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Welding Gas / Cylinder from Amazon

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brownbagg

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Mar 20, 2006
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dont buy new tanks, they dont fill tanks, just swap them out, so first fill your new tanks are gone and somebody else will get them
 
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rlitman

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Retlaw 66 said:
A 55cf for $82.95 (+ shipping) on eBay.
Note it does not have a steel cap over the valve...
Click to expand...

Very few cylinders below 80CF have protective caps. The weight of these smaller cylinders arn't considered to be heavy enough to damage the valve in an accident.
 
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rpcraft

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I was close to buying but then I talked to my local Praxair right down the road from me and they just had me create an account and charge me a yearly deposit of about 120 bucks (or maybe it was 150) and then I just take the empty tank back and exchange it for a filled one and pay for the gas, which is just around 45 bucks per refill...
 
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Lwel9226

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Jun 7, 2014
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So Oregon
Yearly deposit $120.00 X 20 years = $2400.00 total....
Buy the cylinder, one time charge approx. $220.00 X 20 years = $220.00 total..

I own several cyls... Oxy., Acet., Argon, Argon mix, Nitrogen.... and all they cost to
refill is the price of the gas plus an occasional recertification.... NO yearly rent....

LynnW
 
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Wanna Ride

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brownbagg said:
dont buy new tanks, they dont fill tanks, just swap them out, so first fill your new tanks are gone and somebody else will get them
Click to expand...

This^^. At least at our local Airgas store. I never rent any of my tanks, I buy them all. Take home a full bottle, empty it, return t, get a different one, repeat. Costs a little more upfront, but the only charges after that, are for the cost of the gas refill (actually a full bottle in replacement).

Same process as a propane tank at Home Depot, Menards, etc.
 
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rpcraft

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True but in my case I needed a tank that day when I needed it. I will probably buy one when time and money allow. I'm in the process of tooling up my garage to work on personal projects so sometimes I gotta do the short term dollar saving effort, lol.
 
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rpcraft

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Wanna Ride said:
This^^. At least at our local Airgas store.
Click to expand...

I had wondered about that as well. They told me I would have to drop it off and pick it up later for a tank I owned so for me the idea of being able to drop and exchange on short notice had it's appeal.
 
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Wanna Ride

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rpcraft said:
I was close to buying but then I talked to my local Praxair right down the road from me and they just had me create an account and charge me a yearly deposit of about 120 bucks (or maybe it was 150) and then I just take the empty tank back and exchange it for a filled one and pay for the gas, which is just around 45 bucks per refill...
Click to expand...

But if you buy the bottle, then you don’t have that yearly fee. My argon mix bottles were like $200 each the first time, then only about $45 to swap out with a fresh/full one. My acetylene/oxygen bottles were about the same.
 
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Wanna Ride

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rpcraft said:
I had wondered about that as well. They told me I would have to drop it off and pick it up later for a tank I owned so for me the idea of being able to drop and exchange on short notice had it's appeal.
Click to expand...

I’m guessing it had to be because of inventory and they were just out of that size and/or gas at that time, that day. I’ve been in many times over the years, to swap out a bottle, and was in and out in less than ten minutes.
 
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kazlx

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Oct 30, 2012
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Tustin, CA
Find the biggest bottle you can. They take up basically the same foot print and a larger one is drastically cheaper volume wise to fill. Especially if you are just going to throw it on a cart with a welder.

Also, around here, they will most definitely fill your own bottle if you want to wait. If you don't care, they just swap it. The benefit of swapping is you always get a current bottle and don't have to worry about the testing dates.
 
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laser3kw

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Nov 17, 2012
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northen IL
brownbagg said:
dont buy new tanks, they dont fill tanks, just swap them out, so first fill your new tanks are gone and somebody else will get them
Click to expand...
swapping them out is not a problem. You always get another cylinder that is within certification. These cylinders have a long life. Back when I filled, it was not uncommon to see cylinders with original test cert dating back to the early part of the 20th century,1908 I believe was the earliest I saw.
But, some people want "their" new cylinder and that's just fine. Most gas supplier will make special arrangement to send your cylinder through, fill it and get it back to you. That amount of time varies. The Airgas I worked for ran their shuttles to the outlying branches weekly. So depending on whether they were delivering it to you or you were picking it up could be anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks.
 
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weldtoride

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Jan 27, 2013
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Somewhere between Milwaukee and Chicago
kazlx said:
......just swap it. The benefit of swapping is you always get a current bottle and don't have to worry about the testing dates.
Click to expand...

Ditto that.

I've traded or bought all my bottles on the secondary market, some were out of test. My experience over 40 years of owning is that that the guy on the dock never looks at dates... so you're good to go if just swapping. Every bottle needs periodic testing. Cost of testing is likely just absorbed as cost of doing business.

The guy eventually filling them has to look, tho....

So if you want your very own bottle refilled, likely they will look at dates more closely.

As far as used bottles go, I've also traded apples for oranges and paid the difference... like trading an acetylene for a shielding gas, or trading up to a bigger oxygen, etc.
 
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BD1

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Mar 18, 2007
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north side
Check local suppliers on their refill or exchange policy. I bought mine local and it's so much easier. I do have a dedicated 125 owner tank, NO markings on tank neck where cap goes.
I call first to see if supplier has another owner one to exchange with. Has worked fine so far.
 
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WunTon

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Jun 22, 2018
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339
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My house in Purcellville VA
I spent about 30 minutes calling around to my local LWS and Gas suppliers and found that Roberts ($260 for the tank and $105 to fill) and Airgas $265 for the tank and $80 to fill) were ridiculously overpriced at least in respect to what others are offering in my area. Arc3 was $245 plus $45 for the fill with $45 fill ups and Matheson was $205 for the tank with the first fill free and $60 to fill after. So I went to Matheson and when I was there in person I was able to walk out in about 10 minutes with a full 80ft tank that own for an even better price of $196 otd. Since I own it I can now take it right next door to Arc3 and get the $45 fill up.

Calling around to get pricing is easy to do and can save you some real money. Buying a tank online was not the cheaper option for me although I figured it would be so call around and see what you can find.
 
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TommyK

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CT
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