Welding gas

[Tony]

Keith are you using CO2 pubgas?

I see Hobbyweld are doing rent free £50+VAT deposit on 9.5l bottles, and will fill at £30+VAT with a tri-mix equivalent to Argoshield @ 137 bar (1300 litres).  Much cheaper than those Machine Mart disposables.

[K.H]

Yes pub gas,ive never tried anything else,i wonder if my welding would be better?

[Tony]

Out of interest, how much does a refill cost you?  Do you know the pressure and cylinder volume?

[K.H]

Cant really help i just ask the landlord to swap me one,i do a fair bit of work for him so i dont usually pay.
I was thinking of giving these a try if i moved away from CO2

http://www.adamsgas.co.uk/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=54

[Tony]

From what I understand using Argon with 5% CO2 is good for thin work but Argon with 15-20% CO2 is for greater penetration on thicker steel (5-6mm plus), and it's the extra CO2 that gives the extra penetration.

This was the company I was thinking of locally to me:

http://www.wellyweld.com/products/hobbyweld-5-gas-fill-charge-72531.aspx

Same sort of charges as the one you linked.

Apparently the tri-mix with 2% Oxygen makes it equivalent to BOCs expensive Argoshield.

However, if CO2 is good enough maybe I should just get a pub CO2 cylinder?

With your pure CO2 do you get deep penetration but also a fair bit of spatter?

[K.H]

The CO2 is fine with what i do,it does spit a bit but the ease of replenishing makes up for that.
Not having used any other type of gas i suppose i haven't got anything to compare to but a lot of people just use CO2 and find it OK.

[Tony]

My dad swears by it... but equally, my mate that builds boats swears at it, and says I should use the proper stuff!

[Tony]

I've decided to be a good boy and got one of the Hobbyweld tanks of Argon + 5% CO2 and 2% Oxygen.
Currently on a borrowed regulator but one of my own is on order