Flow Meter Question

[Bozzza]

Ok so today i was playing around with my tig, I went to turn up the flow of gas i had the main valve of the bottle fully opened and the floew meter valve fully open i went to turn up the valve at the bobbin pin and no matter how much i turned it it seemed to stay at about 10psi/kpa(what ever its measuered in) so i checked for leaks didnt find none. So then i un screwed the gas hose that leads into the tig welder and turned the bobin pin low and high and it seemed to work fine so my question is, is there a sort of restriction for gas flow for my particular type of machine or do you maybe think there is a leak inside it somewhere?

Appreciate any help thanks, Steve


*Edit it welds fine no porosity or nothing but when the bottle gets to about 5000kpa it drops to about 8 flow rate is this normal i would of thought it would work fine till the bottle is pretty much empty

[DougAustinTX]

Sounds like a restriction somewhere in your gas solenoid or thereafter. Could even be a partial blockage in your stinger line. If you open up your flow valve at the bottle and hit the welder trigger (with the unit turned on) you should be able to get a lot more flow than 8 cfh even with the pressure dropping in the tank.

[Bozzza]

Yes that is the conclusion ive come to and it must be a blockage or a leak really because ive tested the bottle while not connected to the machine works perfect i was also thinking it might be the torch the actual cable that carries the gas to the torch is only about 2mm in diameter