one has worked great until now, approx. 8 months. Now it is doing the same thing but at a much quicker pase. As soon as I open the cylinder valve, the high pressure side Gage registers 200 psi, on new cylinder, and the low pressure/output side Gage, set to 18psi, Will max out in about 30 seconds. I have several Smith gages that have been in service for many years with no problems. Has any one else had problems with the newer gages?Miller TrailBlazer 251Miller HF-250-1Miller MaxStar 150 STLHyperTherm PowerMax 380 plasmaLincoln PowerMig 180Millermatic 252Miller Diversion 180
Reply:The only time I have encountered this problem with any regulator was after I discovered some unknown student had turned the regulator handle all the way clockwise at shut down.  After several episodes a perfectly good regulator would display that problem.  It is typical for regulators used by multiple unqualified people to have problems.  After thirty years with the same personal regulators my pair still serve me without fail.   Regulators handles should be backed out when not in service ( counter clockwise)  and never pressurized with the regulator set to any sort of pressure.  Smiths are top of the line in quality.
Reply:Originally Posted by lotechmanThe only time I have encountered this problem with any regulator was after I discovered some unknown student had turned the regulator handle all the way clockwise at shut down.  After several episodes a perfectly good regulator would display that problem.  It is typical for regulators used by multiple unqualified people to have problems.  After thirty years with the same personal regulators my pair still serve me without fail.   Regulators handles should be backed out when not in service ( counter clockwise)  and never pressurized with the regulator set to any sort of pressure.  Smiths are top of the line in quality.
Reply:Originally Posted by waginAgreed. Social welding/cutting live a very short life..The regulators I'm referring to are mine. Absolutely no one has access to them other than my self. I usually back off the adj stem but have forgotten on occasion. The first Smith that came with the MM252 did this right out of the box, brand new from the start. The replacement Smith just began displaying this. Prior to noticing the pressure build up, a tel tel symptom is porosity at the beginning of weld . I'm assuming caused by the pressure build up in line when machine is idle. Could this be caused by trash trapped?
Reply:The only thing I can suggest is to have the regs serviced and talk to the person doing the job.  They might be able to give a reason for the failure.  All we can do here is speculate.