Long gas supply lines.

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Hello everyone, I was hoping you guys could help me with a question I have about gas supply lines. I am moving into my first shop and found a local LWS that has some amazing prices on Argon/CO2 (336CF/$33.5). The only problem is that they only deal with the 336CF tanks. I do not feel comfortable wheeling around these huge tanks with my MIG. I was wondering is anyone had experience chaining these tanks in a stationary position and running a line with tees and valves to the locations where the MIG welder will be used. I did some research and it looks like I should use smaller lines since the flow meter will pressurize the line at ~50PSI and this lead to gas waste every time the trigger is pulled.
Reply:most facilities hard plumb welding machines. Then leave the dewars or 6packs and tanks outside.  That's what we do at our facility. WE have some machines that never move so we hard plumb them, and we had some old MIG carts that would just connect into the argon lines running through the welding stations.I don't have much experience designing the system. but I'm a little confused about talking about the line being at 50 PSI.  All the systems I've seen use 1 or sometimes 2 regulators. One would be at your tank and take it from tank pressure down to working pressure. Then on your machine you would still have a regulator/ flow meter to take it down to welding flow rates of 10-35ish CFH. Trying to weld at 50 psi would give you a lot of porosity and probably blow past some seals and what not. No reason to run your lines at that high of pressure either as you're just more likely to have leaks.They are quite common instead of buying an integrated regulator and flow meter you buy them seperate. place your regulator on the bottle and then attached the flow meter to the back of your welder.  You can Tee off as much as you want off the tank as long as you're not trying to draw off at a higher capacity than your regulator can handle.  We also Tee off to run backing gas like this as well.Welding EngineerCertified Scrap Producer
Reply:I have a suitcase wire feeder and I just decided to make a 50' hose so I can leave my cylinder in the chest. I took my argon hose and cut off the ends and put standard Milton quick connects, then I will use a rubber 1/4"  air hose. In the first two pics is the pigtail in the wire feeder. The third pic is obviously the pigtail on the reg. I will leave them in place and just attach a dedicated air hose."Where's Stick man????????" - 7A749"SHHHHHH!! I sent him over to snag that MIC-4 while tbone wasn't looking!" - duaneb55"I have bought a few of Tbone's things unlike Stick-Man who helps himself" - TozziWelding"Stick-man"
Reply:i did a job a few years ago for a division on carrier that made refrigeration equipment. anyway, we used a product that used special compression fittings on a sch. 5(?) tubing.  it was pretty slick. i think it was a french product. i'll see if i can find out wat it was. this was for argon and air lines. sorry i don't have more in right now.
Reply:Originally Posted by richie v6Hello everyone, I was hoping you guys could help me with a question I have about gas supply lines. I am moving into my first shop and found a local LWS that has some amazing prices on Argon/CO2 (336CF/$33.5). The only problem is that they only deal with the 336CF tanks. I do not feel comfortable wheeling around these huge tanks with my MIG. I was wondering is anyone had experience chaining these tanks in a stationary position and running a line with tees and valves to the locations where the MIG welder will be used. I did some research and it looks like I should use smaller lines since the flow meter will pressurize the line at ~50PSI and this lead to gas waste every time the trigger is pulled.
Reply:Originally Posted by Metarinkamost facilities hard plumb welding machines. Then leave the dewars or 6packs and tanks outside.  That's what we do at our facility. WE have some machines that never move so we hard plumb them, and we had some old MIG carts that would just connect into the argon lines running through the welding stations.I don't have much experience designing the system. but I'm a little confused about talking about the line being at 50 PSI.  All the systems I've seen use 1 or sometimes 2 regulators. One would be at your tank and take it from tank pressure down to working pressure. Then on your machine you would still have a regulator/ flow meter to take it down to welding flow rates of 10-35ish CFH. Trying to weld at 50 psi would give you a lot of porosity and probably blow past some seals and what not. No reason to run your lines at that high of pressure either as you're just more likely to have leaks.They are quite common instead of buying an integrated regulator and flow meter you buy them seperate. place your regulator on the bottle and then attached the flow meter to the back of your welder.  You can Tee off as much as you want off the tank as long as you're not trying to draw off at a higher capacity than your regulator can handle.  We also Tee off to run backing gas like this as well.
Reply:Originally Posted by richie v6Thanks for the advice.The Milton quick connects are a great idea, I was thinking about using some expensive plastic connectors. Thanks for taking pictures.
Reply:Not for a welding setup but the same thing basically... In the lab we run N2, H2, CO2, and Ar lines that have 10-15 T's and then there is an individual needle valve at each output to meter the flow down from the line flow.  The line pressure from the tank is usually 30-40 psi and with the needle we take it down to 2-5psi or off for unused stations. There is a valve on the hard line to seal it off when you need to change tanks so you dont need to bleed the entire system every tank change. Secondary pressure reducing valve for use after primary reducing valve.