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CO2 vs: 75/25

I had a scary experience today. I took a 300 oxygen bottle, a medium acetylene, and an 80 75/25, and had them filled and/or exchanged. The O2 and acet were out of hydro, and the nice counter man waived the hydro fees. I owned the 75/25 bottle. Out the door was $232!

Holy shit! But I'm good for a very long time.

I took the pressure of my CO2 bottle, and it was 900-1000. So, I considered it 1/2 full because stamp pressure on the outside of the bottle was 1800. Well, I was wrong, and have to weigh it. Does anyone know the tare weight of a 20# CO2 Bottle? The one about knee high, with the crimped bottom.

I therefore only have a little CO2 to do my awning project this coming week, but a whole bottle of mix. I really like the bead of my Lincoln SP175+ Mig with the mix over the CO2. I recently got a free CO2, and was out of mix, so used it for a while. A lot of difference, in different ways.

Which do you prefer, and why? Cost is a factor of about four for the mix. Seems like I can run it hotter, though, and was having a little problem getting a hot puddle and penetration with the .030" wire on CO2. Anyway, will post pics of the latest new awning, #2 out of 3.

One awning to go. Dr. appt. for Thursday for my neck, may be wearing a halo for a while. A SS one if I survive, and a real one if I don't.

Steve

Heart surgery pending?

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Heart Surgery Survival Guide ISBN: 978-1-935018-41-4

Reply to
Steve B
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The tare weight ought to be stamped on the bottle. One of mine says " TW 24.9 " Probably no help as it is an aluminum bottle.

Dan

Reply to
dcaster

It's supposed to be the number stamped after "TW". The tank I have was thickly repainted and I can't find it. The dealer thought it should be around 20+ Lbs. The tank weighs ~30 lbs and seems about half full.

jsw

Dumb-blonde Brittany on Glee: "I did a book report on heart attacks, if you want to give it to the doctor. I got knocked down an entire letter grade 'cause it was written in crayon."

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

I'm not so sure about "only a little CO2". CO2 is a critical liquid at room temperature and that pressure, which means that there's kind of a flat spot in the pressure vs. amount of stuff curve -- which means that you have to go by weight. The high pressure rating on the tank is probably there to keep it from going kablooie on hot days.

Reply to
Tim Wescott

I use 92/8 argon/co2. More expensive, yes. but I can do spray transfer with it on big jobs, which you cannot do if the the co2 goes over 10% ( or so I'm told, never tried it)

If you want a nice weld, pay for the better gas. or else grind alot.

Reply to
Randy333

"Randy333" wrote

I'm doing ornamental metal and light steel. I don't think the increased cost justify it, but then, I haven't asked the price for 98/2. For the heavier metal you are talking about welding, it would probably be the best. I'm just doing thin stuff, and if I want to weld something thicker, I get out the old SA200 and trusty 7018.

I really like stacked spot welds on things that are going to be visible, as it looks Tigged, and gets lots of comments. The mix looks LOTS better than CO2 when doing this.

Steve

Heart surgery pending?

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Heart Surgery Survival Guide

Reply to
Steve B

You can do spray with 100% CO2, but you have to be using the right dual shield. So it may not be any cheaper.

Dan

Reply to
dcaster

240A 32V at torch (33V to 34V at power unit) 1.2mm wire (1.0mm also, but need 1.4X wire-feed-speed and stress the torch much more) Sttd low-carbon steel

Spray lovely

If remember rightly, was using Ar/20%CO2. Was heavy fab shop, so that sounds right.

Richard S

Reply to
Richard Smith

CO2 is a liquid in the bottle, and will always show ~950 PSI at room temperature, until all the liquid is gone, then the pressure plummets in about one minute.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Elson

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