argon pressure on reg/welder

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When I turn off my tig welder, (TA Arcmaster 185, I love it!), and argon, it holds the pressure (15 psi + -) in the line to the welder for almost 2 weeks. before dropping. Should I be concerned about this?? I used to forget to turn off the bottle but it has never gone empty. To cure that, I put an old propane knob on some pink flagging and hung it in the hook where I hang my helmet, "Turn on the gas, dummy"  and hang it where I put the torch when I'm done, Turn it off now"Also, I have a 'CK' #17 air-cooled torch which is just fine, but I weld a LOT of small things, "the best thing about tig" and want to get a pencil type of torch. I would need less than 80 100 amps, mostly much less. Air cooled would be I think fine for what I want to do. The welder came with most everything but a bottle of argon. Only thing changed was replacing the very stiff gas & elec leads with a 'Superflex' lead.Any suggestions??  -corne-
Reply:Different type of machine, but I assume this aspect is the same. I just have a MIG, but I had seen some suggestions about bleeding that pressure out of the lines, when you're done. It avoid leaving that hose pressurized, etc. So now when I'm done, I shut off the gas using the tank's valve, disengage the tension on the wire feed wheel (so no wire comes out), then squeeze the trigger until the regulator gauges drop to 0. I don't see any real harm in doing it this way. It does waste the gas that was trapped between the regulator, and the welder's solenoid. But it avoids leaving things pressurized for no reason. And presumably that's better for the regulator/hose. If I shouldn't actually be doing this, please let me know  In terms of your leak rate, I've never left mine pressurized-but-shut-off for 2 weeks. But there isn't a lot of gas volume trapped in my line, at least. For it to leak out over 2 weeks doesn't strike me as sounding too bad. Just my $0.02.
Reply:I don't bleed my lines for the very reason you have observed. They should hold their pressure overnight if not 2 weeks. If I see the pressure was lost overnight I have some work to do. This is a constant slow leak. We do shut off the tank valves though.The working pressure coming off the reg is some 25 to 80 psi, which the hoses were designed well beyond for. They will equalize to about 3psi when the solenoid is opened.So if you want to bleed you lines, that is fine. If you observe a very slow loss, that is great.Weld like a "WELDOR", not a wel-"DERR" MillerDynasty700DX,Dynasty350DX4ea,Dynasty200DX,Li  ncolnSW200-2ea.,MillerMatic350P,MillerMatic200w/spoolgun,MKCobraMig260,Lincoln SP-170T,PlasmaCam/Hypertherm1250,HFProTig2ea,MigMax1ea.