Not an Everlast, but I still need help...

Haven't upgraded my MIG to an Everlast yet, we'll see how this winter goes, but in the meantime, my little handler 125 Hobart needs some doctoring. The cable sheath slipped down and I inadvertently arced the liner, causing the argon hose to melt. Are there any specific requirements of this hose to handle the gas, or can I pick up some (looks like 1/8 or 3/16) clear tube from Ace? Liner may be salvageable, not sure, but I may be able to just cut the last 3" off of it for now if the strike spot is an issue. Tight budget and whatnot.

Vinyl tubing will outgas a little at first but only when it's brand new. I've used all kinds of tubing for argon and as long as the pressure is low, almost anything will work. Depending on the fittings, some of that is oddball metric tubing. My little MIG has metric push in fittings and it I finally had to go to a big industrial hardware store to get the right size tubing to fit.

Appreciate the info! Something hit me a few minutes after I posted, as the strike is just behind the torch, and I may cut the liner down, I may be able to cut it back 6" from the end and reuse the tube as well. The lead is short to begin with and not something I'd like to do, it may get me through and work well enough (and certainly cheap enough) as the tube looks like it melted between the strike and fitting within the body, didn't appear to melt back in the sheath at all.

What a pain in the rear...

Took the machine apart tonight, didn't realize that the liner went so far into the gun, had to cut a foot off. Does look like someone fell asleep at the factory and forgot to secure the gun end of the cover though, allowing it to slip back.

So, I'll shorten the whole thing and run with it for now I suppose.

http://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-K3...5D6696E53E.JPG