Cost of Gas Cylinder

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I just bought a Miller/Hobart AutoArc 130 last night and am looking for a gas cylinder for it.  I took a trip over to the local ABCO during lunch and was a little shocked at the price they were asking.  The guy quoted me $190 for a filled 40cf tank.  A 20cf tank was only about $35 cheaper.  The tank was around $140 and the gas was about $50.  I had seen people taking online about 80cf tanks in this same price range.  I was expecting a filled 40cf tank to cost somewere in the $100 to $120 range.  Is this the going price now or was this place just expensive?  Anybody have a source other than ABCO in CT to get welding gas?  They seem to have a corner on the market around here.Keith
Reply:That's right in the range of retail here on Long Island.  I just sold a 60CF tank for $100 on craigslist, and unless you pick one up at a yard sale, that's a typical private sale price for an empty tank.BTW, any reason you want to stick to a 40CF?  40CF is very small.  The 60CF is the same diameter, only slightly taller, and only a tiny bit more expensive to fill.  An 80CF is the same diameter too, and is only slightly more to fill than the 60CF, but its extra weight and height make it a bit big for some hobbiests, but you'll save a lot on gas.
Reply:I paid $112 for my 60CF cylinder, and about another $22-25 for the Argon itself.  The Cylinder came from GTS-Welco (on ebay)  and my local supplier filled it for me. (Had I realized 60CF wasn;t "Stock" for them I'd have gone with an 80cf instead.
Reply:I guess it wasn't that far out then.  I have found them online for $89 with free shipping but wasn't sure if I would be able to get it filled.  The only reason I am going with 40cf is because I am looking to save a little up front money.  The welder stretched my budget and dropping another $200 on a gas tank is probably not going to happen for a while.  I will have to save up for it and just deal with the flux core wire for now.  I'll also keep my eye on craigslist as well.  New or used doesn't really matter to me.  ABCO does a tank exchange so you can bring them a brand new empty cylinder and they can give you back a 10 year old beat up tank.Keith
Reply:Like most things in welding, trying to save money now will probably cost you more in the future.After starting off with small tanks I quickly learned the larger tanks are more efficient to fill.After only a few fills you will be saving money with the bigger tank. Price this out yourself with your local welding shop. You'll be surprised how the big tanks only cost a little more money to fill than the small ones. In my case I did the math and found out upgrading to a big tank paid for itself after only 4 fills. Also nothing sucks more than running out of gas on the last weld of a project. With a tank twice as big you'll only run out of gas half as much. Last edited by slagmatic; 05-04-2010 at 02:54 PM.
Reply:i found an ole fella that had a bunch of 200 and 300 cubic foot cylinders for $100 each. just post an ad on cl requesting cylinders.Dynasty 200DXPassport plus w/ spoolmate 100victor 315c oxy/(act and prop)Miller digital elitemilwaukee power tools
Reply:I bought a cylinder from this place when I ordered my welder since they have the best prices I've seen anywhere on new cylinders:http://www.weldfabulous.com/Gas-Cyli...mpty/sc415707/I originally picked up a small 20cf cylinder at Harbor Freight with a 20% coupon but after doing so discovered two things.  One is that the nearest gas supply place will not just swap those out if you are getting a 75/25 mix, so if you want to fill it would take a half hour.  The other thing he pointed out is that the cost of filling a 40cf cylinder is only a little more than the 20cf, so over time having the 40 works out better.That said, I picked up an 80cf from WeldFabulous for $145.79 (they sell full also for $190.79), so for the cost you were quoted for a full 40cf, you can get twice the capacity from here.  You can get a full 40cf if you want for $132.79.I partly ordered the 80 because they have caps on them, so I figured shipping wouldn't be too risky as far as potential damage to the valve.  I also figured that it's nice to not have to worry about filling that thing all that often.Last edited by Tralfaz; 05-04-2010 at 08:10 PM.
Reply:I found a guy on CraigsList that had 2 T-size cylinders for sell.  One had a hydro date on it of 1952.  Hydro dates were stamped on top of other hydro dates, so it is quite possible that there were even older ones underneath all of them that were on that cylinder.  The other one was from originally around the 1970s.  They both were current on they hydros, but even if not, that would have only added another $25 each to get them recertified.  They had previously been used for helium, so I ordered off for 2 CGA540 valves from a guy on eBay and swapped them out and then traded them in for oxygen tanks at the Praxair facility.  They had the company type neck rings on them from companies that were no longer in business, but I traced down those companies to see who might have claim to the cylinders before I purchased them.  My research came up with Praxair and upon calling their main office, they said that even though they had company neck rings, they were customer owned and were safe for me to buy.  On a Friday, after purchasing them, I mistakenly took them to the Praxair administrative office in Houston (their website gave me the administrative office as a fill station), the individual there tried to tell me that the tanks were not from Praxair, but rather from Air Liquide, and he directed me to the other side of Houston.  Of course, by the time I got there, all the shops were closed (not that it really mattered since I couldn't find their fill shop anyway).  I left feedback on Praxair's website complaining about their store locator web app and the 4 hours that I had spent that day thanks to the web app and their administrator's information.  Early Monday morning, I received a call from Praxair and they apologized for the erroneous information and said to bring the tanks over and they would swap them out for free.  To say the least, I was very impressed with their customer service and as such, I will be doing business with them in the future instead of the local welding shop that is closer.