Welding Tips and Tricks

I have a portable cutting setup with 10 ft3 tanks of Oxygen and of acetylene. ( I think)

The acetylene pressure is down to about nothing, and I have about 1,000 pounds left in the oxygen tank.

Should I exchange just the acetylene? Or should I just go ahead and exchange the both of them?

I did mainly cutting with what I thought was a neutral flame. Is it normal to burn that much more acetylene than oxygen?

Thanks in advance!

I can't figure out what "10 ft3 tanks of Oxygen and of acetylene." means ?

John Chamorro wrote:I can't figure out what "10 ft3 tanks of Oxygen and of acetylene." means ?

Tanks are sized by the number of cubic feet of volume they contain.

10 ft3 is the normal way to write ten cubic feet.

Good answer! Good attitude! Good luck! Excellent 2nd post!

John Chamorro wrote:Good answer! Good attitude! Good luck! Excellent 2nd post!

I wish I could get a good answer. Are their actually any welders here?

I use a small bottle setup on my work truck. Unless I'm using the cutting head it's not uncommon to go through more than one full bottle of acetylene per oxy tank. I only change them out if my set pressures start to drop.

Poland308 wrote:I use a small bottle setup on my work truck. Unless I'm using the cutting head it's not uncommon to go through more than one full bottle of acetylene per oxy tank. I only change them out if my set pressures start to drop.

Thanks Josh. I may try that. With these small bottles I was not sure if it would be worth the trouble. But to save $$$
it's worth checking out.

Depending on where you live the cheapest place to change them out is at a local hvac or refrigeration supply house. They often don't charge a hazmat fee.

How far do you have to go to swap tanks? If its like 10 minutes away, just swap empties.

But 1000 psi is about 1/2 a bottle. No reason to change it out unless it's empty enough to effect your pressure setting on the secondary side.