is the 125 cu ft tank I bought a "CUSTOMER-OWNED" argon? (good clear pix)

dave wrote in news:2hgkm.69332$sC1.13813 @newsfe17.iad:

Looks like it's an owned bottle. No lettering around the neck ring that would indicate it belongs to a gas company. A question comes to mind though. If you had to go that far to get a used bottle, can you find someone willing to fill it locally?

Anyway, get it filled before June next year or you will be in the hook for the hydrotest fee.

I would say it is an owner tank, because the area where the owner's logo would be cast is empty.

Steve

Correct..Dave is the new owner.

Btw..I just picked up 3 used bottles that had the name of a now defunct welding supplier on it. I brought em into my favorite welding distributor (Sims-Orange..Santa Ana, California), they looked through the book, didnt find the name, and swapped me 3 unmarked bottles straight across, plus the $25 hydrotest charge. They came filled... and they told me they would charge me for the next refill. Crom but I love that place. (2) 275 cf Argons, and (1) 275 cf O2....and the hydrotest was just done on all 3 of them.... Oh..I got em for free....... Very very big grin!!!

Gunner

Whenever a Liberal utters the term "Common Sense approach"....grab your wallet, your ass, and your guns because the sombitch is about to do something damned nasty to all three of them.

me three.

I hate you!

i

See the thick ring near the threads - a collar of sorts? That means a customer owned qualified bottle. Not a lease.

So you are likely ok. Also better pictures of the height with something to compare to or yardstick...

It might be from a company that went under and is no longer working. Even better...

Mart> least I -think- it's a 125 cubic foot CUSTOMER-OWNED model, anyway. it

okey-dokey, guys, thanks.

did a bit more research just now. according to my read of a welding forum thread posted here:

and my reading of the airco-published "owner tanks" pdf (linked to in the thread above, also pasted just below - a very long address)

my tank (pictured on my argon tank site) is (what I'm gonna call a) 'plus star' tank. airco's pdf tells me my 'plus star' stamped tank was born june '05, and it's due again for hydrotest (per what the pdf tells me, anyway) TEN years from the date of manufacture, that being 2015 (because of the star stamped into my tank).

regarding hydro retest date: unless charles U, who said "get it filled before June next year or you will be in the hook for the hydrotest fee" knows more about tanks than the airco company and I'm not saying he doesn't it seems to me (per airco's pdf, and their star mention, in their diagram) "I'm good till june 2015, hydrotest-wise"

so, hmmm, perplexing...this "welding tank voodoo-hex numbers" stuff

the same airco pdf (seems to) tells me the (the plus symbol) indicates the tank's good for a ten percent overfill...

martin: the EXACT height (and other dimensions) of my argon tank's posted, in one of my 'argon tank' site images, here:

okey-dokes, thanks again you guys :-)

toolie :-)

Thats one of the "standard sizes". 227 CF as I recall. You are lucky..those are typically rental bottles so you got a reasonable sized bottle you wont have to refill all that often

Gunner

Whenever a Liberal utters the term "Common Sense approach"....grab your wallet, your ass, and your guns because the sombitch is about to do something damned nasty to all three of them.

Re the hydro test. If you exchange the tank, then they should handle the hydro's on the exchange tanks. My Argon tank is not the same tank I purchased. I take it in, and they give me a full tank in exchange.

dave wrote in news:v1Ykm.71625$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe17.iad:

I was going by what the RCM resident welding expert Ernie says on this topic.

A literal interpretation of the law (pasted below) and paraphrased here: "five-point star"..."immediately following the test date" could be taken to mean the plus then star on your tank doesn't meet the immediately following requirement. Conversely there doesn't seem to be an alternate meaning for a star following a plus so taking the wording that literally would be incorrect IMHO. You should be good to 10 years, I think.

Either way it doesn't much matter when it needs testing, it's still fairly new and a heck of a lot better deal than being stuck with a lease cylinder for low volume home use. I worked out a 3 year payback on my little CO2 and 4 years on a medium argon cylinder I own vs. leasing. I Haven't needed to fill either of them in that time frame either so I'm welding for free until they're empty.

§ 173.34 Qualification, maintenance and use of cylinders.

(16) DOT-3A or 3AA cylinders. (i) A cylinder made in conformance with specification DOT-3A or 3AA with a water capacity of 125 pounds or less that is removed from any cluster, bank, group, rack or vehicle each time it is filled, may be retested every ten years instead of every five years, provided the cylinder complies with all of the following --

(A) The cylinder was manufactured after December 31, 1945;

(B) The cylinder is used exclusively for air, argon, cyclopropane, ethylene, helium, hydrogen, krypton, neon, nitrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, sulfur hexafluoride, xenon, permitted mixtures of these gases (see § 173.301(a)) and permitted mixtures of these gases with up to 30 percent by volume of carbon dioxide, provided that the gas has a dew point at or below minus 52 °F at 1 atmosphere;

(C) Before each refill, the cylinder passes the hammer test specified in CGA Pamphlet C-6;

(D) The cylinder is dried immediately after hydrostatic testing to remove all traces of free water;

(E) The cylinder is not used for underwater breathing; and

(F) Each cylinder is stamped with a five-point star at least one-fourth of an inch high immediately following the test date.

(ii) If, since the last required hydrostatic retest, a cylinder has not been used exclusively as specified in paragraph (e)(16)(i)(B) of this section, but currently conforms with all other provisions of paragraph (e)(16)(i) of this section, it may be retested every 10 years instead of every five years, provided it is first retested and examined as prescribed by § 173.302(c)(2), (3) and (4).

(iii) Except as specified in paragraph (e)(16)(ii) of this section, if a cylinder marked with a star is charged with a compressed gas other than as specified in this paragraph (e)(16), the star following the most recent test date must be obliterated. The cylinder must be retested five years from the marked retest date, or prior to the first charging with a compressed gas, if the required five-year retest period has passed.

Charles U Farley wrote: =2E..

=2E..

=2E..

Do you have a link to the quoted law? It'd be good to have for future=20 reference.

Thanks, Bob