What do you set your regulator pressure at?

admin

I have recently set both regulators to 35psi.My argon regulator was set to 50psi but some times it likes to creep up to 65 or 70 psi, that's no good.To avoid this I turned the argon down to 35psi, it hardly creeps at all at that pressure, then did the same for the CO2.On a side note I noticed that the lower regulator pressure keeps pressure showing on the tank gauges for many hours longer when the valve is closed compared to before I reset the regulators to the lower pressure. Now if I work late and turn the tanks off and come back in the morning the tank pressure gauge still shows pressure with the tank valve off.Before the left over tank pressure in the regulator would go to near 0 after an hour or so. Now it looks like I need to bleed off the pressure at the end of the day.I am all for losing less money to leaky plumbing.old Miller spectrum 625 Lincoln SP-135 T, CO2+0.025 wireMiller model 250 and WP-18V torchCraftsman 100amp AC/DC and WP-17V torchCentury 115-004 HF arc stabilizerHome made 4 transformer spot welderHome made alternator welder
Reply:I have my argon set at 15.I purge out all gasses after using any equipment.
Reply:Originally Posted by VPTI have my argon set at 15.
Reply:If you guys are really setting your regs at those PSI pressures, then you have absolutely no clue what you are doing. You need to do a littel reading on what you have, post a picture of what you have and listen to some advice about what to set your regs at. Most argon/co2/inert regs are flow gauges. The rlow pressure gauges read in CFH or cubic feet per hour. Most of the time you rsettings should be between 15 and 25 CFH, any more and you are just wasting gas. So look at your gauges, and see if they are really reading in PSI or CFH. I say most of the time, as I had two gauges that read in PSI. These are old regs, and the gauges had been replaced when the riginal ones got broken. This was before the CFH replacement gauges were readily available.
Reply:I have an L/min flow meter on the CO2 and a SCFH meter on the argon with L/min magic markered on the side, and both dump into a single line with a pressure gauge. I was just seeing what other guys are setting the pressure at.Usually I run about 10 to 20 CFH for steel (mostly CO2).Running the regulator pressure too high is wasteful because when you pull the trigger and get is big rush of gas for a couple seconds that does nothing, plus the higher pressure leaks out a lot faster.old Miller spectrum 625 Lincoln SP-135 T, CO2+0.025 wireMiller model 250 and WP-18V torchCraftsman 100amp AC/DC and WP-17V torchCentury 115-004 HF arc stabilizerHome made 4 transformer spot welderHome made alternator welder
Reply:I never ever go over 20 cfh/lph/psi (whatever the gauge reads), I always have it set between 10-18 steel, aluminum, and stainless.
Reply:You need to run what ever pressure the flow meters are calibrated for to be accurate. Flow meters are calibrated for a specific pressure and any change in pressure changes the reading. Some meters are calibrated to 40psi and some 60psi in welding quality meters. When I built my mixer I calibrated my flow meters to 20 psi. This works well for most things but it does limit the amount of any one gas I can get out. Dual shield calls for 45cfh of CO2 and I can't get above around 25 to 30 with my mixer setup.Millermatic 252XMT 304'sDynasty 280DXHypertherm PowerMax 1250Miller Trailblazer 302 EFIOptima PulserXR feeder and XR Edge gun and more athttp://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm
Reply:psi doesnt mean anything.20 psi though a .020" hole is not quite the same as 20psi through a 2ft pipe.Flow is what matters. You're typically around 25 cubic feet per hour for mig and 15 for tig. liters per minute (LPM) is just the metric equivelent for CFH.Many mig regulators will have a pressure gauge for the flow meter, this works because they have a fixed orifice inside them (like .030" or so, it will say on the gauge face). A certain pressure through a fixed hole size will produce a fixed flow rate.Welding/Fab Pics: www.UtahWeld.com
Reply:Depending on where I'm working and the conditions I am working in... Usually 45-55cfh on the boat if fans are blowing near with MIG, and 20-30cfh with TIG, In the shop I usually turn it down about 10.