A case of bad gas

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Anybody ever gotten bad gas from Airgas?  What did you/they do about it?I have been fighting some problems for a while now and have mentioned it in a few other threads.  I finally got my other bottle filled today and traced all my problems to bad gas.I was going to post pics, but apparently shiny alum does not photograph well.  At least not with either of my cameras.  I did a lap joint and a bead in the middle of the plate.  One side with the old gas and one side with the new gas.  There was a night and day difference.  The old gas had little to no etching, floaties, and the puddle was hard to control.  The new gas had good etching, shiny surface, and the puddle was very predictable.  To test, I set the welder up and ran several beads.  Then I swapped the reggo to the other bottle without changing anything else.  I didn't prep the tungsten, I didn't change the settings,  hell I even used the same filler rod.  Half a length with the old gas and half a length with the new gas.  To me, the results are crystal clear.  I thought I was losing my touch, turns out it was just bad gas....So has anybody else had gas problems, and what did your supplier do for you to correct the situation.  I think I can eat all the filler and time that I got wrapped up in trouble shooting.  A new, full bottle of good gas would make me happy.  Do ya think that is asking too much?
Reply:Sounds reasonable to me. How long did you have the bad bottle? Any chance it had been hydro-tested and not properly dried? How full is it still? If the LWS runs some gas from it through some indicator desiccant, that should tell if the water content is too high. Maybe it has a high O2 level? Just thinking out loud....Long ago, a lab I worked in  used bottled air to feed the hydrogen flame of its GC's, and one day, the flames wouldn't stay lit. The "Air" wouldn't support combustion; didn't find out if it was all N2, or what, and don't know the supplier either.Last edited by Oldiron2; 07-02-2009 at 01:43 AM.
Reply:I have had the bottle at least a couple months, it was on my welder with the spool gun that doesn't get used much.  I had it filled when I modified my MM 251 to hold both bottles.  Didn't ever use it with the spoolgun.  When I ran out on my tig, I just swapped it over.  Never occured to me that that's when the trouble started.  Either way, it is a 125cf bottle and I used about half of it trying to track down "my" problem.  Turns out it was actually their problem.  Tonight, I switched bottles back and forth several times to confirm it was the gas.
Reply:I just looked back at my bottle rack mod thread.  Looks like I have had this bottle in my possesion about 3 months.
Reply:I got a bottle of straight argon from Airgas that was something else.  I did probably 4" of weld on mild steel with no issues so I didn't think much of it...switched over to aluminum and all hell broke loose.  I thought it was a contamination issue with the metal at first, but then quickly narrowed it down to a mystery gas.  I took the nearly full tank back.  They were a bit confused and not really sure what to do about it but ended up tagging the tank as needing inspection.  They gave me another tank and that one welded like a dream on aluminum.  Yup, it happens.www.lindgrensupercars.comMiller Dynasty 350Miller Dynasty 200DX - retiredMiller Millermatic 210Miller Spectrum 3080Miller "Power of Blue" stool  Miller Syncrowave 180SD - retired
Reply:The cylinder was probably filled with a mixer for mild steel, like 75/25.  They should give you a complete credit.  Before you even start to tell them about the problem, ask to speak to the manager.  The gobber at the counter probably does not know the difference between argon and 75/25 and could not authorize a credit if he did.    If you do not get a new full bottle, it is time to find a new supplier.OAdoctorwww.regulatortorchrepair.com
Reply:I took a test coupon with me that I welded up last night switching between the good bottle and the bad.  I figured it might be best to prove that I actually could weld  and had a clue.  Got a new full bottle today without any arguement.