Welding cylinders

pinballlooking · 05-03-21, 08:28 AM

The gas welding place I go to only exchanges cylinders. When you exchange tanks, they do not care what you bring in to exchange.
The biggest customer owned tank they will fill is 150 CF. If you bring in a smaller tank, they just up charge for the bigger tank.
They do not care if it needs hydro tested, they do that on site and charge a maintenance fee every time to cover this.
I bought this CO2 cylinder off marketplace for $20 the up charge to 150 was $40 if I just went in and bought the tank with no exchange it was $250.
I have done this like four times now. Just a way to save some money.

I thought I would post so maybe someone else could maybe use this to save some money. We are always trying to make money go further on our projects.

I am doing more pulse mig welding that uses 90/10 Argon/CO2 so I wanted two 150 cylinders so I do not run out of gas and I can now run the tank completely out.

You can get bigger cylinders but here you have to lease them and I do no like on going payments.

oil pan 4 · 06-17-21, 12:48 AM

Mix your own gas.
I found that 90% argon to 10% CO2 was ideal for thin sheet metal that you want to look good. C80 was good for general purpose automotive where some rust would be involved. 50/50 was good for heavier steel that you want to look nice. Normally I just use straight CO2 for anything thicker than 2mm average.

05-03-21, 08:28 AM	#1
pinballlooking Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: SC Posts: 2,923 Thanks: 172 Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts	Welding cylinders The gas welding place I go to only exchanges cylinders. When you exchange tanks, they do not care what you bring in to exchange. The biggest customer owned tank they will fill is 150 CF. If you bring in a smaller tank, they just up charge for the bigger tank. They do not care if it needs hydro tested, they do that on site and charge a maintenance fee every time to cover this. I bought this CO2 cylinder off marketplace for $20 the up charge to 150 was $40 if I just went in and bought the tank with no exchange it was $250. I have done this like four times now. Just a way to save some money. I thought I would post so maybe someone else could maybe use this to save some money. We are always trying to make money go further on our projects. I am doing more pulse mig welding that uses 90/10 Argon/CO2 so I wanted two 150 cylinders so I do not run out of gas and I can now run the tank completely out. You can get bigger cylinders but here you have to lease them and I do no like on going payments. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Current project Aquaponics system , Passive Solar Greenhouse build To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Solar Install 12.5 Kwh- To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Mini Split installs - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. EV Chevy Volt - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Last edited by pinballlooking; 05-03-21 at 11:27 AM..

06-17-21, 12:48 AM	#2
oil pan 4 Land owner Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: NM Posts: 1,026 Thanks: 12 Thanked 127 Times in 107 Posts	Mix your own gas. I found that 90% argon to 10% CO2 was ideal for thin sheet metal that you want to look good. C80 was good for general purpose automotive where some rust would be involved. 50/50 was good for heavier steel that you want to look nice. Normally I just use straight CO2 for anything thicker than 2mm average.