Quote Originally Posted by Blaze View Post
Ok. I sprayed soapy water all over the supply hose, regulator and house from machine to torch and torch and no bubbles formed. With argon flowing. I unplugged my welder and turned it on. How long before I can safely open it? And once open it how do I flow the gas to check for leaks or does the gas flow to a switch connect right behind the front panel and free flows to that point?
The Everlast guys typically say to give it 15-30 minutes. Still it's always a good idea to watch out for charged caps in equipment like this.

The last bottle was unable to weld aluminum, or just did it badly?

Since you mentioned that you thought the HF might be on all the time, you could try using lift start to see if it will even hold an arc without HF. That might help support figure out what you have going on, unless you just want to send the machine in.

Typically to find leaks, you will have to block the front of the gas cup so there is some pressure in the hose. The easy way is to watch your flowmeter when the end of the torch is plugged. With the solenoid open, the flow should drop to zero. If it doesn't, you have a leak.