Argon consumption rate?

[Phiber Optik]

how fast do you guys go through your argon tanks? I am new to tiggin' and I bought a re-certed and re-valved 80ft^3 bottle off a local guy it had 2000psi when i started and i have the flow rate set to around 15, but I went through the bottle in less then 8 hours of welding time, I must have left the valve open one night because I went to burn some rod yesterday and the tank was totally empty. I went to airgas and got the tank exchanged, did some welding today and in 2 hours the tank went from 2000psi to 1000psi at 15-20cfm flow rate, is this normal? I am using a Longevity Weldall 160 FYI

[Bluesman]

We have a weldall 160 and have way more than 8 hours on the bottle we have hooked up now and we are still good on gas. Maybe you have a leak somewhere in the line or at the connections. Possibly got a bad reg/flowmeter.

[Phiber Optik]

I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything, I only have the longevity regulator with a single gauge and the flow meter attached, the gauge shows the bottle pressure and the flow meter shows the torch flow rate with the knob below for adjusting flow rate, but that's it I don't really know what the pressure is limited to out to the torch.

I don't think I have any leaks but I'll double check, my 160pi has the air brake fitting going into the welder, which should'nt leak. But it's hard to check with the loud fan inside running.

Does the ball inside the flow meter stay floating at all times?

[gilly]

I think if the ball is floating all the time,you have a gas leak somewhere.You could take a marker of some sort and mark where the needle on the tank is with the tank turned on,then let it sit for a while then check the needle and see if it has moved off of the mark,if it has i would say you have gas flowing when not using the welder.The gas should flow only when the trigger is activated.But i could be wrong.

[Gadget]

Double check your regulator and flow valve. Last I knew the Longevity regulators measured in Liters per minute not CFH. If that's the case 7.5 LPM is about equivalent to 15 CFH. If you're unit measures LPH you're running double the flow rate needed.
If the ball is floating when the unit is not welding then you definitely have a gas leak. If the ball drops after welding ceases look very closely at the ball. Is it sitting still on the seat or is it kind of rolling in the seat. A small leak will make the ball roll when it appears to be seated but you have to look carefully to see it.

[JolietJames]

Just a point I'm sure you already know but keep in mind you have to wait for the post flow before the ball will fall. Also, be sure to open the valve of gas bottles (not acetylene) all the way until it stops.
Once your post flow has finished and the ball drops do what Gadget said and watch the ball for movement.
Use soapy water to test for leaks everywhere too just in case you missed something.
I run almost 20 on my argon and get more time out of my bottles than you so there is definitely something wrong with your setup.
Good luck!

[KHK]

All good points. On my current argon bottle I have to really crank hard on the bottle valve to shut it off.

[tigqk]

Check for leaks with soapy water then do the math 10cfh for 4 hours = 40-cf, that type of thing

[arandall]

Check for leaks for sure. These set-ups are good quality, but do have something of a reputation for gas leaks - usually easily fixed.

[matteh99]

how fast do you guys go through your argon tanks? I am new to tiggin' and I bought a re-certed and re-valved 80ft^3 bottle off a local guy it had 2000psi when i started and i have the flow rate set to around 15, but I went through the bottle in less then 8 hours of welding time, I must have left the valve open one night because I went to burn some rod yesterday and the tank was totally empty. I went to airgas and got the tank exchanged, did some welding today and in 2 hours the tank went from 2000psi to 1000psi at 15-20cfm flow rate, is this normal? I am using a Longevity Weldall 160 FYI

Make sure of what units your flow meter is displaying in.

In your post you said you are running 15-20 cfm or cubic feet per min. That isn't right because if that was the case you would run through a 80 cf bottle in 2 or three min. If you are running 15-20 lpm or liters per min you are using around twice as much argon as you need.

Here is the conversion between lpm and cfh.
One cubic foot equals around 30 liters. There are 60 minutes in 1 hour.

1cf/h = 30Liters/Hour = 30Liter/60min = .5 liters/min so 1 liter/min = 2 cf/hour (not exactly but close)

I also had some trouble with my first longevity regulator. It was set so the pressure was to high (in my opinion). What this did was as soon as I started the gas flow there was a very large puff of argon before the flow meter settled down. Also the adjustment for the gas flow was very sensitive. I did some tinkering and it seemed to make things better.