Expensive Mistake

[couch67]

I forgot to shut off the gas on the mig welder last time I used it. It was a while ago, sometime in the spring. Annnnd, the hose connecting to the back of the welder was leaking a smidge. So, over a few months of time, I lost about a half bottle of argon mix.

After tightening up and leak testing the connection, I also turned the bottle around so the gauges face the front, so at least its more of a reminder for me to check periodically. I have no idea why I had the gauges facing backwards in the first place.

 

[racecougar]

Time for one of these.

 

[WillyBoy]

Interesting. I didn't know there was such a thing.

 

[matt_i]

Only the propane 20# bottle for the gas grill (etc) has the trilobe handle. It does **** to lose your welding gas but like with so many things in life, the lesson will be repeated until its learned.

 

[racecougar]

Only the propane 20# bottle for the gas grill (etc) has the trilobe handle.

Right. Buy the five-lobe one.

 

[rjacobs]

"expensive"???

A refill on an 80cf bottle(looks like what you have) is only like 30 bucks...

A refill of pure argon on my 300CF bottle was 100 bucks last week.

 

[Lassen Forge]

Make a checklist to post by the door tot he shop -

Welder off?
Breakers for equipment off?
Oxy/Acetylene tanks closed?
Welding tanks closed?
Windows secured?
Water off?
Main breaker off?

Etc etc etc...

Even put check boxes on it and hang a pen next to them. CHECK THEM and to them as you leave. 5 minutes can save you $$$$

Serious, as I got older and, um, forgot things, I did this. Nothing like going out to weld and finding yournew O2 tank drained the same way your Ar tank was. And your day is shot to run to the welding gas store.

 

[racecougar]

"expensive"???

A refill on an 80cf bottle(looks like what you have) is only like 30 bucks...

A refill of pure argon on my 300CF bottle was 100 bucks last week.

Prices are WILDLY different across the country. Here in STL, a 40cf is $71.

 

[aka Larry]

Mine (still) has a small leak as well, and after losing a WHOLE tank, I'm now sure to shut the valve after every use.

 

[Lassen Forge]

"expensive"???

A refill on an 80cf bottle(looks like what you have) is only like 30 bucks...

A refill of pure argon on my 300CF bottle was 100 bucks last week.

That $30 is a bundle of welding electrodes or ribs for the BBQ.
How many ribs you willing to throw away? Damn.

$100 is a tank of gas. How much gasoline you willing to pour on the ground just to say I don't care?

Damn. In a working environment you do **** like that and you get your paycheck early. That's MONEY out of your pocket.
How much free money you got? Damn, you got so much to throw away because it's trivial, send it MY way,

 

[mike93lx]

That $30 is a bundle of welding electrodes or ribs for the BBQ.
How many ribs you willing to throw away? Damn.

$100 is a tank of gas. How much gasoline you willing to pour on the ground just to say I don't care?

Damn. In a working environment you do **** like that and you get your paycheck early. That's MONEY out of your pocket.
How much free money you got? Damn, you got so much to throw away because it's trivial, send it MY way,

$30 is a mistake, Sure. Not calling it expensive doesn't mean someone wants to throw it away, though.

 

[Lassen Forge]

Hey, a mistake is a mistake, we hold our heads in our hands (Not THAT head, dude ) and remind ourselves not to do it again. F***, we've ALL done it, ya know....

It's when "Oh, it's only 30 bucks, no biggie" that gets me. Who has THAT kind of money to f*** off???

 

[rjacobs]

That $30 is a bundle of welding electrodes or ribs for the BBQ.
How many ribs you willing to throw away? Damn.

$100 is a tank of gas. How much gasoline you willing to pour on the ground just to say I don't care?

Damn. In a working environment you do **** like that and you get your paycheck early. That's MONEY out of your pocket.
How much free money you got? Damn, you got so much to throw away because it's trivial, send it MY way,

off the deep end much... geeze...maybe drink a little less coffee in the morning.

Expensive to me is $1000+ mistake... Sub $100 bucks..."that *****, time to move on with life"...

Currently building a SECOND full engine due to the original having a cracked block and the shop that built it ghosting me... This is a $4500 "mistake"....that I am getting no help with... "used block" and all that.

 

[rjacobs]

It's when "Oh, it's only 30 bucks, no biggie" that gets me. Who has THAT kind of money to f*** off???

lots of people do... $30-50 bucks these days barely gets you 4 meals at McDonalds...and nobody thinks twice about that.

I can also guarantee if you look at your finances you piss away 30-50 bucks on things that I would say "why are you spending money on that, thats really stupid way to spend money"... Theres a few thousand things that I have seen people buy that come to my mind... but they also think I am stupid for building and racing cars.

 

[mike93lx]

lots of people do...

I can also guarantee if you look at your finances you piss away 30-50 bucks on things that I would say "why are you spending money on that, thats really stupid way to spend money"... Theres a few thousand things that I have seen people buy that come to my mind... but they also think I am stupid for building and racing cars.

This.

$30 means a lot to a lot of people and nothing to others. I won't say I don't care about $30 but I am not losing any sleep over it either

 

[zimman]

I forgot to shut off the gas on the mig welder last time I used it. It was a while ago, sometime in the spring. Annnnd, the hose connecting to the back of the welder was leaking a smidge. So, over a few months of time, I lost about a half bottle of argon mix.

After tightening up and leak testing the connection, I also turned the bottle around so the gauges face the front, so at least its more of a reminder for me to check periodically. I have no idea why I had the gauges facing backwards in the first place.

Been there and done that. It was a sad day.
Zim

 

[LeeG]

I hang my welding helmet on the bottle, but only after turning it off. Gives me an easy visual reminder.

 

[tarmy]

Make a checklist to post by the door tot he shop -

Welder off?
Breakers for equipment off?
Oxy/Acetylene tanks closed?
Welding tanks closed?
Windows secured?
Water off?
Main breaker off?

Etc etc etc...

Even put check boxes on it and hang a pen next to them. CHECK THEM and to them as you leave. 5 minutes can save you $$$$

Serious, as I got older and, um, forgot things, I did this. Nothing like going out to weld and finding yournew O2 tank drained the same way your Ar tank was. And your day is shot to run to the welding gas store.

You forgot…no fires.

Happens all the time. Should weld with a fire extinguisher near by…and double check everything, like you note, and wait a bit to see if anything is smoldering from sparks…

 

[Snip's]

At quitting time at the shop after the guys left for home, I'd always walk back to the welding area and check the welding bottles...
Invariably, I'd find the valves not turned off and this also included the tank on the forklift...
Would bring this up to the guys... It'd work for a while and then I'd find some still open... So I'd end up having to do my double check...
I'd tell them the annual profit sharing check payout around Christmas was based on the company operating costs, so leaving the gas on was of course a factor in the payout...
I'd also walk around and shut off power to all of the main pieces of equipment, in an effort to hopefully isolate the power from any nearby lighting strikes... I couldn't afford to have my 90 ton press or 12' shear down for an electrical blow out...

 

[Mike65]

Make a checklist to post by the door tot he shop -

Welder off?
Breakers for equipment off?
Oxy/Acetylene tanks closed?
Welding tanks closed?
Windows secured?
Water off?
Main breaker off?

Etc etc etc...

Even put check boxes on it and hang a pen next to them. CHECK THEM and to them as you leave. 5 minutes can save you $$$$

Serious, as I got older and, um, forgot things, I did this. Nothing like going out to weld and finding yournew O2 tank drained the same way your Ar tank was. And your day is shot to run to the welding gas store.

That is what I did after to many times sitting in our living room & my wife saying is that the compressor running? I have the reminder note posted on the man door, so it is right in my face when leaving the garage.

 

[nadogail]

Wellcome to the”SADDER. But wiser Club “

 

[gorilla]

That $30 is a bundle of welding electrodes or ribs for the BBQ.
How many ribs you willing to throw away? Damn.

$100 is a tank of gas. How much gasoline you willing to pour on the ground just to say I don't care?

Damn. In a working environment you do **** like that and you get your paycheck early. That's MONEY out of your pocket.
How much free money you got? Damn, you got so much to throw away because it's trivial, send it MY way,

In a real working environment you would just put the spare bottle on and continue work. The real mistake was not repairing a leaky hose connection. Why would you fire a employee because of defective equipment?

 

[rmack898]

In a real working environment you would just put the spare bottle on and continue work. The real mistake was not repairing a leaky hose connection. Why would you fire an employee because of defective equipment?

No, the real mistake is when you grab the spare bottle and find that it never got refilled when it taken out of service and now it’s Saturday afternoon and you have a job that needs to go out the door first thing Monday morning and you’re out of gas.

 

[Daedalus]

I once did that with a new jug of R-12 on my AC machine, back when R-12 was about $1000/jug. I was a bit cross with myself.

 

[couch67]

thanks for the great tips. Yeah, gas pricing is ridiculous in canada. An 80cf bottle will run around $120 to refill/exchange. And there are very few places that offer this service. TSC used to provide exchange, but they pulled out of Canada a few years ago. Peavey mart took over most of the stores, and they too pulled out.

I'll have to shop around so I at least know where to buy/refill next time. The cost is not really a huge deal. I dont use a lot of gas - a bottle should last more than a few years - if I remember to turn the damn thing off!

 

[Sumboodie]

"expensive"???

A refill on an 80cf bottle(looks like what you have) is only like 30 bucks...

A refill of pure argon on my 300CF bottle was 100 bucks last week.

It's around $140 here for a 125 cu ft 75/25 fill.

 

[Sumboodie]

As far an getting fired over a $100 mistake... uh.. I'd hope not!
That's a cheap training moment.

 

[nadogail]

When I was still a young man several people that I knew ran Acetylene generators.
I don’t remember any of them running out of Acetylene. They did have to buy Carbide and occasionally clean the equipment.

 

[Old Man Roger]

Been welding since I was a teenager, even if I haven’t welded in weeks, if I’m any where in arms reach I always grab and twist.lol It‘s almost a reflex act.

 

[john.k]

Monday morning first job was go for four big gas cylinders.......bosses friends would use the workshop and leave cylinder valves on.........Oxy was about $100, actyln $200 ,mig gas over $ 100

 

[Lassen Forge]

In a real working environment you would just put the spare bottle on and continue work. The real mistake was not repairing a leaky hose connection. Why would you fire a employee because of defective equipment?

From the OP...

I forgot to shut off the gas on the mig welder last time I used it.

Forgetting to turn off the valve IS NOT defective equipment. First time you get a warning on paper, and yeah, because it was the employee's fault they left the valve open, the EE is responsible for his fuckup. Second time, he needs to go.

How about leaving the Acetylene tank open, the valve is cracked, drains the tank overnight until the heater kicks on.

Because in the "real working world" (like under the deck of a bridge, or out in the field in your service truck) you don't "just open a second tank" because you don't NEED a second tank. WE never had one.... and we did a **** of a lot of "real working world work".

That's Real Life work in REAL WORKING ENVIRONMENTS. You f*** up, you take responsibility for it.

 

[jmiller_2308]

Been there and done that. It was a sad day.
Zim

Yup, me too.

Been welding since I was a teenager, even if I haven’t welded in weeks, if I’m any where in arms reach I always grab and twist.lol It‘s almost a reflex act.

I developed that habit after I had my sad day.

 

[BobnCO]

.. It does **** to lose your welding gas but like with so many things in life, the lesson will be repeated until its learned.

I have tested this empirically and found it to be true!! (Made me laugh) I still have so many lessons!

 

[Old Man Roger]

Forgetting to turn off the valve IS NOT defective equipment. First time you get a warning on paper, and yeah, because it was the employee's fault they left the valve open, the EE is responsible for his fuckup. Second time, he needs to go.

How about leaving the Acetylene tank open, the valve is cracked, drains the tank overnight until the heater kicks on.

Because in the "real working world" (like under the deck of a bridge, or out in the field in your service truck) you don't "just open a second tank" because you don't NEED a second tank. WE never had one.... and we did a **** of a lot of "real working world work".

That's Real Life work in REAL WORKING ENVIRONMENTS. You f*** up, you take responsibility for it.

Back in the mid 80’s a Midas muffler shop in south Florida disappeared because someone left the acetylene on over night. They said you could feel the shockwave a mile away.

Always turn off your tank and hang your torch. Setting your torch down can accidentally open the acetylene nob.

 

[logical]

That $30 is a bundle of welding electrodes or ribs for the BBQ.
How many ribs you willing to throw away? Damn.

$100 is a tank of gas. How much gasoline you willing to pour on the ground just to say I don't care?

Damn. In a working environment you do **** like that and you get your paycheck early. That's MONEY out of your pocket.
How much free money you got? Damn, you got so much to throw away because it's trivial, send it MY way,

Really? Someone an ocean away has a slightly different opinion of how the word expensive was used and you feel the need to clutter the forum with a tirade like that? There's simply no value added to the forum for this nonsense. I've seen it destroy other forums.

 

[Lassen Forge]

Really? Someone an ocean away has a slightly different opinion of how the word expensive was used and you feel the need to clutter the forum with a tirade like that? There's simply no value added to the forum for this nonsense. I've seen it destroy other forums.

!5,000 posts between having my forge in NORTHERN CALIFORNIA for over a decade, and living in California working in industry since I was 20 or somewhat, moving here 5 years ago and YOU'RE telling ME I'm CLUTTERING THE FORUM with a TIRADE?
Sorry, but are you effing DAFT, man? (No need to answer - it's self evident!)

Sorry to the rest of the forum (and to Ryan et al) but man... That was ******* FUNNY.

 

[Ryan]

Watching two strangers claw at each other in a comment thread is like watching dogs fight over a bone nobody can eat. Total spectacle, zero payoff. Nobody's mind changes, nobody wins, everybody logs off angrier than they logged on, and still they line up to do it again the next day, fists swinging at ghosts. It's a hell of a way to burn a life.