Frank: If you have an engine hoist, get an 8' nylon sling and arrange it in a double choker fashion and use the hoist to lift the bottles out of the car. Saves the back. Nothing wrong with using the 25' hoses, but for ease, add the necessary couplers and run the lightweight ones on the end of the regular hoses. Cyberweld probably has the best price these days. If you are careful, you might get through a fuselage with one tank of O2 and two tanks of acetylene, but I wouldn't bet on it if you don't gas weld regularly. No reason to skimp and possibly make a bad weld trying to save gas.
There will be some regulator changes with the longer hose setup, but once you are in the general pressure range, adjust as necessary for the correct flame and don't worry about the exact pressures.
I run either 100 or 145 cu/ft cylinders for acetylene, whatever is the maximum lease size for non-commercial customers and 300 cu/ft O2 bottles. The welding supply place borked my Argon/CO2 order and gave me a 330 cu/ft bottle and it won't fit on my MiG/TiG cart.
Careful about welding outside, as it won't take much of a breeze to move the flame and cool the joint you are working on. If needbe, get a couple of welding curtains and hang them on rack to make a complete wind break. It's easy to check and see if you have a breeze problem. Just light the acetylene and let it smoke a bit. If it rises straight up, no breeze.
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Originally Posted by CraigCantwell
