Oxy/acet tank ownership transfer

[ultrarunner]

I returned rental tanks from vacant properties and was offered free one year rental waiver for bringing in… I declined as I have my own tanks and a fill lasts me about 10 years now.

The service manager’s goal was simply to get the tanks back into the revenue stream…

Tanks can last seemingly forever as I still run into full size 80-90 years old…

 

[sandman2234]

There are owner tanks and rental tanks.

The rental tanks I've seen are about 4 feet tall, and the oxygen tanks usually have an embossed collar with the name of the welding supplier.

The owner tanks can be any size, and have a plain collar.
If it looks like a rental, I won't touch it.

The fact that it has the name embossed on the neck ring doesn't mean it is owned by the gas supplier. There are prefix letters and numbers on the tanks serial number that denote if it is a customer owned bottle in sizes that are both company and customer owned. Some sizes are always company owned and some are only customer owned. Some sizes are very close to each other (110 and 125 cubic feet) and often get mistaken for each other. Most of the time anything 100 cubic feet or smaller is customer owned.
David from jax

 

[5030]

Not all of us have a "compressor plant" within reasonable range..... That is why we exchange....

Most any LWS will receive your bottles and have them filled for you at a local to them compressor station, if you bother to ask that is. Other than dissolved acetylene, don't like exchanging bottles simply because exchange bottle will be beat up and I like pristine bottles that aren't scratched or flogged on.

Why I do what I do and all my bottles have our company name painted in them.

Of course one has to understand that retaining and refilling your owned bottles has a lead time involved. Why I own multiple bottles. When I need a bottle refilled, it's not inconvenient for me at all to drop them off and wait a week or so for them to be refilled. In fact, most times I'm dropping off multiple bottles to be refilled. Of course that entails owning multiple bottles which I do. Again, only exception is dissolved acetylene and that one gets exchanged.

 

[5030]

I returned rental tanks from vacant properties and was offered free one year rental waiver for bringing in… I declined as I have my own tanks and a fill lasts me about 10 years now.

The service manager’s goal was simply to get the tanks back into the revenue stream

Tanks can last seemingly forever as I still run into full size 80-90 years old…

So long as any bottle passes a hydro test, age means nothing when it comes to viability.

 

[5030]

Suppose you do your own tank test too?

NO and I have issue if they require a hydro test either but that is entirely up to the filling facility where I have them filled, and not me. I will say that I've never been charged for a hydro test that I can remember. Been dealing with the same LWS compressor station for over 15 years now.

 

[ultrarunner]

I use to sell tanks on the side when I had an in with Pacific Oxygen that produced and bottles industrial gases and did cylinder hydro and paint and valves.

I would pick up old out of date tanks and pay to have a clean bill of health and Oxygen fill.

When I sold it was always with my last service and fill receipt.

I did old fire extinguisher conversions as some industrial CO2 were quite large…

The valve would be removed for interior inspection and cleaning if needed…

I have 4 sets from MC to full size plus 2 of the Model Ts have acetylene lamps… one with a cylinder and one with generator.

What made it great is neighbor was the super intendant so he would take the cylinders in and bring them back… never had one that could not hydro… I did come across some WWII wire wrapped that were no longer eligible.

Around here the older 1800 pound full size have not been rentals for decades… safe bet all are customer owned.

A lot of the car guys would have a medium set so my most popular… either Victor or Harris regulators.

I liked Victor because for a nominal fee I could have them factory rebuilt.

The Industrial Gas company with facilities up and down California is no more which happens to family owned business after a couple of generations.

 

[5030]

I prefer 120 cubic foot bottles simply because of the ease of handing them and transporting them as well. The only exception to that is my compressed oxygen bottles, They are the BIG ones, I believe they are 200 Cubic foot and a PITA to handle, heavy, and bulky and far as I know of, you cannot buy them anymore, least not around here you cannot. Again, my favorite size are the 120's simply because they are easier to handle and last a fairly long time for shielding gas. I cannot see paying bottle rental anyway.

 

[big bubba]

`thanks for the numerous replies, sounds like owner transfer is not as complicated as i anticipated as long as i retain original paperwork.
safety:
as a transportation caveat: most of us ol' timers know that when you transport acret bottles horizontally, they need to be set upright overnight before use to let the acetone (i believe) in the acetylene settle to avoid possible damage to reg diaphragm. in addition, no petroleum based oils should be used around the oxygen bottle given fire potential.

in addition, always use flash check valves on both regs. it all may seem obvious, but one mishap could prove disastrous. Also, when opening either reg, stand to the side out of the line of fire if something blows. things happen

the acetylene tank transportation precaution may be an old school myth, but worth considering, kind of like the old myth that you should plug the exhaust of a turbo tractor to prevent unlubricated turbo pinwheeling while in transport
thx again, regards

 

[sandman2234]

`thanks for the numerous replies, sounds like owner transfer is not as complicated as i anticipated as long as i retain original paperwork.
safety:
as a transportation caveat: most of us ol' timers know that when you transport acret bottles horizontally, they need to be set upright overnight before use to let the acetone (i believe) in the acetylene settle to avoid possible damage to reg diaphragm. in addition, no petroleum based oils should be used around the oxygen bottle given fire potential.

in addition, always use flash check valves on both regs. it all may seem obvious, but one mishap could prove disastrous. Also, when opening either reg, stand to the side out of the line of fire if something blows. things happen

the acetylene tank transportation precaution may be an old school myth, but worth considering, kind of like the old myth that you should plug the exhaust of a turbo tractor to prevent unlubricated turbo pinwheeling while in transport
thx again, regards

Not a myth, it is fact. The acetone that keeps the acetylene gas stable will affect regulators. Those bottles aren't empty like high pressure gas bottles are. The filling "looks" like concrete but isn't.
David from jax

 

[ultrarunner]

Maybe someone knows why acetylene tanks were strap flat to running boards for use in the Brass Era cars with acetylene lamps.

I know drawing too much acetylene by volume too quickly also creates problems in any tank.