No flow indicated on MIG gas?

Maker Talk Dumb Questions Invited
1

Hi guys -

Did some welding practice today and hope it’s ok to keep sending a few newbie questions. Thanks for the answers so far Ethan and Chase!

When I opened the gas valve (1-2 turns) for the MIG welder, the flow ball shot up way higher than the arrow, and then settled back down at zero and never moved again, even when I opened / closed the bottle a few times.

The tank overall wasn’t empty. I didn’t want to mess with the flow or any valves I didn’t understand.

I was still able to weld just fine (yay!), and I closed the tank when I was finished, but I’m not sure about the flow indicator and why it just sat at zero after spiking after I opened the tank a turn.

Any advice or tips or thoughts appreciated!

Thanks!
Billy
PS-I’ve not gone to a metal shop yet and have been using the scrap to practice. I’ll be happy to resupply some scrap once I figure out how to get some!

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2

The regulator was shut off for some reason before you got there. Users only need to open or close the tank. The regulator controls how much flow is coming out of the tank. There is an arrow for indicating the normal flow rate on the sight glass. The user would pull the trigger to set the flow rate. The ball is suspended in the air by the flow of gas under the ball. The rate is about 17 cfm.

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No need to worry about resupplying scrap. That’s what it’s there for, and we’re accumulating more than we want/need anyway.

4

Oh, super. Thanks for the responses guys. Sounds good.

I assume it’s still safe to weld if the regulator is off for some reason (so I won’t worry about it) - but if I should do anything else in those situations besides post to discourse, let me know!

Billy

5

You definitely won’t get decent welds without gas flow. Always make sure you have gas flowing.

6

OK, thanks James. (I’m not sure how I got decent welds though!)

Let me know if there’s something I can/should try in the future if the ball is stuck on zero.

Billy

7

If you weld without a shield gas. You will get tiny bubbles called porosity. You also don’t get good weld penetration.

8

I love that I get to learn about important aspects of welding here to someday add to my hands-on learning when I finally have time to take a welding class (it’s gonna be this year @jamesfreeman, for real this time!).

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