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I recently installed the Smith argon flowmeter regulator that comes standard with my Millermatic 175. Because I had been using my old CO2 set-up, I had my old regulator with its questionable gauges. My Miller distributor gave me an adaptor that allows me to hook up the argon regulator to my CO2 bottle. (Yes, I will be converting over to argon mixtures soon anyway.) Here's the question. I am very familiar with the low and high pressure gauge set-ups on systems such as oxy-acetylene. But I am fairly new to using flowmeters on the low pressure side. I never had anything weird happen with the old gauges, but then again, I said they were questionable. After installing the new Smith regulator, it took quite a while before I could adjust it so that I could get 20-30 CFH while welding. When I stop welding, the gauge rises until the needle tops out against the bottom of the "bottoming-out" pin. I had to screw in the adjusting screw A LOT before I could even get it to maintain the 20-30 CFH while welding, even having to remove some kind of a built-in stop built into the adjusting screw. Is any of this normal?
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No this is not normal!!
Bring the regulator back to your distributor and have him get you a new one under warranty.
There was a bad batch of regulators that Smith gave us. Sounds like you got one.
Normally the gauge will fall a little while welding, but only about 2-5 cfh. If your needle is pegging, the high pressure side is bleeding into the low side.
Andy -
Yes, I replaced with new regulator and now everything operates just as I would expect.Comment
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new regulator now not flowing
Seems we have a regulator crisis at Miller. What with my first post and another user having another type of problem, I'm now less hesitant to bring this up. The new regulator that I got from my distributor worked great!! - For one day. The next day, it will flow no gas, zero, nadda, zip, regardless of the settings. I once again had to put my old set-up back on the machine to get back to work. Any ideas? Or just keep replacing them under warranty?Comment
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Mac,
It sounds like all the bad units may not have been purged from stock. I also had a few bad ones the last couple of months. The vendor was suppose to have fixed the problem. The last batch I got were fine. All I can say is sorry and try again. If it turns out bad again, I'll get a number for you to call to give someone a piece of your mind!
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