Welding gas bottle, buy or lease?

[ultrarunner]

I cascade fill my small Oxygen cylinder from my large cylinder... so only the large one goes in to get filled... so far it has saved a ton of money... my small tanks are all 1800 lbs so I can fill to capacity.

The neck ring on my big tanks says customer owned... when I was using a lot, I would drop one off and then pick up my full one after PoxCo shutdown... they were a producer and retailer so it was one stop... didn't hurt that my neighbor and friend was plant superintendent!

I would come across tanks and he would check them out for me and certify for a nominal cost... employee discount which was about half price.

Lots of the car guys would have small tanks and we did just fine... I still carry a MC set in my service truck... have not used it in years but handy when needed.

For my 16th birthday my Grandmother surprised me with a new Acetylene Tank... I was driving home after work and I saw her and my neighbors wife wheeling it down the road with a wheelbarrow to surprise me... still have it and hope I always will.

At work I have come across Oxygen Tanks dating to WWI and still in service 100 years later.

 

[flingwing1969]

Highly dependent on the dealer. My acy bottle was out of date by several years. They didn't even look at the date when exchanging. Sample size of one though.

Yes, I had that happen too. I bought my Acy/Oxy set from a friend whose father had died and left it to him for 8 years. Needless to say, both bottles were way out of date, both were large and both were full. I used them for years myself - I don't need them too often really, mostly cutting heavy stuff and some rosebud work - I rarely weld with A/O. Anyway, when my Acy ran out, I took it in and they swapped it for another with no issues. It was an owner bottle but the Oxy was a company rental from a company long out of business and no rents paid for a decade or more - they swapped it out as well and I've never paid a penny of rent on any bottles.

 

[flingwing1969]

My 75/25 bottle and my 100% Argon bottles are all owner bottles. I bought the Argon bottle full and new on Craigslist for $250.

 

[texasranger556]

Yes, I had that happen too. I bought my Acy/Oxy set from a friend whose father had died and left it to him for 8 years. Needless to say, both bottles were way out of date, both were large and both were full. I used them for years myself - I don't need them too often really, mostly cutting heavy stuff and some rosebud work - I rarely weld with A/O. Anyway, when my Acy ran out, I took it in and they swapped it for another with no issues. It was an owner bottle but the Oxy was a company rental from a company long out of business and no rents paid for a decade or more - they swapped it out as well and I've never paid a penny of rent on any bottles.

Similar how I got mine. The father owned them for decades, died, sat in storage for 10 years then I bought them off the son. The acy still had some in it but I went ahead and exchanged to mark sure the dealer wouldn't give me a hassle. It was fine.

The oxy bottle is still half full, and since I picked up a plasma cutter the torch only gets used to cut things too big for the plasma, or heat things that are stuck. It may be another 3-5 years before it gets exchanged.

 

[Silvic]

Last time I was in my LWS we got to talking about the age of tanks.
They had one tank that came from the WWII era. Only thing was not from our side but the German side of the war. In the neck of the bottle there were the **** symbols of the Third Reich. Interesting piece of history.

 

[ultrarunner]

^^^ Yep... I still see those in the oxygen banks at the Hospital... if those Linde cylinders could talk!

Here is one dated 1917... that came through rotation last summer.

 

[Texasmark]

Since TSC started handling gas, having bottles that I had previously purchased, I just swap. Much easier, no 5 year inspection nuisance and cost, and gasses are priced right.

Doing similar with the little 20# LP tanks I use for the grill and portable shop heat. WW has the best prices on that swap.

 

[Peter 315]

Since TSC started handling gas, having bottles that I had previously purchased, I just swap. Much easier, no 5 year inspection nuisance and cost, and gasses are priced right.

Doing similar with the little 20# LP tanks I use for the grill and portable shop heat. WW has the best prices on that swap.

TSC stopped selling gas and tanks at the store near me.

 

[jaxs]

LWS has always meant privately owned stores. Reading through all these testimonials,it isn't clear whether good service and easy trades are taking place at mom and pop dealers or corporate owned places. I bring this up because where I'm at near Dallas Tx,trading/re-filling bottles was never a problem until Airgas and Praxair bought out small dealers. Airgas counter people and managers go out of their way to discourage hobby customers coming in.

 

[ultrarunner]

I have limited experience but found similar when AirGas took over.

The last time I went to the store to buy wire the service was non existent... that is until I mentioned I order about 80 AirGas Cylinders a month for work... not a big user but very consistent and local...

When the change came they said their would be no changes and then they charged Cylinder Demurrage or rent... I pulled out my contract with explicitly said no cylinder rent... the sales person said that is no longer valid... I said great... PraxAir has been after my business for a long time... end of discussion.

Like with most things... if your account is profitable... you have leverage.