Welding Tips and Tricks

We recently bought a new regulator (a cheapie Radnor 601-AR) which drained a full 40cu argon tank in less than a day. so we returned it for another.

now, whats wrong with this one?

Obviously Radnor doesnt have very picky QC personnel, that is if there even is a QC line at all!
Definitely check it next trip back, might save ya future frustrations.
Actually, you should be able to just unscrew the male connectors shaft from the meter's body and flip it around yourself.
Save gas in the process.

yeah, we got it all squared away. it was airgas's bottle that was the problem with the first one, so they sent our first regulator back out. no leaks. I though the picture was pretty funny though.

I was trying to get my pops (I work for him) to get a decent regulator, but I couldn't get him to see the benefit in spending $200 for something that he can get for $65. perhaps next time he'll listen.

I've had bad luck with chinese floating ball type regulators, shown pictured at lower left, in various states of disassembly.

Chasing down argon leaks can be a hassle too, and can get expensive. First place to look for a leak on a suspect regulator is the over-pressure relief port, which is usually a small hole on the bottom. Wipe soapy water over the hole with pressure on, and see if its blowing bubbles.

I've got nothing but good things to say about my HTP argon regulator though, shown pictured in upper right (hooked up to an argon tank.) It wasn't very expensive either, ~$40.

LOL!!!!!!! good one ! I use a Oxygen gauge and had the neck replace with a argon neck, you can use and gas then, oxygen gauge will give you more flow and softer flow.

Those are probably the best reason in world to collect and rebuild old Airco 2 stage regulators and flow meters. Parts are easily available and the are rock solid.
My 40 year old argon regulator leaked slowly. After a rebuild it would hold tank pressure with the screw backed out for 3 weeks... it dropped about 100 psi on the high side. I would have let the test run longer. but I needed the argon.
paul

Jakeru, you missed a lock on your shelf

There's always one jackwagon who doesn't even look at the picture... only the background.

Hey, good eye; I just snapped that shelf into position.