deleted

[Olmike]

No, They will exchange owner bottles only,with A signed affadavitt from the owner stating he owns them.Lawyer stuff you know

 

[Dusty]

That is what I thought. Since the bottles that are in question here, are the type that have the company name casted into the top of the bottle, is it safe to assume that no one will fill these, even if the company has gone out of business? Isn't the name cast into the bottle the reason they can tell the difference between owned bottles and leased bottles? I know that is the reason that I won't accept any exchange that has a cast in name on the bottle when I exchange my owned bottles. Thanks

 

[Olmike]

I get A lot of bottles with the name cast in them.Some of the kirk bottles have the name cast in and some don't.To my knowledge Kirk does'nt lease bottles to anyone.But I could be wrong.

 

[gemini5362]

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Airco-Selox Inc
2610 18th Avenue North, Bessemer, AL 35020
map | driving directions



Rate It phone: (205) 428-9111

http://www.airgas.com

I got this off of a google search if it will help any

 

[Timber]

Just because a bottle has a company name on it doesn't mean it is not a customer owned. You don't get the same set of tanks when you own them, you get an exchange. If you go to airgas and buy a set of tanks you get airgas tanks and you own them. Even a welding supply store can not fill and AC tank. AC tanks have to be filled at an AC plant and no were else. BOC and Airgas own almost all the atmosphere extractors all over the world and certainly in the united states. Most welding supply stores or anyone that deals in tanks ever fill them. In fact they are probably filled by Airgas or BOC gas regardless of who you think your dealing with because the own all the extractors. Once you own a tank and you empty it you will never see that same tank again

 

[Timber]

Save | Print | Update | Send | Send | What's Nearby

to cell phone | to email address
Airco-Selox Inc
2610 18th Avenue North, Bessemer, AL 35020
map | driving directions



Rate It phone: (205) 428-9111

http://www.airgas.com

I got this off of a google search if it will help any

I was pretty sure BOC bought them out. We bought out so many companys that there are all kinds of tanks in the inventory

 

[Sully2]

Just because a bottle has a company name on it doesn't mean it is not a customer owned. You don't get the same set of tanks when you own them, you get an exchange. If you go to airgas and buy a set of tanks you get airgas tanks and you own them. Even a welding supply store can not fill and AC tank. AC tanks have to be filled at an AC plant and no were else. BOC and Airgas own almost all the atmosphere extractors all over the world and certainly in the united states. Most welding supply stores or anyone that deals in tanks ever fill them. In fact they are probably filled by Airgas or BOC gas regardless of who you think your dealing with because the own all the extractors. Once you own a tank and you empty it you will never see that same tank again

I know you are right...but I have ONE BIG problem with that!! I stopped by my local shop and was looking at tanks; torches..etc..and the guy told me that a "new" set of tanks would set me back $350. ( OK..?..I didnt think they would be free or anything!!) and that HE...the welding shop...stamps THEIR NAME in them...and hence...THEY are the only ones that will fill them because the other 2 locations...owned by others...wont do "someone else's tanks". AND..as you stated...if I turned NEW tanks IN..I get back USED...FILLED tanks back!

Frankly..that sounds like total "BS!" to me. Maybe thats the way the game is played...but I aint about to lay out $$ for "new" tanks and get back some used POS!!

 

[Timber]

This is how it works All gas is harvested out of the atmosphere. The atmosphere is made up of 95 percent Nitrogen and all the other gas we use is in the other 5 percent. It is very expensive to process these gasses and the laws have changed over the last 30 years. BOC owns almost all the extraction towers and Airgas owns a much smaller percentage but are the next biggest collector. You are correct to a point. There are some outfits that own a large quantity of customer owned bottles and the rotate and track them but even at that it doesn't work very well. Say welding supply X gives Airgas 200 bottles a week to fill of 30 different gasses and mixes then 110 come back filled in there bottles, well airgas will complete the order with there bottles and the the next week the get 220 of theirs and they give 75 of there bottles and 80 airgas bottles back. do you see were this is going. Now your a body shop and you get your gas from welding supply X and your bottles are out being filled and 2 of your's comes back and 3 say airgas. You own the bottles! & because you have a business to run and need gas for your torch and welder and plasma cutter. So it is imposable to keep the same bottles. You see welding supply X might be able to fill Oxygen or propane and liquid nitrogen. Acetylene has to be done at a special plant and there are all kinds of mixes. Argon, argoshield, Helium mixes, CO2, liquid oxygen, liquid argon, Never mind scientific medical. Artificial atmospheres, Medical oxygen, Medical gas has lot numbers and is a pharmaceutical. You see it doesn't matter who you buy your gas from they are getting there bottles filled at a plant some were off sight. To buy a set of crisp tanks is foolish because the 1st time you turn them in to be filled there gone. I have replaced nice crisp tanks with tanks that have sat outside in a junk yard all winter. I have seen guys get pissed saying I just bought those and you bring me these. That is the gas business.

 

[Timber]

That is what I thought. Since the bottles that are in question here, are the type that have the company name casted into the top of the bottle, is it safe to assume that no one will fill these, even if the company has gone out of business? Isn't the name cast into the bottle the reason they can tell the difference between owned bottles and leased bottles? I know that is the reason that I won't accept any exchange that has a cast in name on the bottle when I exchange my owned bottles. Thanks

Dusty I just want to address the issue of stamping or embossing a company name into a bottle. It doesn't mean very much at all. There was a time when there were many small fill plants that just did a select few kinds of gas like oxygen and CO2 and maybe strait argon but the mixed gasses that came along with better equipment and the advances in the scientific community required more complicated mixes. Purity became more important. That era of buying a set of tanks and going down to the feed and grain store to fill them is long gone. Like I said in the previous post. There is a very small number of outfits that are under contract with there fill company's the keep the same bottles in rotation. In this day and age it doesn't work, The gas business is very regulated and very complicated. When I was hired by BOC I was already skilled in Hasmat and had to go through 6 months of there training before I was weened off to work on my own. You have no idea the training and testing and certifying it takes just to handle the variety of gasses there are

 

[dancer]

My experience is that welding supply companies will work with you -- period. After all, their business is to sell gas rather than refuse to sell gas -- so they have ways to make it happen and I've never felt ripped-off by their methods.
I bought a heavy-duty Victor torch set about 20 years ago in Northern California, and bought used filled tanks of acetylene and oxygen from the same store. Took them home and used them in the rebuild of a '67 Cuda coupe. Later took them to Southern California as household goods and exchanged them there -- different bottles but same amount of gas. I've always kept my paperwork on the purchase and every refill but can only remember one time I've needed it and that was when the bottles I took in needed to be hydrotested before reuse -- which didn't matter to me since I got replacement bottles again anyway. Eventually took my bottles to Colorado, then Maryland, then Virginia, and now Arkansas where they've been "refilled" at least three times. No problem ever. Different bottles each time. Total transaction time each time was about 10 minutes. Total cost each time was about $40. Frankly, I've had more trouble buying Tide at WalMart in all those locations.

 

[Pooh_Bear]

When I get time I am gonna take the oxygen bottle
and grind the raised letters of the neck of it.
Then anywhere it is stamped into the metal
I'm gonna strip the paint off it down to bare metal
and fill it in with bondo or glazing putty
and repaint the tanks to look like new.

No it ain't kosher but $300 mite as well be $1,000,000 for me.
Otherwise these tanks are useless to me and everybody else.

The only alternative for me is a new tank from ebay for $150.
80 cf tank and it comes to me empty and I have to get it filled.

I wish I could find a test date on this tank.

I don't need the acetalyne tank. I'm gonna use propane.

Pooh Bear

 

[Timber]

Tanks are tested every 5 years. I would just grind the raised lettering off. I wouldn't recomend grinding on the AC tank. Just wire brush it and throw a dull black paint on it. I wouldn't go to nuts filling anything. That serial number information doesn't exist anymore. It would look odd if it didn't have part of a serial number on it. You own the tanks. They are your property. You do what you want personally AC is much better than propane. Your not going to get the heat you want. You want to get rid of that AC tank anyway. Your not going to have any problems exchanging them. Drivers never check dates and a cylinder truck holds about 200 bottles depending on the size. 15 to 25 trucks come and go out of the fill plant a day. There is usually a date stamped into the tank near the collar but like I said deal with a driver. Airgas could care less about the bottles. They test them by the 100 and recirculate them. Look these are yours and you don't need to feel guilty about that at all. The only thing I am saying is if they ask you anything tell them what they want to hear period. It isn't about lying or anything, it is about not complicating you situation with a long story. These are the answers.

Tell them ( I need an AC-4 male and a 200 Oxy industrial)
Do you own them (yes)
Do you have any paperwork (Once I did haven't seen it in years)
Are they in test ( I don't Know)
When was the last time they were filled. ( not sure couple of years)

Look there is a way to answerer any question put before you. Trust me on this. Any question you don't want to answer say (I Don't Know)

As soon as that bottle is on the truck its conection to you is gone, It is just another empty bottle

 

[DieselPower]

Have to agree with Timber. Go with AC and not propane. You will be alot happier with the AC's performance.

As far as tanks go. I have been taking a mixed bag of other suppliers tanks to C&O Distributors in Westminster, MD for years and have never had a problem getting them filled. The only thing they usually make me do if it's not one of their tanks is get it preasure tested before they fill it. They also alway's fill my tanks and give them back to me. They swap out tanks only if they are leased.

 

[mschech]

I "bought" tanks i dunno, 25 years ago?
dont look at it as buying - look at it as a lifetime lease.
Back then, in early 80s, it was either $6 a month for lease or $180 for buying a set. Sure, right now the oxy tank looks "like a escapee from the Smithsonian", but hey, it's in the garage, not the living room.

All i do is bring em in and swap em out. take em out of the truck, leave them next to the warehouse door, walk over to office, They just look through the window to verify the size, cash me out, and meet me at the warehouse door, where they give me new ones.

sometimes the tanks have their name, sometimes they dont.

If you show up with tanks, they assume you own em. people who lease get monthly bills from them for their lease - totally seperate from the gas charges.

Thats how the local place does it. We have Airgas too, but i havent dealt with them. And TSC has moved in, and is a LOT closer (15 as opposed to 25miles). Next fill I will probably look into TSC, although I expect they'll be more expensive.

 

[Dusty]

The local gas companies that I have dealt with won't take anyone else's tanks if they have a name cast into the top. Must be a regional thing, but that is what I have run up against. I will give another supplier a try, since I have one bottle that has the name at the top and see if I can exchange it. How does Tractor Supply deal with the tanks with the name at the top? Thanks for the information...
Dusty

 

[Pooh_Bear]

I went out and took another look at the acetalyne tank.
No name on it anywhere that I can find.

TSC won't accept leased tanks.
They have a brochure in their store that decribes what they will/won't accept.
And it list the prices. I have a brochure from last year.

Pooh Bear

 

[Ifixcars]

The welding places around me are picky about only accepting their own tanks. I bought two tanks from one dealer, and trade them in on full ones when they are empty. The other dealer wont take them. They both only lease the bigger tanks, which kind of irks me, cause I go through the smaller tanks on my welders ( I think they are 80 Cu ft) quickly. It doesn't cost all that much more to fill the bigger tanks and the weld times are way longer. I tried to buy big tanks but they just won't go for it. They would rather charge a monthly fee forever is the answer I guess.

 

[Dusty]

The local gas supplier near me will give you the tank for 30 days at no charge, and if you exchange them every 30 days there is never a charge. I also know that they have a yearly plan that is cheaper, but how much less, I don't know. Never asked because I don't use that much gas in a month to need a bigger tank than I already have.
Dusty

 

[Timber]

I have led you to the fountain and told you what to do, If you do not drink the water than I can not help you any further

 

[patrick_g]

Timber, I don't know what panet you are on but I have a lot more O2 in my air than you claim and less nitrogen.

Pat