Welding Gas Dryer -DIY using Simple parts

just got an email from Justin over at OverkillRaceCars.com
letting me know that Harbor Freight has a very inexpensive air dryer for paint guns and it pretty much does the same thing as the one I made (except maybe for less capacity of desiccant)

Harbor Freight Dryer item #68215...Right now (4-14-2012) its only about 8 bucks.

I would put the link here but they change them too often for me to keep up ...

So Just go to Harborfreight.com and search for 68215 if you want to check it out. Here is the Link to the Harbor Freight Dryer...Right now (4-14-2012) its only about 8 bucks. Can Welding gas get moisture in it?

Most people are aware of the need for dry air for painting, plasma cutting etc.

But not everyone knows that moisture content in argon shielding gas is a problem too.

I worked a job about 30 years ago where the argon manifold system got moisture in it.

Stainless welds were turning black.

There was a whole day where welding was just not permitted.

So What was the fix?

A welding gas dryer. The welding coordinator order a crap ton of gas dryers canisters filled with desiccant.

clear canisters filled with blue desiccant that turned pink when it was saturated with moisture.

and they worked like crazy.

Stainless pipe welds that were turning grey and black returned to normal peacock colors...and you could watch the blue desiccant turn pink as the day progressed.

But even with the moisture issue, it was months before the welding gas dryer desiccant turned completely pink and needed replenishing with fresh desiccant.

I logged that memory away until today. When I feel the need to share the info with you.

I get emails all the time from folks who are setting up a small tig welding area in their garage. The complaints are usually about welding gas not working as well as it should.

Things are working fairly well...but Something is not quite right.

I am not sure why but it seems that the owner size cylinders are the culprits in most cases.

My theory is that owners cylinders just dont get as much attention as the leased cylinders.

The owners cylinders dont have to be tested as often...and are more likely to be run completely empty and then just topped off instead of being vacuum filled.

thats my theory anyway. all I know is that I get lots of emails from folks who either got the wrong gas, or bad gas. I have around 6 or 7 owner size cylinders myself and have a few issues too.

One issue I have is whiskers on my tungsten.

According to the textbooks, whiskers on the tip of a tungsten electrode is a symptom of moisture in the welding gas.

So how can you fix that?

Well, a Welding gas dryer is a pretty easy fix.

So this weeks video is about how to go about making your own welding gas dryer unit using off the shelf components on the cheap.

exit welding gas dryer page and see more tig welding videos