Welding Tips and Tricks

The CK model seems silly expensive for such a device although I generally like their products. I do see the others available at almost 1/4 the cost.
Have never used one, although I can imagine it could be somewhat useful for precision work, or trouble shooting or maybe not.

Opinions?

CK is crazy expensive here & really only they're superflex hoses are worth the extra - that one looks like a regular Ebay one with a sticker on so just buy a cheap one - yes they are worth having to check flow for those that can't do it old school by ear - half the issues that are gas related here would be resolved if people had one - they are generally not that accurate but give a fair guide to flow - probably more useful on Mig where almost no one has any sort of column flow gauge on the regulator - I lend mine out quite often to noobs trying to figure out what's wrong with they're machines.

They are good to have if you use an Y valve for root gas and you only have one flow meter on the regulator.

Really good for trouble shooting. Or for checking if your regular setup is accurate.

The sort as pictured by OP is really not that accurate - really only suits a quick confirmation check at nozzle that you have gas flow & remember it's not even marked generally as to what gas / mixture the numbers are meant to represent - still a useful thing to have as it eliminates guess work but in no way replaces a decent brass one screwed to the regulator - they are so cheap now if you have a Y setup for blending you should have one on both bottles - if you can find one then a helium calibrated one is best on that gas as an argon / mix type will barely make the ball " quiver " when you have sufficient flow for most blend purposes - the best place really for a flow gauge is on the outlet of the machine especially if it uses standard 3/8" BSP connection for the torch - obviously not all do & some are dumb ass things like gas flow thru dinse etc - I leave one on the front connection of my Tig as well as one on the argon regulator & if blending one on the helium - it's just easier to see what is going on - too much gas & / or too much % helium can give weird troubles on some machines / torch combinations.

I have a dual flow meter so I'm not winging it here, just curious what others are doing.

I use one on mig and tig - the one I have is accurate and matches my high quality flow meters.

Very useful for testing. When I use someone else's machine I use it to ensure the flow is correct relative to what I run in my shop.

They can show a leak by showing less flow than indicated back at the tank.
Three times I found one they were on a mig and were back at the gun connection.

On one tig setup I found the flow guage read much higher than it actually flowed - no leaks but had to be set wide open to flow 20 CFH.

It's this one, $34: http://www.netwelding.com/prod02.htm#WAT-PFM

There are cheaper ones out there as well.

I have the netwelding one and it's very accurate. You will notice the graduations get closer together as you move up the scale. The cheap ones are evenly spaced all the way up, the really cheap ones are in LPM not CFH

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