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View Full Version : How much Argon left in cylinder?



matt_o
28th Nov 2007, 08:55 AM
I have a bottle of Supagas Argon52 (E size I think) but I dont have a guage to tell me how much is left. Is there a way of telling without buying a guage?

wheelinround
28th Nov 2007, 09:25 AM
weigh it

Stringy
28th Nov 2007, 10:00 AM
Borrow a gauge

glock40sw
28th Nov 2007, 10:43 AM
Borrow a gauge
Ditto

silentC
28th Nov 2007, 10:50 AM
Not sure if this works for Argon, but with LPG you can pour hot water on the side of the bottle and then feel the bottle with your hand. Where it changes from warm to cold is where the level is.

Alastair
28th Nov 2007, 11:05 AM
Hi Darren

No won't work with argon. LPG condenses into a liquid under pressure, (hence Liquefied pet gas), and you then can feel the interface between the liquid and the headspace. Argon remains a gas at pressures well in excess to cylinder pressures, so no interface. Likewise the old "shake test" won't work for the same reason.

Only answer is get a pressure guage, or wait for it to run out. Weighing it could help, if you have an accurate and sensitive scale, but you would have to know what the exact weight was when it was full, (or empty) to tell. While compressed gas does have weight, it isn't very much.

regards

silentC
28th Nov 2007, 11:21 AM
Yeah it was a long shot. I only thought of it because the latest gas bill is on my desk and there's instructions as per above on the back!

It's now over $100 for a 45kg bottle :~

Rossluck
28th Nov 2007, 04:15 PM
You can get a fair idea from picking up the cylinder. They feel empty when they're low, and it takes a little while for the gas to run out when you're welding. You find yourself turning up the pressure to get the right flow.

Grahame Collins
28th Nov 2007, 06:00 PM
Hi Matt

Full or nearly empty the cylinder is of little use to you unless you you have a cylinder gauge.

The gauge apart from the the obvious function of indicating cylinder pressure also reduces cylinder pressure from 20.000 KPa to a lower usable pressure by the flow meter.

Testing the weight by lifting and guessing the weight may be alright if you do this all the time.It sounds like the cylinder is new to you so you may not know what full weight feels like.I use my cylinders intermittently and even I don't think I can judge what is empty

You can pay up to a $100 or so for a decent cylinder gauge depending on quality.

Grahame