What to do:Lease or buy gas cylinder.

[Mark @ Everlast]

I will also tell you, you will hardly ever, find your self saying: Gee, I wished I'd gone for the smaller bottle so I can pay more per cubic foot of gas....Unless you have a portable business and moving bottles in and out is a chore( but then I'd rather lift a little more a lot less often myself). Or you have some disability that would prevent you from handling a large cylinder.

 

[dstig1]

I just went through this. The LWS would sell 80cf bottles, max. That looked pretty small to me. The next step up was 126cf which seems like a good size, but they are lease only from that size and larger. They offered a "lifetime lease" on this bottle (in addition to shorter terms) that I took. It was only a few bucks more than buying the 80cf, and the fills are cheaper in the long run. The weird thing with the LT lease is they still charge an additional $17 every 2 years for re-cert. But other than that you just pay for gas. This is C25 for MIG.

That's my story. You need to stop into your local shops and see what they offer.

 

[Jim in ICT]

Cover all of these questions with your welding supplier in advance. If you exchange the tank often enough, it won't have to be tested and you'll get another tank in return that's in test.

 

[deereman75]

Here in canada, they cant fill a tank in the store, you always have to exchange them, even if you own it, so you never have to pay for a pressure test. Also, buy from a big dealer, like air liquide, airgas, praxair, linde, a place that isnt going to go out of business, and leave you unable to fill your tank. Also, the air liquide here will sell you any size of tank that would be used in a welding shop. In the long run, it is always cheeper to buy the tank, insted of leasing it, so that is what I would recomend. (when we bought the tanks for the O/A torch, we didnt even consider leasing the tanks for a second)

 

[crazyal]

You really need to call around to your local gas dealers. Around here some dealers would only sell a very small bottle while others would sell a 80cf bottle. Who ever you buy the bottle from is who you will be buying your gas from. The larger leased bottles are nice but they charge a delivery fee and they are too large to easily be transported.

 

[psj12]

I bought my cylinders but they are small. Anything larger must be leased.

 

[Todd NE WY]

I second checking into the lifetime lease. I did it about 6 years ago, first time around I did a 5 year lease because it was cheaper than year to year but when I got the renewal and they offered the lifetime I was sold. Now all I pay for is gas.

 

[me0418840987]

I own my tanks, but the place that Dad bought them from 40 years ago just charges for the refill, all I do is take them in, and they give me a full one, no waiting. Not sure about the CU FT on mine, but I have a J for mig gas, a J for aceteline, and a C for oxy. FOX welding supply, Wisconsin

 

[Short Game]

I bought a nice old welding cart (complete except for the torches) from a guy clearing out his father's shop and when I took the first empty in, the guy at the industrial supply exchanged it but mentioned that the numbers said it was not an owned bottle. I kept going back and exchanging them for years. The last time I did it (a few weeks back), I got a new guy behind the counter and he really balked. I told him I'd been exchanging the bottles there for years. He let me have another and told me it was going to be the last one. He quoted me something like $.35 per day for just the oxygen bottle. I'm going to try to nurse this one for years if I can. I'm mainly brazing these days, but I put on the rosebud now and then to heat something. Big tanks and small tips if at all possible. Dang!

 

[mjncad]

I own the two 80CF bottles I have. One is C25 for steel welding, and the other is argon for aluminum welding.

Around here, AirGas exchanges the bottle whether it's owned or leased.

I prefer ownership over leasing; but that's me, and I don't use my welder all that often. Now if it was being used daily, I might change my mind on leasing bottles; but I doubt it.

I like the 80CF bottles as I can lift them into and out of my pickup truck; yet they have a decent amount of gas in them.

Owning versus leasing seems to be a regional thing. Check with your local welding supplier.