Owned and leased bottles

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I recentley acquired a dialarc at an auction with a bottle that has a company name of one of the small welding places in town.  I also bought a millermatic 200 which came with a big bottle of the same size and it has airgas on the side of it off craigslist.  Neither one of the bottles at the auction or craigslist did anybody know if they were leased or owned.  Should I just try to take them and get them filled at the place whose name is on it without saying nothing or maybe take to one of the other welding places.
Reply:Take them and get them filled. Simple enough.And then, after so much work...... you have it in your hand, and you look over to your side...... and the runner has run off. Leaving you holding the prize, wondering when the runner will return.
Reply:Worst they can do is say its their bottle and take it back.  I was given some bottles years ago and knew they were rentals.  Took them back to the welding shop, explained the situation and they thanked me for returning the bottles and told me to pick out some welding gloves as a thank you.I have learned one thing about bottles, if you buy one from a welding shop make sure you hold onto the receipt.  Both my old boss and I ran into trouble where we purchased bottles but at some point they got traded out for rentals and then the company started trying to charge us rent.
Reply:Just go swap them.  IMO you bought them, you own them.  If they were rentals it would be the responsibility of the person who sold them to replace them.
Reply:Do a search on this. There is some great reading. I know EVERY SUPPLIER has their own rules. Call first and ask what their policy is on ''owner  tanks ''.  One supplier will only exchange 125/150 tanks as owner cylinders. Nothing larger.   When you do call, ask about refill cost too. Another eye opening experience. Each local place by me was different.  Oh. check the certification date too. That could be another consideration. Good Luck !
Reply:It appears there are significant regional differences in this country on the issue of owner welding cylinders. Here in Washington State national companies Airgas and Praxair readily swap owner cylinders of all sizes. Yet I hear that in other states the same companies, Airgas and Praxair, do not. For clarification of policy in your region, it would make sense on an international forum like this one, to specify which region you are talking about, and perhaps to look for a regional source for information instead of this forum. I see this question coming up over and over again and the issue is muddied every time by people chiming in from all over "but it's different here". metalmagpie
Reply:Originally Posted by metalmagpieIt appears there are significant regional differences in this country on the issue of owner welding cylinders. Here in Washington State national companies Airgas and Praxair readily swap owner cylinders of all sizes. Yet I hear that in other states the same companies, Airgas and Praxair, do not. For clarification of policy in your region, it would make sense on an international forum like this one, to specify which region you are talking about, and perhaps to look for a regional source for information instead of this forum. I see this question coming up over and over again and the issue is muddied every time by people chiming in from all over "but it's different here". metalmagpie
Reply:I have a great relationship with my LWS, if I bring in a bottle, any bottle and tell them I need it filled or swapped it is a done deal. Being a professional customer has its perks.Disclaimer; "I am just an a$$hole welder, don't take it personally ."
Reply:What Tozzi says is basically what I was going to say.I went into the Airgas "Regional Office/Welding Store" to swap out some bottles. Commented to the guy that someone borrowed my Acetylene bottle on site and left me with this off brand. He swapped it out no problems.Seems they return the bottles to the rightfull owners eventually as the trucks make their rounds.Another time I was in a different state, stopped at a local LWS with my bottles and a couple of obvious rentals. They questioned the rentals being in my possesion. I said I was doing a project at a local company and they loaned them to me to finish a project provided I returned them full.They said OK.