Welding Gas - Can anyone help? :D

[Sparticus]

Hi everyone,


I am unable to continue working on Merlin due to running out of gas! Why not go and buy some more, i hear you ask!
The bottle was given to me by a friend of a friend, who is no longer available to contact. I'm now left in the situation were I have no idea where to get hold of some gas, preferable C02 and Argon!

I live near Diss, Norfolk, and was hoping someone might be able to point me in the direction of a supplier!

Thanks community !

[MorrisMinor-65-1000]

If it's the little bottles with the screw on regulators, I get mine from Halfords or Machine Mart - about £14-£15.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_255210

Halfords deliver if you can't to a machine mart.

[tysonn]

You wont get argon/co2 mix without paying at least £100 for a non rental bottle from the likes of WELDUK.Probably best taking up drinking heavily(if you don't already)and getting friendly with a pub landlord who will let you swap your empty for a full bottle of co2 for around £20.

[MechanicMichael]

I used to have refillable bottles when building a kit car. Ran both out, went to get refilled and no they won't refill.

I have had Co2 mix, but all my latest disposable ones are just CO2.

I got my last one at toolstation. No issues and it's just CO2. They say argon is for aluminium.

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Power+T ... 666/p89126

[tysonn]

CO2/argon mix gives a better weld for steel.Pure Argon is for TIG.CO2 is fine though for steel.If you mean the little canisters from Toolstation they work out very expensive.There's very little gas in them unless you only have a small amount of welding to do.

[pauly45]

This is a similar situation I will be in when my pub CO2 bottle runs out, and is something I have been looking into.
No-one will re-fill a pub bottle that I can find.
I haven't found any cheap-cheap options, but these seem like a reasonably priced option.

http://www.hobbyweld.co.uk/

They do a variety of gas blends for different applications. http://www.hobbyweld.co.uk/default.php?page=59

The nearest stockist to Diss, however, is in Stowmarket.

When I enquired at my local branch in November last year (2013), I was told:

"The bottle deposit for a bottle of Hobby weld 5 is £60.00 (no VAT). This deposit is per bottle.
If you return the bottle and do not require a re-fill, the deposit is partially refundable.
You would receive a refund of £50.00.
The cost of the gas itself is £29.99 + VAT. This would be all you need to pay each time you bring the bottle back and require another."

So basically, if you wanted one bottle of gas that you would return after use, it would be £60 for the bottle + £35.99 for the gas up front. When done, return the bottle and get £50 back - so £45.99 for one gas bottles worth.

I think the bottles are in the order of 13cm diameter by 60cm tall - but this is a memory recollection of when I saw them at a car show.

[bmcecosse]

Very acceptable welding is possible with 'gasless' wire in the MIG. Give it a try! It's MUCH less expensive than normal wire + gas. I use the gasless wire where it won't be 'seen' ...... And even then - once the grinder has done it's work - it looks fine !

[MorrisMinor-65-1000]

Very acceptable welding is possible with 'gasless' wire in the MIG. Give it a try! It's MUCH less expensive than normal wire + gas. I use the gasless wire where it won't be 'seen' ......

^^ I agree with BMC. You get a fair bit more slag and spatter (as you'd expect) but most of the unwanted flecks of weld come away when you rub it over with a wire brush. If it isn't in sight, it's reasonably acceptable.

My preference is still for gas though. If it's a tricky little corner, you can see what's going on a lot better without having to rub it all back every 30 secs.

[chickenjohn]

Don't go gassless, it is not so good on thin car bodywork. espeically if you are used to gas. Plus you need a welder capable of using the horrid flux cored gassless wire. Won't work on a gas mig as you need to swap polarity among other things,

The solution to your gas worries is Adams gas, they have stockists around the country and a CO2 refill is £22, deposit requred and no rental! http://www.adamsgas.co.uk/

Luckily for me, the main Adams gas place is in my home town.

[volrod544]

what make is your gas bottle?
Pete

[tysonn]

According to the Adams gas supplier finder theres one in Kings Lynn.

[les]

'Out of sight out of mind'---- tell that to Michaelangelo !

[tysonn]

Eh?

[kevin s]

Hobby weld are similar in price to adams and have loads of distributors as well, my co2 was about 50 pounds for the first bottle and 27 for a refil.

[bmcecosse]

How long (welding time) does a bottle last? Incidentally -I found the gasless wire much easier to weld with - and it gave some perfectly good/strong welds once I got the hang of it. I didn't reverse the polarity - ahving sounded around various sources and found that - although often advised - it really isn't necessary.

[MorrisMinor-65-1000]

How long (welding time) does a bottle last? .

I had enough to weld up three smallish square patches in my Rover's floor, and two Minor inner rear wheel arches and a boot floor, which I had fabricated in sections, so the amount on linear distance that I had to weld around all of the sections was easily three times what you'd have with one-piece with prefabbed panels.

There's a golden line between frugality and effective shielding with gas, and the regulators aren't very sensitive - if you have numbers on yours, they're meaningless. On mine, it doesn't really send any gas out at all till about position 3 and is at full chat by 4, so I listened to the end of the torch (with the welder off) and moved the regulator knob by microns at a time to get the right level for me. Was quite pleased at how long it lasted really. A good month or more of solid work cutting, shaping and welding panels every weekend.

[bmcecosse]

That sounds good for the money! Certainly MUCH MUCH longer than the money would buy in small disposable cylinders from Hellfrauds!

[bigjim]

weld uk exchanges brewers bottles they are in pinxton notts just off j28 m1 and they do mail order

[bmcecosse]

Any idea how much ??

[kevin s]

I am on my third hobby gas co2 bottle, you can take a look at my restoration thread to see how far that has gone, also used one 5kg reel of wire in the same time. It is worth getting a flow meter for about a tenner, saves wasting a lot of gas.

Kevin.