Afternoon all,

I'm looking to start using my Clarke 151TE MIG welder again with Argoshield gas. The pressure regulator I have is a twin dial type (tank capacity and flow rate). I've no reason to think it doesn't work, but it's getting on a bit now and I'm looking for recommendations on a replacement for it.

I've seen 2 types, the twin dial and the 1 dial + vertical tube with ball bearing. I'm open to people's experiences of both types and recommendations for make/model please?

NOTE - the gas bottle I have has a horizontal exit connection on it. This means my current twin dial pressure regulator ends up with the dials on their side rather than upright. This might be important if considering the single dial + tube and ball bearing type pressure regulator.

Thanks,
Nick

[Edited on 16/4/20 by nick205]

A regulator for inert gases has a 5 year working life.

A twin gauge regulator will generally give you cylinder pressure and your outlet pressure (not necessarily flow rate). A single gauge reg will show you cylinder pressure only.

Whilst you can set a flow rate using the regulator adjuster, you may need a separate needle valve to get fine enough control over the flow.

You need a side entry reg instead of the base entry one you currently have with an inlet suitable for an Argoshield cylinder. The outlet needs to match your welder fitting or a suitable adapter available. Outlet pressure needs to be within your welder's spec. 0-5 bar feels about right to me, 0-10 bar should be your maximum (I doubt the tubing in your welder is rated higher than that). A single stage regulator should be fine (and cheaper) than a twin stage one. I would personally go for a twin gauge, it's useful for leak testing without wasting loads of gas. IMO it's best practice to fit a separate needle valve too.

HTH

Personally I wouldn't be changing it due to age, I've got regulators that are 20+ years old. Regulator is unaffected by laying on it's side. I would however definitely add a flow meter it will save you a lot of gas.

With a vertical regulator used horizontally if you orientate the regulator with the knob facing upwards the outlet port should be horizontal allowing you to fit the flow meter in the correct orientation (vertical).

Regards
Davie

Regulators are a limited life item. I've spent several years of my career working with a variety of compressed gases, including writing safe operating procedures and risk assessments in handling them.

Whilst you can physically run a regulator on its side, it is easier to knock any of the gauges, especially in a workshop environment.

quote:

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Originally posted by PorkChop
Regulators are a limited life item. I've spent several years of my career working with a variety of compressed gases, including writing safe operating procedures and risk assessments in handling them.

Whilst you can physically run a regulator on its side, it is easier to knock any of the gauges, especially in a workshop environment.

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Davie sounds as if he knows his onions.

I have various regs, most have twin gauges, but the second gauge is just a pressure gauge regardless of what it says.

My MIG runs a CO2 or a 15%Argon mix and I also have a BOC W Argon for TIG.
All three set ups run with ball in a tube flow meters, in fact my TIG has a Tee and two flow meters from that,
one for the torch and the other for back purge if needed.

Although its normal to de-load the reg when turning the welder and cylinder off I periodically turn the cylinder off
and see how long it takes for the gauges to drop to zero.
Several hours and you know you have no leaks and therefore no wastage. A couple of years back I did replace the gas
solenoid in my Lincoln MIG. What ever way you buy your gas its not cheap.



Paul G

[Edited on 17/4/20 by 907]

Hmm!!

Re lifespan of regulators I came across this a few years ago when B## at their annual inspection said all the regulators had to be changed 'cos it was "the law"

Could not find any regs which backed this 5 year figure up (regs were vague IIRC) apart from B## own literature but some dumpling went to the safety officer and we ended up spending a shed load of money that was not in the budget.

It is also worth pointing out that fixed installations where permanently piped to machines are very different from portable installations that most of us use.

Davy gave good advice to get a flow meter they are cheap as chips and far more relevant than a notational pressure.

Cheers!

Thanks for the replies and information people. If I'm understanding correctly (please explain to me if not) then from Weldequip I need the following items?

https://www.weldequip.com/argon-regulator-se.htm

and

https://www.weldequip.com/flowmeter.htm

As I say, if I'm misunderstanding please explain further.

Thanks again,
Nick

BTW - project in mind is making a rocket stove. My eldest son is a scout and has shown an interest in such a project and seeing one working.

Yes Nick, those are what you need. Wescol is a good brand. I would drop weldequip a line before ordering to see whether you need any parts between the two the put the flowmeter clear of the regulator body and gauges, as you can't see the outlet on the reg (yes you can twist them, but if you're going to the trouble of buying new parts in the first place, you may as well do it right).

Now then...some comments.

1 - I don't have "fancy credentials" covering compressed gases either. Neither do I have 20+ years experience, whatever value that adds, I'm not old enough to have it in the first place. What I do have experience of is being asked by my seniors, because they deemed me to "know my onions", to take the task on and then training new people in the safe use of compressed gases (usually as a part of training for other things, which also included liquid nitrogen handling).

2 - My comments refer to cylinders and not fixed manifold installs.

3 - The 5 year lifespan is something that I've seen from all the manufacturers that I used. A reg is not going to fail catastrophically just because it's 5 years and a day old but from the sounds of it this is not what Nick has. From my experience, there are usually no external signs of failure / impending failure unless the failure was because of misuse. The example I would use is in this context is that you won't see many people at all advocating using 10+ year old tyres on cars, even if they appear okay.

4 - One of the first things I learnt coming into the world of work was not to assume that people will act as you think. You only need look around what's happened over the last few weeks to see that, or the best practice guide for IVA standards, where some real shockers were submitted for IVA tests. I'm not saying Nick comes under this at all, but as this is public, anyone can read it.


[Edited on 17/4/20 by PorkChop]

Thanks again.

I shall be making contact with Weldequip to discuss before making any purchases. As said no point spending money to buy potential problems.

For reference the regulator I currently have is 8 years old. Again, as said, it may well still function, but I've no way of testing/verifying this. Replacement ones don't seem massively expensive whereas gas isn't cheap.