Welding Gas

Don't think it matters who, I'm certain they have a cartel operating. I can understand the gas prices being different but not rental prices. Except acetylene which is special all the argon, argon mixes, oxy, CO2 etc all use the same bottle but their prices vary on rental between them all.

Last time I checked I'm paying £61 per year for an Oxo bottle and £134 a year for argon, that's just rental, less VAT for the same type of bloody bottle.

I currently pay Air products just under £400 per year for rental, gas prices are extra

I haven't found the answer myself yet but I hope someone comes up with a good source for you; I dumped my BOC contract a couple of years back due to the increasing cost but would like to regain the flexibility of a gas system. I doubt Air Products is much cheaper these days as I have kept a bottle from them for the MIG but that is also costing me nearly =A3100 a year so I'll have to give that some more thought. I had considered going to TIG as a closer match to gas but the machines are so expensive if you want an AC/DC one. Pity as a decent welder is really useful for those odd occaisions when you need it. Perhaps I need to consider a brazing hearth and Propane bottle as a cheaper alternative with an Arc welder for the heavier stuff. Not much use on cars though.

Keith

It costs a lot of money to repaint them when the colours change every decade or so :-(

Mark Rand RTFM

Don't know how they do it in the UK, but here we do have three models:

• fully owned bottles. You just pay the fill and have to wait until your bottle returns and have to pay for inspection every 10 years or so. And you pay extra handling charges to get your bottle back.

• completely rental. No own bottle. Just go there and take a full one. Pay for the bottle every month, first month is free.

• Semi-owned bottle. You go there, give them your bottle (or buy one) and will never see it again. :-) They care for everything (inspection), you can exchange empty bottles and don't have to wait. Costs a bit more than rental bottles but is the cheapest model if you consume just a bit.

I guess you have similar choices.

Nick

If you are anywhere near the channel pop across on the ferry to Calais. At Brico Depot you can buy a 2300l oxygen bottle for 399 euro and 1600l acetylene for 349 euro. Exchange refils cost 49 and 64 euro respectively. No anual charge. Regards, Russell.

Not really. The two main companies that supply gas across here (Air Products, and BOC), only do rental, AFAIK.

They've pretty much got the market to themselves, and charge accordingly.

Not sure if the ferry co will let you take welding gasses on board but it is worth trying given the French prices.

Bob

On or around Fri, 16 Nov 2007 12:46:01 -0000, "Brian" enlightened us thusly:

air products are cheaper and less hassle-ridden than BOC.

I have MD30 bottles (I think) which might now be X30S as they keep changing 'em. medium-sized ones, anyway.

What!? 20l O2 bottle costs with a fill (200 bar) 200.- EUR. A fill costs around 45.-

Nick

BOC is a Linde sister, AFAIK. When I had Linde gas, I also had my own bottles*). I also never saw them again, but that was the mess my dealer made. :-) Anyhow, I never went home without a full bottle.

I now have Widmann gas, but they only service in Germany.

Nick

Not a problem with the ferry. Eurotunnel are a bit more fussy though. Russell.

Some years ago I purchased a bottle of argon from Nuneaton Welding Supplies; at that time they would refill it for me, but now they say they are not allowed to refill at all. I'm currently renting from Energas, 'cos they were the cheapest I could find, but resent paying £58 a year when I've got a perfectly good bottle lying empty; especially when a full bottle lasts a lot longer than a year. Do you think Brico Depot would fill my argon bottle - its not steel, its some sort of aluminium alloy?

On or around Sun, 18 Nov 2007 03:01:52 -0800 (PST), snipped-for-privacy@eberhardt.org.uk enlightened us thusly:

can you still not take an LPG vehicle on the chunnel?

The mind boggles. You would have to drill a new tunnel over the existing ones.

Brico depot are a bit like our B&Q depot stores. They don't refill the bottles them selves but pass them through as agent. I would be very surprised if they will exchange another style of bottle. Also - just checked my Brico depot catalogue dated April 2007. They only show Oxygen and Acetylene gasses not Argon in refillable cylinders.

Bob

Might still be better than hiring from BOC. Eurotunnel seem to be ambivalent about what they'll allow. You can't take flammable materials but you can take dangerous goods if you tell them in advance...

I gave up on my BOC Argoshield light bottle after realising that I was paying a pound a week for something that I used two or three times a year. I bought a couple of refilled pub CO2 bottles for £10 each on a "bring them back when you need some more" contract.

Mark Rand RTFM

I'm not sure what you use your Oxy Acet for, but some years ago I decided to reduce costs and now use Oxy Propane, which means no Oxy rental and much cheaper gas.

I am using it with the Acet. tips, which is not ideal because it takes a lot more trouble to adjust the flame, and is more prone to blowing out in wind, but I don't use it enough to warrant the expense of buying the correct Oxy Propane gear. I would think that with a little research I could probably improve things with a set of Pin Drills, but as I said I get by with what I've got. I've cut 25mm thick steel without any problems, and thin sheet (2mm without excessive warping.

Here (Down-Under) the majority of plumbers use propane, and even some heavy industry.

I'm a bit surprised that no-one has mentioned it on this thread.

Cheers, Phill.

Are you saying that you got the CO2 bottles filled with argon? If so, where? I can't use CO2 - it must be argon.

No, basically I gave up on Argon mix and went over to CO2. I don't do enough stainless to justify the cost of Argon. CO2 bottles aren't rated for the pressure that Argon would require. The advantage, in my case, is that the bottles are surplus brewer's bottles sold with gas for domestic/party use and there is no rental on the bottles.

Mark Rand RTFM