Flow meter-mig/tig.

texas webb · Fri Apr 24, 2015 12:28 pm

Looking for suggestions on a flowmeter.I have a Hobart 140 mig and older Century ac/dc stick with a hi frequency tig box.The regulator for the mig leaks so I'm looking to buy a flowmeter that I can use for mix gas-mig and straight argon for the tig,one meter for both welders.Any advice on internet purchase(possably cheaper)from a good welding supply house?Knowing service after sale could be better locally.Thank ya'll.

Braehill · Fri Apr 24, 2015 1:47 pm

Tx Webb,
From working in a plant with hundreds of flow meters going all the time, I've become a fan of Smith (Now part of Miller's group), very reliable and well built. You can usually find half decent flow meters under the Weldmark label at a lot of indepentant welding supply stores. They are reasonablly priced and seem to hold up, not sure who makes them though. I prefer a float ball over a gauge but both work fine if they're well made.

Len

texas webb · Fri Apr 24, 2015 2:14 pm

Thanx,Len.

hey_allen · Fri Apr 24, 2015 4:22 pm

Just my $0.02, but if you have a service and repair shop anywhere nearby, you might price getting your reg fixed, or possibly buying a rebuilt one from them.

The shop that I had do my Oxy/fuel regulators had some ideas about being able to convert an inert pressure gauge to a flow meter gauge, but I ended up falling into a flow meter gauge with my TIG welder so I didn't follow up.

In my area, there are at least 3 that I know of, and one is a spin off from a chain of LWS in the area.

I've found good quality older Harris regulators on the Bay of E, among other brands, but as always you don't know the true condition going that route.

texas webb · Fri Apr 24, 2015 5:03 pm

hey alan,thanx.I did ask a couple welding dealers but was told it gets sent off 5-7 days and 50-80$.So I felt I'd get a flowmeter to use on either machine.

Fri Apr 24, 2015 8:00 pm

They're cheap on e-bay.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=we ... r&_sacat=0

Steve S

Graveyard · Wed Apr 29, 2015 2:12 pm

I recently purchased an HTP Dual Flow meter Regulator and it was around $110. Now i know you get what you pay for but i couldnt justify a $300 piece just to try a few things out with it. I purchased it in order to Back Purge. It is a medium quality regulator but so far I haven't had any issues with it. It comes with adaptors to run 2 machines or back purge like i'm doing. sounds like it might be a good place to start but if you are really in it for the long haul then you might want to spend a little extra. you can Google "HTP Dual Flow Meter Regulator" and it will come up.

Wed Apr 29, 2015 7:26 pm

Graveyard,

I built four "dual flowmeters" like that $110 unit, for a fraction of the cost.

Every TIG machine at my work has a dual flowmeter so we can back-purge and weld from one bottle.

It's cheap and easy.

Steve S

LtBadd · Wed Apr 29, 2015 8:42 pm

Otto Nobedder wrote:Graveyard,

I built four "dual flowmeters" like that $110 unit, for a fraction of the cost.

Every TIG machine at my work has a dual flowmeter so we can back-purge and weld from one bottle.

It's cheap and easy.

Steve S

Care to provide a BOM and description of the build? Thanks

Wed Apr 29, 2015 8:50 pm

The picture is on page 3 of this topic:

[EDIT---bad link]

I can dig for more, but it'd be easier to describe it.

Steve S

hey_allen · Thu Apr 30, 2015 1:26 pm

I was interested in seeing what you're talking about, but the link brings us back to the current thread, at least as it currently sits.

LtBadd · Thu Apr 30, 2015 8:53 pm

hey_allen wrote:I was interested in seeing what you're talking about, but the link brings us back to the current thread, at least as it currently sits.

I believe Steve is referring to the link for ebay, in his post which is #6 in this thread. He refers to page 3 (on ebay) however depending on how many items you have ebay to display per page, it may be on page two.

Thu Apr 30, 2015 10:32 pm

No. I got side tracked.

I posted several pictures of dual-flowmeters I scratch-built.

I'll try to find one now. We'll try this again... a picture on this topic:

http://forum.weldingtipsandtricks.com/v ... ter#p15067

Steve S

Thu Apr 30, 2015 10:37 pm

Somewhere here, I have a topic with more specific information.

Steve S

LtBadd · Thu Apr 30, 2015 10:39 pm

Otto Nobedder wrote:Somewhere here, I have a topic with more specific information.

Steve S

I can almost hear the digital pages being shuffled about...

Thu Apr 30, 2015 10:46 pm

Here's an old topic with a few details...

http://forum.weldingtipsandtricks.com/v ... +flowmeter

If you want to know more, it may be easier to ask...

Steve S

Graveyard · Fri May 01, 2015 9:01 am

Nicely done, I typically like to do things like this myself but with my work load currently and being a one man band i just wanted to get something and not worry about building one, but I am definitely going to look into this for future use.