It seems the 200cf argon cylinder I got with my HeliArc 250 is not mine. It belongs to some company that is no longer in business. The local gas company won't touch it. Bummer
Now, what does one do with an argon cylinder that can't be filled? Any clever uses? Does this thing have any scrap value?
Seems to me that if you can prove rightful ownership, someone, somewhere, should either fill it or offer and exchange. Might be worth investigating. I'd like to hear the outcome should you do so.
Around here they require a thick metal ring just below the screw. It is thick layer at the joint - might prevent knocking off the top - Customer owned bottles. Those without were gas company bottles.
I took a picture of my bottle - company is long gone - they accept it my Argon bottle.
They make nice gongs , take out the valve, cut off the collar with a zip cute or grind off, weld on a ring or be creative and do something ornamental to hang it by, make some sort of hanger and there you go, you can sit and meditate to the fine sound, cut long and shorten the cylinder to you get the sound you are at one with :-) umm umm umm umm have fun.
When Tanks are manufactured they are made either OWNERSHIP or RENTAL cylinders. They can never be converted, EVER. That is DOT Law.(Dept. of Transportation)
A rental cylinder will always be a rental cylinder. If the company no longer exists, the tank is usually the property of whoever bought them out. If no ownership can be established the tank is destroyed.
An ownership cylinder can be bought and sold any number of times, but it can never be rented.
The 2 classes of tanks are kept separate by the gas suppliers. If a welding supply store gets inspected and there are ownership and rental cylinders mixed together, they get a huge fine.
Cylinders with no headstamp, or a headstamp from a company, like Boeing, or Caterpillar, or s School, like South Seattle Comm. Coll. or Univ. of Wash., or a military headstamp, like US Army, Nave, Airforce, or Marines, is a Ownership cylinder and anybody can own it.
If the headstamp is from a gas supplier, welding supplier, gas distributor, or other rental company then it is a Rental cylinder.
I own a few large cylinders. When I was living in Utah, the dealer was rather careless with cylinders that were exchanged. While I have title to all of my cylinders, as I recall, some of them have the head stamp of the supplier, and are clearly not privately owned cylinders. They knew me well and didn't care what I returned each time as long as it was their cylinder. Not having had any of them filled in years, I wonder what I may face in the future?
Are these rules relatively new, Ernie? My experiences go back to the early
I have been renting my O2 and acetylene tanks for nearly 2 years. About 3 months ago, I purchased the tanks so I wouldn't have to pay rent any more. They didn't switch the tanks out. The 2 tanks I was renting look identical to the 3 others that I own.
According to the gas company the cylinder was originally owned by another gas company and was probably a rental. I searched the Net for the company and found that they were closed down for some sort of EPA violation.
I bought my oxygen cylinder in 1972 from one company and when I decided to change companies to aviod a long drive. The newer company simply asked for the original sales receipt (which I almost keep in a lock box so I'll never loose it) which I produced. The tank I "turned in" to them had a headstamp from the previous company and the tanks I get now have a headstamp from the newer company. I have to pay $12 every 5 years or so for hydrostatic testing. It's just a bill that comes in the mail; I don't have to actually take the tank in. I guess they do it to the tank I exchange it for. I had heard the there wouldn't BE any ownership tanks anymore as of a couple of years ago, but nothing has changed with my supplier. (I don't do a lot of welding, so I use type B acetylene cylinders, which are unregulated, and I use propane for cutting and heating.)
As long as the hydrotest date is good (it will be stamped on the bell near the neck), no gas company should refuse it. Hydro on a steel tank is 10 years and the date will be stamped month-year (like 09-98) and then the testing company's ID number. If the hydrotest is out of date, then you have two options: pay for a retest yourself (with the understanding that the gas company will fill it) or I hear they make nice gongs.
Yes, indeedy. Ask around. I have a good relationship with my welding equip/gas supplier. I have a cylinder with a now defunct company's name on the ring. I had to get another hydrotest on it, and they are filling it with helium for me. I'm putting together one of Ernie's Ar/He manifold rigs for TIG.
Ernie, I don't know who told you that, but it is all wrong. Where I worked in homecare, we owned and filled thousands of oxygen tanks. It is the nature of the business that privately owned tanks and tanks from other companies got mixed in with our own fleet and it was no big deal to refill them provided some pretty straightforward rules were followed. We always passed our USP, FDA ( a real rectal exam, that one), JCAHO and DoT inspections with flying colors.
I bought some cylinders that were wayyyy past the hydro date. Before I bought them I wanted to make as sure as possible I wasn't buying stolen or rental cylinders. The fine folks at Central told me about rental sizes being different that owner sizes. What a great system. You know up front whether the cylinder was stolen from any rental place. That at least eliminates the most common source of stolen cylinders. BTW, since I buy virtually all my welding supplies, including my plasma cutter, from Central, they waived the hydro fee on the old used cylinders. ERS
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