Hi, My trusty Argon gas regulator just died. Any good brands to look at or stay away from. See very low price ones and up. For a tig welder setup. Thanks
I've rebuilt my Victor regulators, kit available at a welding supply store. Pretty easy IMO and reasonable.
I'm using an ebay unit for the last couple of years. It works just like my Victor that died. I think if you look, the price is different but many are the same unit.
Between my oxy acetylene, two migs, and two Tigs, , I have 6 regulators. None are high dollar, but none are HF. All still work fine, the oldest being from the late seventies. The Gauges on the old Miller 175 are getting hard to read and the number plate is getting warped, since it spent its previous life in a body shop, where it obviously received no love. I’m going to replace it with a generic Amazon brand from one of the welding houses if I don’t just replace the gauge. I won’t spring for a Harris or other name brand since it will never get the use a typical welding shop would give it. My local welding shop does have a repair service, though, so you may want to talk to your gas supplier before springing for a new regulator.
Thanks, Mine is an Air Products 2 stage from late 1970's. Not many welding shops left around here. Internet killed them. I worked for a large research firm and had a gas man that rebuilt them for us.Was spoiled .They only sells new ones and said rebuilding not worth it. Yes staying away from HF. Need a new bottle of gas so will see what my shop offers tomorrow. And will see if I can get a rebuilding kit for my Air Products unit. Harris on my torch set still going strong.
My local shop has an exchange service. Bring in a core and buy a rebuilt one. Worked for me on a small portable oxy acetylene kit I have.
Victor, Harris, and Air Products have been around a long time. The other consideration is type- output gauge or flow ball. The flow ball may be more accurate, but I prefer the gauge type for one reason. A small leak through the gas solenoid is hard to see with the ball, and an empty left on bottle is no fun the next time.
Yes I agree. Checked on my Air Products unit. Obsolete. Many out there used for $30.00 so think it is time to buy new. The Harris looks good. I used the regulators at my job and yes those flow ball units can leak. Used them for Hydrogen flow on projects off a bottle and boy just a little leak around the seal on the tube and any ignition source , well those plastic flow meters really melt quickly! We had to change to the gauge style ones for safety in the shop. One of my production furnaces used 250cu./ft. per hour of Hydrogen. You could almost fit a VW bug in the chamber. I was always checking for leaks with snoop to be sure they did not light off!! Thanks for the input.
The higher cost of a decent one far outweighs the cost of losing a bottle of gas to an elcheapo regulator.
During covid, my oxygen regulator started leaking. Built a new seal out of an old inner tube. Worked until I got it properly fixed
I've always shut the tank valve off when I was done welding for the day. I learned early on not to trust the regulators to hold the cylinder pressure overnight. I haven't replaced a regulator in years, but the last was was an exchange of my old regulator for a rebuilt one. I made my living at my welding shop, I couldn't afford to take a chance on some cheap regulator.
In my professional opinion and experience as a Tig welder and a welding instructor, using an argon regulator like this one is a bad idea. It’s been my experience that they aren’t accurate in the flow setting on the output and can waste gas as well as not lasting as long as the one below. This is the industrial standard Argon regulator with a proper and accurate flow meter which will save you gas over the life of a bottle filling. I use this type of flow meter for Argon exclusively and won’t use the first type for pure argon. I have the dual gauge version on my Mig machine which is fine for the mixed Argon/CO2.
I bought a cutting set with regulator s and gauges that was interchangeable with Victor. I wanted to be able to use all my Victor tips. The knockoff set of gauges has always irked me though, I don’t like the way the regulator or gauge reacts when opening it, just doesn’t react immediately like my Victor set. Also, when my gauges go to “0” for the tanks, I can still do a lot of cutting. Never measured how much, but learned soon enough not to have to get ready to swap tanks until I had to start cranking the regulator up to cut. Anyways, I guess I’m saying in a lifetime as a hobbyist, you might need to replace your stuff once, may as well get quality.
Depends on your local supplier but I have had good luck with Weldmark brand. They are a much less priced copy of Victor. Airgas has their house brand named Radnor which work well also for a lesser price. Like Blue One said, Use a flow meter for Argon and TIG.
Thanks guys and just be careful with the no name or Chinese knock offs because they may look all shiny and exactly like the good quality name brands but they definitely aren’t. Also as Gene noted regardless of the flow meter or regulator you’re using the best way to save gas is to shut the bottle off when you’re not welding. Solenoids and other things can pass gas and drain the bottle as it sits.
If you're religious about shutting the bottle off and don't mind wasting a little gas is there any reason to have a more expensive flowmeter? When I started MIGing I worked with a lot of dirty material and welded outside a lot. I've gotten used to running more gas than what is recommended. Don't think I'll notice any difference in usage between flowmeters.
Yep, I found that out the hard way a short time ago when I found an empty bottle that was nearly full the last time I used it.
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