The truth on tanks

admin

Hi guys. I am looking for a argon tank for my sync 250. The local ws wants $300 for a large tank. Theres a guy in miami 2 hours away that wants $170 filled. They say its up to date, and personal. can it be filled anywhere? whats the story with tanks and buying them? thanks
Reply:All depends...Around me no LWS will fill a large customer owned cylinder. They are all rental/lease cylinders. Even if you have a legit large customer owned cylinder, it's next o impossible to do anything with this.Step back roughly 10 years ago here, and there were a ton of smaller welding suppliers that would deal with customer owned cylinders. Unfortunately they have all either gone out of business, or been bought up by the big guys. I have about 10-12 282 CF cylinders I picked up years ago when the small guys were still in business. Right now most are "worthless". I did manage about 5-6 years ago to have a great counter guy at my LWS. He "looked the other way" when I brought a few of these in for exchange. The up side is I have 3-4 large cylinders that don't show up on my rental account, but that I can exchange when I need to. The down side is that "technically" these belong to the LWS, so I can't sell them.  The new guy at my LWS wouldn't do this now, and I can understand why. A  friend on mine has worked out a similar deal with his LWS, and is taking most of the remainder of my cylinders to do the exact same thing. I'll "loose" the cylinders, but since I can't get them filled anyways, it really doesn't matter.So it really depends on where you live, and your LWS..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:thanks doug, but i still need to know the rules of these tanks. i have to buy one from a lws? renting one each month seems silly since i am not in business yet. thanks, and good to hear from you friend.
Reply:The only "rules" are what the LWS makes and it can vary from place to place, even within the same chain. Some will allow you to swap any cylinder, some will only take theirs. The only way to know is to ask.If you end up with a cylinder marked from a company that only exchanges, just open an account and that usually takes care of the issues.In many ways these big cylinders are a "racket". I can get a 300 cf cylinder filled for about what it costs me to fill my small customer owned 125 cf cylinder at my LWS. Obviously I almost never take in the small ones unless I have to, or like in the case of acetylene, I don't have a large one I can swap. The counter guy knows I have an account, and that's all that matters to him with the large cylinders I've got with their name on the cylinder..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:doug gimme a call this weekend, for some reason im still confused. if you dont have my # lemme know and ill give ya a ring. thanks brotha.
Reply:Probably work best if you call me. I'm not sure I deleated the PM with your number or not, and I'm bouncing around tomorrow and will probably  get distracted and forget. If you want, I'm not doing much this evening until say 10 pm, if you want to talk tonight..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Originally Posted by loolagigidoug gimme a call this weekend, for some reason im still confused. if you dont have my # lemme know and ill give ya a ring. thanks brotha.
Reply:For sure you can own your own cylinders here in Washington State. Also, certain sizes of high-pressure (oxygen, argon, C25, nitrogen etc) cylinders are always owner cylinders. This includes Q size (92 cf) as well as S size (156 cf). But the M size (125 cf) can be rental cylinders, so watch out.It is also possible to go around the welding supply houses here. There is a company in industrial south Seattle which is in the business of recertifying and restoring gas cylinders. They do all the hydrotesting for the welding supply chains. They will refill many gases for you. Maybe there is a similar facility near you.Anyway, I know enough to know that this policy varies widely from region to region around the country. What is true here in the Pacific Northwest may not be elsewhere. So asking for "the rules" as though they were the same everywhere is pointless.metalmagpie
Reply:Buying used / stolen bottles is a crap shoot, at best.If I were you, I would just call your local LWS places and lease the largest bottle available from whoever has the best price on fills.
Reply:we deal with praxair, the one over on rt1 off of belvedere rd. seems to be no issue with the company, dont see why they wouldnt just swap your tank for you if you showed up. anytime up north ive brought cylinders to be swapped its no questions asked.
Reply:Originally Posted by loolagigithanks doug, but i still need to know the rules of these tanks. i have to buy one from a lws? renting one each month seems silly since i am not in business yet. thanks, and good to hear from you friend.