Flow gauge question

[Bomber94]

I broke the flow gauge on my Millermatic 210. The local dealer sold me a Praxair gauge that measures PSI and said it would work. I don't understand how pounds per square inch equates to the cubic feet per hour on my original gauge. Can anyone comment on how this can work?

[dyn88]

ive never seen one like that before. sorry

[Wayne]

It will work but you will waste a lot of gas. With a true flowmeter you will save enough on gas to pay for the flowmeter.
Wayne

[Tanner]

ok, right now he has a regulator that measures PSI, like an oxy/ace regulator. He's wondering how to set it up like his old Flowmeter, which did CFH, if I'm reading the question right.

[hankj]

Actually, there is no conversion that I'm aware of. PSIG (pounds per square inch guage) and SCFH (standard cubic feet per hour) are two obviously different animals. Pressure and flow don't equate.

I'd set it up by sound. If you recall how loud the "hiss" was from your gun with the old unit, try to duplicate it with the new regulator. Keep cutting it down until you see porosityt in your welds, then bump it up a tad.

Just a thought: did you try to repair the busted flowmeter?

Good luck.

Hank

[glockdoc]

A flow gage is basically a standard regulator with a small hole/port attached to the output side, I believe around 40 thou. The flow indication gage is nothing more than a pressure gage that has been calibrated to CFH with the 40 thou port to produce certain flows depending on the pressure setting of the reg. You should be able to take the fitting with the 40 thou hole and the gage that's calibrated to CFH and attach them to any reg on your bench and make a flow gage out of it. If you have a standard psi gage now, one way to calibrate it would be to temporarily piggyback a spare flowmeter (ball and tube) unit downstream. Otherwise, the best way is what hankj described, keep turning down the psi until the weld becomes bad and record the psi along with the cup/tung size. You will need to do this for several different setups. hope this helps

[Bomber94]

I knew I'd get some good answers from this gang. Thanks for the responses.

[migmaniac70]

If it's still under warranty send it in for a new one.

[Leons2003]

My rig has a dial guage that is calibrated to CFH, I believe I would return the PSI guage for the CFH, this is if your not going to get a regular flow meter.
Good luck
L*S

[hankj]

leon,

If you look at GLocDoc's post, you'll see that the issue is not so much the guage but the fitting with the orfice drilled in it. I have an old Victor (calibrated in SCFH) that had the wrong fitting for my hose in the output port, so I replaced it with a straight 1/4" fitting and gas screamed out of the gun, the regulator was singing, and all sorts of stuff. I adjusted it by ear to where it sounded like the MIG gun did on the old flow-meter and kept cutting back 'till I saw weld porosity, then gave it a bump. I checked the guage last night - 2 PSI!!

Hank

[Leons2003]

leon,

If you look at GLocDoc's post, you'll see that the issue is not so much the guage but the fitting with the orfice drilled in it. I have an old Victor (calibrated in SCFH) that had the wrong fitting for my hose in the output port, so I replaced it with a straight 1/4" fitting and gas screamed out of the gun, the regulator was singing, and all sorts of stuff. I adjusted it by ear to where it sounded like the MIG gun did on the old flow-meter and kept cutting back 'till I saw weld porosity, then gave it a bump. I checked the guage last night - 2 PSI!!

Hank

Yes Sir I dumbed it,looks as if I didn't finish my reply. I ment to add that the face of the guage indicates "Argon use .032 orifice", which is pretty much what GlockDoc indicated. This instrument came from Miller w/my trusty Econotig.
Have a good day
Leon

[Rocky D]

Just to reiterate, a flow gauge and a flowmeter are two different animals...the beauty of a flowmeter, is you can see the flow by the ball...flowgauges don't.