size of argon/co cylinder

[V10man]

I'm ready to buy a cylinder and was wondering what size I should get. The price difference bewteen the 20 and 40 cu foot is not much. I really don't do a whole lot of welding but when I do I don't want to have to stop and go fill a cylinder. I'm leaning towards the 40cu foot. Along with this, I was wondering how long a argon/co mix stays good. I think I read on here that the gasses seperate in time. Will it last a year? 6 months? Less? There may be times where I don't do any welding for 6 months or more. Would the smaller 20cu foot cylinder be better in this case? Or... should I forget owning one and just lease one from a suplier? Thanks a bunch.

[river1]

i would go with a 40 or a 80 and get two of them. you will usually (murphy's law) run out in the evening or weekend and by having two you just change the tank and keep welding.

later jim

[big tuck]

i would get an 80 for sure

[cope]

80 minimum. Your Clarke is about the same size as the HH175. A 125 would not be too big, and in my area only costs about $5 more than an 80. Re-fills will not be that much more expensive either. The 125 is still small enough that you can move it around easily. I have an 80, but when I bought my 90/10 I went with the 125 and later I bought another C-25 in 125.

[Sundown]

I have to vote for an 80CF also.

[gde]

I'm with Cope on this one. I personally would go with the 125cu. I would not even bother with less than 80cu. Even if you don't do a whole lot of welding, it will be around for awhile assuming all of your connections are on tight and there are no leaks. My C25 is 125cu ft and I didn't have it tight when I got my MM210. Before I realized, I had lost a significant amount of gas through this careless error by means of a leak Live and learn.--Grant

[kekoakeakane]

I'd also go with the 125. The difference to refill the 125 vs the 80 is small which makes the 125 a better buy in the long run. Not to mention that once you go up from the 40 (which is useless unless you carry your welder in your car all the time) the inconvenience of moving the bottle is the same.

[Thomas Harris]

Check on the cost of future refills. The supplier here gives a huge break once you reach the "m" size tank. That is a lot of gas for hobby/occansional use though. Gas runs almost half the cost per unit as compared with the smaller cylinders.

[customwelds]

I kno this isn't what you asked but the topic about the MM210 made me think. A helpfull pointer my welding teacher gave us is to spray your gas connections(after hooked up) with soapy water such as Simple Green or Windex and watch for bubbles, if the water sits there and bubbles up, you need to either tighten the connection or take it off and make sure it was in straight. Maybe this will help someone.

[gde]

Yep, that's what I should've done. But in my haste to try out the machine, I neglected to do so. And, as a result, lost a good portion of gas. Sometimes I am just friggin' stupid.

[customwelds]

Not stupid, excited! I remembered to do that about halfway through building my cart when i got my new machine, luckily i probably only lost enough gas to get me 10 more welds out of the tank. And you guessed it, EVERY connection bubbled up some when i remembered. Thank goodness that i didn't have my cart built and I took the hole thing down when i moved it, or i would have lost a TON of gas overnite!

[Henro]

Yesterday I bought my argon cylinder. I choose a 150 cubic foot size. It cost me $180 full. Refills will be $28, this year at least.

It is not THAT heavy. I easily carried it from the car to the shop. Or should that be "easily?"

For me it was initial cost VS continuous cost. I hope I made the right move. I expect I will buy a smaller cylinder someday, so cover those times when the argon runs out in the middle of a projet. Time will tell.

I have voted on the side of "bigger is better..."

For what that is worth...

[Bevis]

I also bought a big tank wanna say 120 cubic foot maybe bigger..

[V10man]

Thanks guys. So a tank full of argon/co will last a yr if it just sits? It won't seperate?

[gde]

Si Senior. It will be fine. My father-in-law has 125cu hokked to his MM250 and I am the only one who uses it. It lasts a lot longer than a year without any problems. I only weld intermittantly with this as I have my own equipment. I wouldn't worry if I were you.---Grant