Welding Tips and Tricks

I'm getting some mig welding equipment and I'm not sure what size tank to get. I'm a beginner, will be welding steel using mostly .030 wire. The welder won't see everyday use, but I don't want to run out of gas too quick either. I haven't found advice on what size tank to get when starting out. 20 seems small and 80 seems like it might be overkill. Any advice is appreciated.

I have a 125 cf tank I use on my Lincoln 210mp. I have gone through the small roll of wire it came with. Think it was a 1 or 2 lb roll. As well I have used up a 10 lb roll of .023 wire. My tank is about half full.

A lot depends on your tolerance for either spending money to buy a cylinder or spending money to rent/lease the bottle. A lot also depends on how the welding supply places in your area operate: it varies by region and you'll need to find out how things are done in your area.

You'll likely find that the 80 cf size is the minimum you'll need. Around here (Wash DC Metro) 80 cf is a customer-owned bottle, not a rental. In some places the 125 cf is a customer-owned bottle.

To widen your options you might consider co2 as your shielding gas. It's cheaper and works better on thicker steel, and may be an option for you if the buy/rent options are favorable.

azbird,
Welcome to the forum.

I agree that an 80CF cylinder should be the smallest to consider. You can pick them up new from right around $200 from your local welding supply. Most places will fill your cylinder but some just exchange it for a full one. Each has it's good and bad points. If they fill yours you will be in control of how the cylinder is maintained, but will also be the one responsible when it's due for retest. If they exchange it for a full one each time you may get a beat up old cylinder on occasion, but it's always within retest.

I would recommend that anybody who gets their own cylinder filled buy a cheap vacuum pump from Harbor Freight or the like and pull a vacuum on the cylinder every few fills. Sometimes the cylinder fill place will be able to do this for you if you're willing to leave the cylinder for a few days until they fill their larger cylinders. Just need to ask them. The main reason I don't recommend a smaller cylinder is every time it's emptied and filled without a vacuum being pulled on it, it increases the moisture in the gas, which leads to problems with the weld. Filling it less often is almost always a good thing.

Larger cylinders are almost always leased and that isn't always a bad thing either, again with having to have them retested and valves maintained, as well as the reduced price of the gas from purchasing a larger volume.

Hope this sheds a little light on the subject for you.

Len

Thank you all for your responses. You've saved me time, money, and heart burn : )

Usually, 125 cf is rental, 150cf is always customer owned. If you buy a bottle, NEVER let them swap you out with a printed neck ring bottle. ALWAYS demand a blank neck ring bottle... Even if it's an 80 or 60c.f. Etc.

soutthpaw wrote:Usually, 125 cf is rental, 150cf is always customer owned. If you buy a bottle, NEVER let them swap you out with a printed neck ring bottle. ALWAYS demand a blank neck ring bottle... Even if it's an 80 or 60c.f. Etc.

How come?

Depends on the area you live in. Some companies don't like to have to deal with the small tanks. Where I live I can rent or lease or buy any size I want. If I take it back to the place I bought it then they just trade me out for a full tank. They have on record what tanks I own.