Thread: gas turning off

alright other than hitting myself repeatedly on back of head has anyone come up with an idiot proof system of turning the gas off when you finish welding
.
my problem is if i get interrupted when welding(mig) i can and do walk away from after tuning power off thinking ill come back and start welding again (and don't) forgetting ive left bottle open until go to weld again no gas
i don't weld every day and its easy to see if you've left the power on not so easy to see gas bottle open or not
anyway thought i'd share my idiocy

Originally Posted by fubar

alright other than hitting myself repeatedly on back of head has anyone come up with an idiot proof system of turning the gas off when you finish welding
.
my problem is if i get interrupted when welding(mig) i can and do walk away from after tuning power off thinking ill come back and start welding again (and don't) forgetting ive left bottle open until go to weld again no gas
i don't weld every day and its easy to see if you've left the power on not so easy to see gas bottle open or not
anyway thought i'd share my idiocy

It's something I think about a lot. The solution, that is. There must be someone out there capable of inventing an auto shut-off if gas isn't drawn for 5 minutes or something.

My next best solution was offered to me by my brother in law: whenever you take your welding helmet off, turn off the gas and hang your helmet on the regulator. This generally works for me, except for those accasions when you unconsiously put the helmet down in concentrating on something else.

Just about every mig on the market has an inbuilt solenoid that opens when you press the trigger. If your bottle is going empty whilst is is left unattended, maybe you need to look at the hose and regulator for leaks.

Mine doesn't leak, in fact when I come back to it after a period of time it will still be pressurised, mind you I replaced the hose from the regulator to the machine with a good quality one as the original did leak through the hose itself.

Originally Posted by DJ's Timber

Just about every mig on the market has an inbuilt solenoid that opens when you press the trigger. If your bottle is going empty whilst is is left unattended, maybe you need to look at the hose and regulator for leaks.

Mine doesn't leak, in fact when I come back to it after a period of time it will still be pressurised, mind you I replaced the hose from the regulator to the machine with a good quality one as the original did leak through the hose itself.

I dunno about that, DJ, I reckon they all leak; it's just a matter of how quickly. I don't even trust the solenoids. I'm forever hunting down leaks on mine. I once got up at 2 M and walked the hundred metres to my shed because I thought I'd left the gas on. It's so damned expensive these days.

As DJ said smething is wrong somewhere, I have inadvertantly left the gas on for over a month, and not lost any gas

Originally Posted by China

As DJ said smething is wrong somewhere, I have inadvertantly left the gas on for over a month, and not lost any gas

there was a leak in hose bugger thanks for the tip re hanging helmet on reg will try that as well

there was a leak in hose bugger thanks for the tip re hanging helmet on reg will try that as well

Over the years I have lost heaps of gas through stupidity. I remember loosing a nearly full G size bottle oxygen years ago. That Hurt!!!
Many years ago (1970's) when we did gas welding at TAFE as part of the carpentry course, the lecturer used to kick us in the backside if we didn't shut off the valves after turning the torch off.

I will try to get into the helmet on reg thing as well.

I just use gasless wire on my mig ,for the amount I use it gas is a waste of money , well not the gas but the lease on the bottle is what I meant.

Kev.