swapping guages on an Argon regulator

[racinjason44]

Question for you guys: I have two argon regulators. One leaks, the other doesn't. I like the pressure gauge on the one that leaks better than the one that does not. Obviously this gauge sees a lot of pressure. Is this something I can swap myself or should I just run it as is?

[walker]

Swap 'em! just use a little teflon tape. Where does the reg leak out of? If it is just a fitting then remove it clean it and retape it and reinstall it.

[racinjason44]

Originally Posted by walker

Swap 'em! just use a little teflon tape. Where does the reg leak out of? If it is just a fitting then remove it clean it and retape it and reinstall it.

Thanks! The regulator leaks out of the pipe fitting that go into the main body of the regulator.

[DSW]

You can unscrew that fitting, add some tef tape and reseat it. It's brass so it won't take gorilla force or you will break it or F up the reg. Thats a strange place for a reg to start to leak however, unless you dropped it or knocked over the tank with the reg attached. If thats the case, I'd expect when you try to remove the stem, it will snap as it may already be cracked. If it's damaged you can just get a new stem from the LWS and replace it.

Usually a leaky reg is a sign of a high pressure seat failure. Many regs are designed to leak at the back or sides if they see pressures over a given amount as a safety precaution. If so you'd need to rebuild the reg, or just scrap it.

[racinjason44]

Originally Posted by DSW

You can unscrew that fitting, add some tef tape and reseat it. It's brass so it won't take gorilla force or you will break it or F up the reg. Thats a strange place for a reg to start to leak however, unless you dropped it or knocked over the tank with the reg attached. If thats the case, I'd expect when you try to remove the stem, it will snap as it may already be cracked. If it's damaged you can just get a new stem from the LWS and replace it.

Usually a leaky reg is a sign of a high pressure seat failure. Many regs are designed to leak at the back or sides if they see pressures over a given amount as a safety precaution. If so you'd need to rebuild the reg, or just scrap it.

Thanks for the input. I have had the reg since new and it's never been damaged. I did try to tighten it up once, but it seemed quite snug already. I am just hesitant to mess too much with stuff on the high pressure side of regulators and valves. Thank you though!

[ibanezed4yrs]

yeah.. those things are actually kinda tuff to unscrew since you hafta' do it by the seat.. if it's stuck, you'll twist like hell 'till you screw it up.. if it comes off, then yeah.. teflon.. no pipe dope..

[Stick-man]

Best way to unscrew it is with a ratchet and a 6 point socket. If it does snap off don't throw it away, try to use an easy out to get it out.

[ibanezed4yrs]

or scrrew it.. use the other one.. lol..