Thread: looking for welding gas

Originally Posted by Nat the Welder

Hi all i am looking for a saler in nsw that has welding gas where you get the gas bottel and do not have to rent it of them thanks

I tried to do this not long ago, there was no company willing to sell me a bottle.

I dont understand why as you can buy CO2 and LPG bottles so why not argon

I hered of a saler on ebay that had just started seling them but just in nsw

Do not buy from the ebay seller there is nothing to say he can't sell them, if you buy them no one in Australia will refill them

There was one on ebay from nsw selling them and id say he is probably the only one who could fill it back up for you.

Originally Posted by old_fella

There was one on ebay from nsw selling them and id say he is probably the only one who could fill it back up for you.

Got a link? I had a look before and could only find those small canisters which dont look like they would last long.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/SIP-DISPOSABL...item5d2ba4b68e

This may be the place that used to sell them on Ebay, they are at the same locations.
http://www.speedgas.com.au/home.html
Mark

From what I can discern on the website the only gas available for (tig ) welding is argon. The rest are food grade gases that are intended for beer gas.

Sorry guys, you will have to bite the bullet and realise that the big 3 welding gas suppliers have the game sewn up.
Small disposable cylinders AKA SIP last for a whole several minutes of arc time,so any cost efficientcy is out the window.

Those who have had an LP gas cylinder knocked back for refill will know that that every 10 years it must be checked or chucked.

These LP gas cylinders operate at a substantially lower cylinder pressure that argon or argoshield cylinders which are around 2000 PSI. You have to pay somewhere either at inspection interval or during the rental period.

Thw inpection fee for these high pressure cylinders would put you off when the 10 years came around.

Co2 as a sheilding gas is just not worth the effort if your are talking mig as it severely limits the scope of your welding capabilities.

Grahame

Probably this bloke....

E Welding Welder Argon MIG TIG Cylinder including Gas (eBay item 140478626345 end time Dec-13-10 15:05:48 EST)

only viable if you are nearby in my opinion.

Supagas, I've heard, have, or are proposing a similar scheme, but at around 1k to buy the bottle, plus the hydrostatic test, hmmm, just got be content with being bent over.

Originally Posted by Grahame Collins

From what I can discern on the website the only gas available for (tig ) welding is argon. The rest are food grade gases that are intended for beer gas.

Sorry guys, you will have to bite the bullet and realise that the big 3 welding gas suppliers have the game sewn up.
Small disposable cylinders AKA SIP last for a whole several minutes of arc time,so any cost efficientcy is out the window.

Those who have had an LP gas cylinder knocked back for refill will know that that every 10 years it must be checked or chucked.

These LP gas cylinders operate at a substantially lower cylinder pressure that argon or argoshield cylinders which are around 2000 PSI. You have to pay somewhere either at inspection interval or during the rental period.

Thw inpection fee for these high pressure cylinders would put you off when the 10 years came around.

Co2 as a sheilding gas is just not worth the effort if your are talking mig as it severely limits the scope of your welding capabilities.

Grahame

Agree with everything you've said here Grahame and yes you wouldn't bother to pay an inspection fee on the the cylinders. If as an operator you are looking to save money on GAS then you're not charging enough for your work.

It's a simple case of scaling effect.

I enjoy the sport of paintball. The airtanks which propel the balls tend to be filled between 3,000 to 4,500PSI depending on bottle construction. The air is then regulated to, from very loose memory, to 150PSI to propel the ball at 300 feet per second, which can leave a very impressive welt from even a good twenty metres away.

A bottle of Argon appears to get pressurised to 20,000PSI.
Open the valve without a regulator and without hearing protection, and the sound is incredibly harsh.

Imagine a bottle like that failing. I suspect the damage it could cause would be considerably fearsome. And for this reason, I'm happy to pay the rental on a bottle which the company I'm renting off is hopefully doing regular checks on, and unless the fine print (Which as a Man I did not read ) states otherwise, they should be able to be held accountable for any bottle failure (Provided someone is still standing after said failure).

In the grand scheme of things, for the home user, the rental price and refill cost isn't that terrible when compared to things such as pay TV, magazine subscriptions, spur of the moment purchases etc. And you need to consider, if your health worth trying to shave a few dollars off what you pay?

Originally Posted by LordBug

A bottle of Argon appears to get pressurised to 20,000PSI.

I think you find thats Kpa not PSI

Grahame

I've also been considering what to do about MIG gas as (as a hobbyist) I don't use a lot of gas, but still have to pay the hefty rental charges (and don't have customers to on-charge the expense). I was actually at the point of considering selling my MIG.

Anyway I was talking to a mate and he mentioned he had a cylinder of CO2 laying around that he used for home brewing. So I borrowed it and gave it a go (what have I got to lose?). Now this is 100% food grade CO2 (no nitrogen).

There is certainly a difference in the weld appearance (not nearly as smooth as Argosheild) and it was harder to maintain a constant and steady arc.

That said, I am now seriously considering buying a CO2 cylinder and regulator. I reckon it will cost me about $350 and that will last me approx 10 years (depending on cylinder age) excluding possible gas refills during that time ... that's certainly better than $160 a year (and that's just rental) for argosheild.

Originally Posted by Vernonv

I've also been considering what to do about MIG gas as (as a hobbyist) I don't use a lot of gas, but still have to pay the hefty rental charges (and don't have customers to on-charge the expense). I was actually at the point of considering selling my MIG.

Anyway I was talking to a mate and he mentioned he had a cylinder of CO2 laying around that he used for home brewing. So I borrowed it and gave it a go (what have I got to lose?). Now this is 100% food grade CO2 (no nitrogen).

There is certainly a difference in the weld appearance (not nearly as smooth as Argosheild) and it was harder to maintain a constant and steady arc.

That said, I am now seriously considering buying a CO2 cylinder and regulator. I reckon it will cost me about $350 and that will last me approx 10 years (depending on cylinder age) excluding possible gas refills during that time ... that's certainly better than $160 a year (and that's just rental) for argosheild.

Would you be looking to refill with CO2 or Argoshield?
I used CO2 once very briefly, was a pretty crook weld and porous too.

The mate uses beer gas no worries

Regards..Oddjob1