New Toy need answers

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Hello to everyone on this forum. I'm new to welding as I just bought my first welder a week ago. I plan to use this welder as a hobby mainly to repair, fix, modify, and fab stuff on my jeep. I've got a lot of practicing ahead of me. Anyway the reason I come to you is to ask about some 2nd hand tanks I bought. Any info on them would be very helpful. The first one is green in color. About 51-52 inch's tall to the neck threads and about 8 or 9 inch's round. Here is what is says on the bottle. MADE IN USA    /    DOT-3AA2015  P  1w    /    TW-H-173312    /   propcs    The 2nd tank is a small fat one. About 38 inches high to the threads. Its black in color. It says this on the tank.     WC143    DT7   8 2-88   NN1301   Manchester  TF  DOT 4BW-260 REJESTHere is a shot of the to tanks side by side with and without caps on.So again any help with these tanks would be a help. Info that I think maybe truth. The green tanks is/was Oxygen and black tank is/was propane. The black one might be around 60lb tank looking at the tank chart.There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and the enemy. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion.
Reply:Thought Id also post some more pics of my new setup. And my first welds.Just brought it homeUnbox and setup. No welding cart yet.Bought helmet.Found this piece of scrap and went to work cleaning it up.Used the hobart thickness guide and made settings.There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and the enemy. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion.
Reply:I used the sample wire .030 flux core and this is what my first two beads every look like.There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and the enemy. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion.
Reply:Congrats on the new machine and gear Rich and welcome to the forum. I'll leave the tank stampings interpretations to those more familiar but I suggest you check out some of the teaching videos over on the Miller site http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/video_library/ to give you an idea of what you should be doing and looking for.I'm sure you just grabbed the first available piece of scrap but a sickle bar knive blade is probably not the best type of material to attempt to learn on so if that's the best you've got, I'd suggest checking around for some mild steel scrap people throw out to the road for pickup (lots of good project material can be found this way).  I usually ask the home owner if they're home just to be polite.Other possible sources are fab shops and scrap yards where some shops may offer small amounts for free but expect to pay at least going scrap rate at a yard.Your goal at this point should be lots and lots of practice.MM200 w/Spoolmatic 1Syncrowave 180SDBobcat 225G Plus - LP/NGMUTT Suitcase WirefeederWC-1S/Spoolmatic 1HF-251D-1PakMaster 100XL '68 Red Face Code #6633 projectStar Jet 21-110Save Second Base!
Reply:last time the oxygen was hydro tested was 94 the propane from what i can see was 88 , put a set of regulators on them and see if there is anything in them , or take them to your local airgas and tell them you want to switch them out , oxygen should cost less than 20 and propane should be around 60 or so, i would see if they will switch you for a acetylene for the propane , see about purchasing a 80 cf 75/25 and some .035 wire you will be alot happier with it .I like the 187 for little work , its easy to move around and works good on small stuff.I forgot how to change this.
Reply:Your sickle bar mower is not going to work very well.....Weldandpower Lincoln 225 AC,DC with Briggs 16hp gas engine.WW2 era Miller TIG.
Reply:The tall one is definately an O2 cylinder, probably  282cf since it's roughly the size of mine. Form the samps it looks like the last test date was November of 94 so it will need to be hydro tested. The other is a large propane from the looks. I don't cut with propane so I can't say much else.These are large cylinders. Around me most places will not fill owner cylinders that size, only exchange them. The stamp on the neck ring of the O2 cylinder tells my this might be a leased / rental cylinder. That may be good or bad.  The place I use will only exchange their own large cylinders. I have an account, so they've never had any issue with cylinders as long as they had their tags/ neckrings even if I was exchanging them for a friend. There's a chance those cylinders are technically "stolen" as the seller didn't have the right to sell them if they were lease/rentals. That may make these worthless to you unless you open an account with the welding supply who owns these.You may be able to swap these for a mig mix for use with your machine. My guy has no issues swaping different gasses as long as I stay with the same size cylinders.As far as your welds, skip the wire brush. A wire brush is great for removing heavy rust, but it will not propperly prep metal for welding. All a brush does is polish the rust not remove it from the base metal. You need to use a grinder with a sanding pad or a grinding wheel and get down to bare shiny metal. Propper prep will go a long way towards making good welds.get yourself some 3" wide 1/8" thick steel to practice on. Start out running basic straight beads on flat plate. Then move on to joints in the flat position, lap, T's, outside corners and then but joints in that order. When you have all them down go thru the same process in horizontal, vertical and overhead in that order. POst up picts with settings and material info and we can help you out.I'm not sure what sorts of projects you have in mind for your jeep. Mods like suspension work, welds on frames and so on are not begginer or "learning" projects. In fact welding on frames in general is a very bad idea. All these mods run the risk of killing people if not done properly. You are a long way from doing welds like this. If your plans are to build  rock sliders, bumpers, light mounts and maybe a cage in the future, this machine will do well.Take a look and see if your local votech school runs night classes on welding. Many do. When you add up what materials, wire, gas, electric and the rest costs plus the instruction, a class is usually stupid cheap. Where I help out at it's easy to burn up more than the class cost in materials alone, so the instruction is pretty much "free"..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:i would like to get a c-25 tank but I got a deal on these tank that I just could not walk away from. I do not have a reg that will fit so off to lws this week sometime.There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and the enemy. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion.
Reply:welcome n congrats. get a 4 1/2" electric grinder  to clean steel,.. wire brush  wont remove scale..idont know that machine but woud think 60 is too high for wire speed on 1/8 steel...
Reply:as they have airgas markings on them, just take them to any airgas store and they will exchange for full bottles of the same size and u just pay for the gas.    they will downsize also if you want smaller.Tiger Sales:  AHP Distributor    www.tigersalesco.comAHP200x; AHP 160ST; MM350P,  Spoolmatic 30A; Everlast PowerTig 185; Thermal Dynamics 60i plasma.  For Sale:  Cobra Mig 250 w/ Push-pull gun.  Lincoln Wirematic 250
Reply:Originally Posted by DSWThese are large cylinders. Around me most places will not fill owner cylinders that size, only exchange them. The stamp on the neck ring of the O2 cylinder tells my this might be a leased / rental cylinder. That may be good or bad.  The place I use will only exchange their own large cylinders. I have an account, so they've never had any issue with cylinders as long as they had their tags/ neckrings even if I was exchanging them for a friend. There's a chance those cylinders are technically "stolen" as the seller didn't have the right to sell them if they were lease/rentals. That may make these worthless to you unless you open an account with the welding supply who owns these..
Reply:Call the local airgas , even if its 50 miles away they probably service a welding shop local to you where you can take the cylinders to swap them i love 120 miles from the shop and i can have anything delivered there i want with a phone call.I forgot how to change this.
Reply:Originally Posted by LawsonWeldingLLC ..... i love 120 miles from the shop
Reply:lol LIVE i meanI forgot how to change this.
Reply:What Duane says about scrap pieces to practice on is good advice. Adding to that, don't throw away any edger or lawnmower blades. They make great practice for cleaning, then welding on.Now that you have welding capabilities, you will look at pieces of 'junk' metal in a whole new light. I even scrapped out an old 12 dollar box fan and cut/straightened out the frame for some thin sheet to practice with.Get a nice little 4/12 grinder, as was mentioned, and you can have clean, bare metal to weld on in almost no time. I like using a 30 or 60 grit flap wheel.Congrats and good luck!PapaLincoln Idealarc 250 (circa 1962)Lincoln Weldpak 155 w/Mig KitLincoln Squarewave TIG 175
Reply:After looking around I think I might have a 250 CF cylinder.http://www.millerwelds.com/resources...7&d=1225640225There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and the enemy. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion.
Reply:I called the local welding shop (not airgas) and what they said is that if I bring in the tanks and a bill of sale they will set it up like a lifetime lease. The downside is I will be using there tanks and if I ever move, leave, or want to change LWS I have to return the tanks and that's that. So I'm just out then my tanks then. I will not be moving anytime soon but.... Is this just how it is? Also I would like to trade one of the tanks for a c-25 tank is that possible or not?Also the one tank has an AIR GAS sticker on it if I take it to them will the exchange it or is it the same? the closest air gas is a good drive away and in another state.There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and the enemy. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion.
Reply:Goto AIRGAS lol , call them ! see if they deliver to your area, the one that delivers to our shop is from missourri coming into Kansas, the other LWS comes from Nebraska To Kansas i wouldnt do the lease deal even though technically most cylinders are on a "lease" of some sort even though you purchased them, i got a set from my grandfather when he died , they had SOLD stamped into them, i turned them in and got new ones anyway, they dont say sold on them, i dont care and neither does the place i deal with, the only ones i have ever had problems with were Praxair and that was because they wanted me to turn in my cylinders for theres and then pay them rental for them(another reason i dont use them). The airgas i deal with doesnt keep records of any of my tanks except the ones i have out on lease that i needed cause all the ones i got off craigslist and at auctions are either being used or on a welder Call a airgas, i dont know how far evansville is but there was a airgas there last i knew.I forgot how to change this.
Reply:If you're LWS is IL-MO then the lease deal is the best you can get (Linde products).As mentioned above there may be Airgas or Liquid Air people working with welding shops in IL-MO territory from fair distance.Good Luck and WelcomeMatt
Reply:I made a small welding table.There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and the enemy. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion.
Reply:Made this as my first project.There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and the enemy. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion.
Reply:I would tell them to fist theirselves in the nicest way possible. They are just bullying you and personally I would take offense to it. Take a look at other suppliers. I get treated like gold by my local gas supplier (wesco)....I brought in a few tanks that were out of date by 10 years...they swapped them out no questions asked and were wayyy lower in price than airgas. I paid $12 for a 150 swapped of argon and $22 for 80cf of acetylene. They werent concerned about the hydro and I walked out with a receipt saying owner supplied cylinders. I bought them off craigslist with no paperwork. They also have the cheapest prices on TIG filler that I've seen both locally and online. Good luck finding someone locally that is a little more willing to work with ya