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[Pooh_Bear]

Cool. I'll have to drag out the tanks and dust them off and try this.

Anytime I need a business name I use Break Time (or Brake Time).
Always thought it would be fun to answer the phone like that.
Ring, Ring - pick up the phone and speak- "Break Time".

Pooh Bear

 

[Timber]

Last time I had to pay for a hydro test it was $20.
That was in 1988.
I found a place that would change out my tanks back then
but I had to sign papers swearing I owned the tanks.
Since then the place has moved and I haven't found it again.

I'd settle for just getting an oxy tank swapped out and buy a propane tank.
Just have to find someone to swap out with.

Pooh Bear

BOC Gas bought up all the bottled gas company all over the country in the 80s and 90s and in 2004 sold the bottle division to Airgas. That is probaly what happend to them

 

[blackd]

Just filled my MC and A (20 CuFt) bottles at the local welding store. $25.

Asked for price to upgrade to 40 CuFt and B bottles. They priced it at $122 with filled bottles. Could have had the upgrade for < $100. I will probably do it at next fill.

 

[Dusty]

Do you know why the smallest acetylene bottle is called the MC bottle and the next size up called the B bottle?? It goes back to the days of cars and motorcycles that had acetylene headlamps. The B stands for Bus and the MC stands for Motorcycle. The B bottle originally had a gauge on the bottom of the bottle and was carried on the running board of the vehicle. The original bottles were manufactured by Prest-O-Lite. Acetylene was used in place of other gasses because the flame was resistant to wind and rain, and had long burning qualities.
Dusty

 

[HomeBrew2]

... Dusty

I didn't know what the designations meant, nice to know. I have 2 of the Prestolite bottles and use the little torch (air/acet.) occasionally.

 

[Dusty]

Just a lot of old information that I learned many years ago while in college. I worked on my non school days as a truck relief driver and the old fellow that I worked with was always telling me about his childhood and his experiences. The funny thing to me is that today, I am much older than that old fellow was back then. Sometimes, I think that I learned as much, or more from him than I did in college. He taught me mechanics, body work, glass, and upholstery in shop when we weren't on the road. I still talk to him occasionally. He and his wife celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary not too long ago. He was a good talker, and I was a good listener. He believed that he needed to pass along his knowledge to the next generation, and that a lot of knowledge wasn't ever going to be learned in a classroom. Many of my skills today, I can directly attribute to his teaching me. Once I learned and mastered one skill, he started me on another.
Dusty

 

[Timber]

Let me know how you make out Dave. I am sure this will work for you

 

[Pooh_Bear]

I went yesterday and dug out the tanks from behind the barn.
The oxy tank is green but needs cleaned up real bad.
I can't tell what color the acetalyne tank was.
Both have the name Selox on them.

So I am gonna have to clean these tanks up and probably repaint them.
What color should the acetalyne tank be. It needs the most work.

I think I can get rid of the Selox name on them.
But I am certain both tanks are out of date and need tested.

These tanks belonged to some old man and when he died his wife gave them
to a friend of mine who just put them behind his barn. I saw them and asked
about them. He said if I could get them filled I could keep them.

Pooh Bear

 

[wushaw]

Acetylen is a dull red bottle.

 

[Dusty]

My acetylene is black. If the name is cast into the tank at the top flange, those are leased tanks and you should just give them back to the company that leased them. No one will fill a tank that belongs to another company. The tanks are also serial numbered and even if you grind the company markings from the tank, it will still be able to be identified. If the tanks have a paper label on them with the company name, then those are owned tanks and can be filled by anyone.
Dusty

 

[RobJ]

Acetylen is a dull red bottle.

I think it varies by size...my B tanks are always silver.

 

[Pooh_Bear]

The tanks have Selox in cast raised letters around the very top where the
cap screws on. I tried looking up Selox but couldn't find a listing for it.

An equivalent size oxygen cylinder full from TSC is about $300.
Or a trade in for a full cylinder is about $25.
But they will only take trade ins that are within the test date.

Anyone know of a listing for the Selox company?

Pooh Bear

 

[Dusty]

I tried to Google the name and came up blank. They might have been bought out by another gas company. They were definately leased tanks when they have the name casted into them. Contact a local gas company by telephone and ask them.
Dusty

 

[Dusty]

I think it varies by size...my B tanks are always silver.

After you posted this, I remembered that my B tank is silver, but my MC tank is black. My 20 & 40 CF tanks are also black. According to this site, there is no standardization of cylinder colors. This is a Canadian site, but the information posted should be relatively close to the US standards and it has very good handling information. This California site has basically the same information..
Dusty

 

[patrick_g]

I have had the "small" HVAC portable set mounted to a pack frame for several years. This way I can wear the bottles and easily go through brush or whatever. If you are relatively conservative in your cutting you can do quite a lot before you run a bottle dry. I don't usually cut really thick material with mine, more often heavy wall pipe and up to 1/4 inch plate and the ocasional 3/4 or 1 inch bar stock. I don't usually heat large or heavy things with it for bending.

If you want to use a larger torch or do a lot of heating you need bigger bottles.

I was upset the first time I took my brand new bottles in for a refill and got back some escapees from the Smithsonian. I got used to it.

I have a carbon arc torch that uses two carbon electrodes on my stick welder for heating and it will substitute for a torch to heat metal for bending or preheating for certain welding operations. Unfortunately my 6KW generator won't drive my stick machine to full capacity so I can't use it afield.

Pat

 

[Dusty]

Have you ever wondered what happens to all the new bottles that are brought in for filling? I asked the same question of the people at the industrial gas supply company where I exchange my bottles. I was surprised to get a candid answer from one of the employees. He said that they go to the places that insist on having nice new clean bottles, such as schools and industries that are extremely particular in the looks of what they receive. I then told him that I am very fussy about it also. He went into a different area and came back with a bottle that looked like it had never been sent out before. I was very pleased and gave him a good tip. He no longer works there, so now, I only get the crummy looking bottles, but I have become accustomed to it. It is the gas that I am interested in, not the bottles. I just can't adjust to paying the increased costs of the gas. Each time I go, it seems to get more expensive. They say that the only way to get the cost down is to become a volume user.
Dusty

 

[Timber]

The AC is black and the OXy is orange for industrial and green for medical. Solex I think was bought out by BOC gas. The caps are the most important thing. Trust me be there when the driver gets there and throw him a 20 or something and it will just go back to the plant with a thousand other bottles It will either be retested and put back out or scraped. National company's could care less about the bottles. If the company is out of business you own them anyway. Remember volunteer nothing. Airgas cares about selling gas and there restrictions are far less than BOC was

 

[Olmike]

I'm local Kirk welding supply dealer in my area.Kirk will take just about any bottle & exchange it for on of theirs. Even if they need tested I think its $18. I never had them refuse to take any. I just have to have A form filled out That says they own the bottle.I lve in NE Kansas & there is 5 or 6 different suppliers in KC Topeka area & most of them will take any owner bottle that is brought in.

 

[RobJ]

I'll just toss back in that it seems down here they always refill my O2 tank from the 12 pack of larger bottles. I still get close to 2500psi if I recall. They roll it from one tank to another.

On the Acet, you can always ask for a better tank (Acet they can't refill on the spot, think it's all doen out of town somewhere where they make the stuff). Usually the B's are all outside, just say I want that one with the newer valve (not the old square key). After getting burned once I aways have the check it to make sure it's full.

I think the B's are the last with the funky valves, the bigger ones have a valve like the O2's I think.

 

[Dusty]

Olmike..... are you saying that if the bottle is a leased bottle from another company, you will exchange it for one of your leased bottles? thanks Dusty