Used gas welding cylinders

Stephen Newell · Feb 9, 2014

Every year or two I need a cutting and brazing torch set but the cost of the gas bottles is too much for me to get into it. I often see used cylinders on craigslist and wondered if that was an option so I thought I would get opinons. If I got some I would want the 251 cu.ft. cylinders.

Sprint 6 · Feb 9, 2014

Usually the ones on Craigslist are rented cylinders that should not be being sold. If you find some that are legitimately owned, you need to check about getting them filled. Gas companies are very territorial and sometimes won't fill tanks they did not sell. Torch gas is a pain Ianthe butt and getting harder and more expensive, just like everything else.

JMOR · Feb 9, 2014

(quoted from post at 10:33:06 02/09/14) Usually the ones on Craigslist are rented cylinders that should not be being sold. If you find some that are legitimately owned, you need to check about getting them filled. Gas companies are very territorial and sometimes won't fill tanks they did not sell. Torch gas is a pain Ianthe butt and getting harder and more expensive, just like everything else.

Plus they may be in need of hydrostatic testing before anyone will fill them.

Anonymous-0 · Feb 9, 2014

welding supply has 75cf bottles at 178
those are the regular big bottles aren't they?

JMOR · Feb 9, 2014

no........fairly small for OX

GarryinNC · Feb 9, 2014

The biggest cylinders that are 'owned' around here are 160 cubic foot oxygen and 80 cubic foot acetylene. The larger ones are leased. Gas suppliers have disappeared/consolidated here in NC over the last few years and the main company is now Airgas/National Welders.

You really have to know what is offered on CL and at estate auctions. I did buy a complete set of older Smith regulators/torch with bottles at an auction a few years ago for $80. No one would bid very much because the bottles had no 'paper work'. They were owned bottles, just exchange them for full ones when needed. I had learned to recognize the sizes a few years before.

Learn what works in you local area.

Garry

MarkB_MI · Feb 9, 2014

You cannot buy 251 cu ft cylinders outright. You can only lease them. At least that's the case here in Michigan. I'm a little puzzled why you need such large cylinders when you say you only use a torch "every year or two".

Your best bet is to go to your local distributor and purchase the largest tanks they'll sell you outright (probably 125 cf for O2). You would be taking a risk that the distributor closes and other dealers won't fill your tanks. That seems to be a regional thing. Here in SE MI, distributors will exchange just about any tank you bring in, assuming it's a size that is sold outright.

SBogusta · Feb 9, 2014

Why not just lease them? I have argon, oxygen and acetylene that I lease. I don"t think it cost me more than 150 -200 per year. Besides the cost of refills it shouldn"t be very much. I leased mine over 10 years ago and. I do not use them much anymore. I do not know what the policies are these days, but you may want to check it out,

Lou from Wi. · Feb 9, 2014

Stephen,
If you have a TSC locally you can buy the 251 cu in O2 and then have them filled there also. We was going to go that way when we returned our leased tanks. The leasing was too expensive to warranty having anymore, within 3 years we could have bought our own new tanks and had them filled at TSC but driving 130 miles one way just for filling wasn't worth it. The local welding shop wouldn't fill the original 251 tanks, they wanted to exchange them with their used tanks and charge an extra fee for checking the tanks for leaks every time you brought them in.Link below is to TSC o2 tanks, they also handle the acet.tanks in various sizes also.
Hope this helps.
LOU
poke here

big jt · Feb 9, 2014

As far as I know in my area almost everybody "owns". However "owning" is a relative term. When you need to refill you take your tank to your supplier and exchange your empty and some $$ for a full of the same size.

Make sure tanks you buy have caps.

Exchange locations here are Parts stores like NAPA, farm equipment dealers and welding shops.

jt

Stan in Oly, WA · Feb 9, 2014

"More than 10 years" would be a minimum of 11. At $150-$200 per year, 11 years' rental would be $1,650 to $2,200. I'm having trouble figuring out how that's an argument in favor of leasing.

Stan

Stephen Newell · Feb 9, 2014

Well that is my dilemma. The #5 bottle to purchase new is $429.00 and I wouldn't use it often enough to merit the cost. When I do need one I would need it a lot for days at a time so little bottles would drive me nuts. I often see a set of acetylene and oxygen bottles for sale on craigslist for about a hundred bucks. Now I'm seeing something on Norris Cylinder website that the bottles have to be tested every 5 years. I'm wondering if the old bottles on craigslist have expired and what it would cost to re-certify them and how to do it.

Stephen Newell · Feb 9, 2014

The problem is I don't often need the torch set but when I do need one I would need a lot for days at a time.

MarkB_MI · Feb 9, 2014

The issue is probably not the recertification but whether you can get them filled at all. If the hydrotest is out of date, that just gives the distributor one more reason not to fill the tank.

In practice, if the distributor has a lax policy about which tanks they'll accept, the test date won't be an issue. Around here, they just exchange them without checking the date; if it needs testing I think the gas company eats the cost. Still, If you're going to take a chance buying a tank from a private party, don't pay for a tank with an expired date.

JMOR · Feb 9, 2014

(quoted from post at 18:41:18 02/09/14) Well that is my dilemma. The #5 bottle to purchase new is $429.00 and I wouldn't use it often enough to merit the cost. When I do need one I would need it a lot for days at a time so little bottles would drive me nuts. I often see a set of acetylene and oxygen bottles for sale on craigslist for about a hundred bucks. Now I'm seeing something on Norris Cylinder website that the bottles have to be tested every 5 years. I'm wondering if the old bottles on craigslist have expired and what it would cost to re-certify them and how to do it.

1 don't put much in what you read here! Someone already said, it is very dependent on your local supplier. Here, (& you can't count on this being where you are) I own several of the 244 size OX and have no hassle in getting a refill, with the exception that if I return one that is past due for testing, that gets me a $20 surcharge. CHECK with YOUR LOCAL supplier before buying tanks/cylinders!! If you don't do gas welding, just heating & cutting, you can virtually eliminate the cost of Acetylene cylinder and use cheaper gas....propane.

js305 · Feb 9, 2014

I read all of the answers with interest. I'm in basically the same boat. I purchased a set of the largest bottles I could find from a local welding supply outfit in 1978. We had just moved out onto a ten acre piece of ground and at the time I thought I could justify owning them. Well, I guess I did just that for the first few years, getting them "refilled" (exchanged really) at least twice or three times a year.

Since then, the place where I made the purchase has sold out, the new owners had no problem continuing with my business, then they sold out, and the new owners priced themselves out of business and closed. I went to another supplier and they required an original bill of sale before they could help me. I did have a copy and have done business with them since then.

Now, I'm doing likewise, needing a refill maybe once in five years or longer. So far, I'm known in the store but each time I need more I take a deep breath and hope things are still the same. Laws and regulations have changed and people all tell me around here that one cannot buy a set of bottles outright any more. I don't know about the little ones that you can buy at Home Depot and places like that.

My advice is make friends with someone at one of those places and things will work out in the long run.

Stephen Newell · Feb 9, 2014

Well things are different in different parts of the country and I did ask for options. The only experience I have with welding gas is I own a little bottle of argon I've had for about 20 years I just take it to my supplier and they refill it for me.

At present I just need to repair a furniture stripping tank I let sit outdoors for the last 20 years because I didn't have space in my shop for it. One corner has rotted out and I need to braze a sheet metal patch in it. It would need to be welded with brass as in use the chemicals would eat up lead solder or rust a steel weld. I repaired it once when I was using it with a small electric welder but it was hard to keep from burning bigger holes and it really rusted bad where the welding was done.

I do have projects from time to time I need a cutting torch for.

Stephen Newell · Feb 9, 2014

Where is the date on the bottle so I can look.

moresmoke · Feb 9, 2014

Have you checked with a supplier if they will rent you tanks. Short term, return them when done? Pretty common for construction companies on large projects.

k6zrx · Feb 9, 2014

Around here, any cylinder that is not owned by a supplier has "Customer Owned" or nothing at all stamped on the boss below where the cap screws on. Our supplier has small barcode tags on every cylinder, even customer owned ones that are refilled, for tracking. We exchange our empty "owned" cylinders for filled ones, and those then become ours. I think hyrdo test is priced into the exchange. The only ones that we get filled and keep are the small aluminum cylinders, like soda pop CO2, that have argon for the portable TIG.

If you exchange "owned" cylinders, be sure the one they give you is unmarked or marked customer owned so you don't have problems later.

This reminds me I need to call my supplier and have the truck come exchange my 360CuFt argon cylinder.

Josh

js305 · Feb 9, 2014

Look on the "shoulder" of the bottles. Depending on just how old they are, there may be several dates stamped into the metal of the tank. Look for the newest date. Most bottles have to be tested at least every five years. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think some new bottles have an initial ten year date, denoted by a star symbol next to the date, or it may be a diamond.

The oldest one I ever had had a ring on the neck that said US Army and the earliest date was 1928. It was much heavier than others I had lifted. I bet that bottle is still being used somewhere.

Pops1532 · Feb 10, 2014

I own 4 sets of tanks and none have customer owned stamped on them.
Originally my welding gas supplier would exchange acetylene tanks and refill my oxygen tanks onsite. That supplier was bought up by a bigger outfit. The new company started exchanging oxygen tanks instead of refilling my tanks onsite. That was fine with me until it caused problems because they kept track of customer owned tanks by serial number. Those numbers that were on file didn't get changed when they exchanged tanks.
That company is now gone and no one that owns their tanks has a receipt that matches the serial number on the tanks they now own!
A new supplier came to the area. I haven't dealt with them yet, but I hear they are treating customer owned tanks without titles as lieftime lease tanks as a way to get around the law.

Back to the OP's question..... Ask your local supplier what they require as far as customer owned tanks.

MarkB_MI · Feb 10, 2014

The test dates are stamped near the top of the cylinder. They are not difficult to find.
Gas cylinder markings

Stephen Newell · Feb 10, 2014

Thankyou for the link. It was very helpful so I copied it into my computer.

Stephen Newell · Feb 10, 2014

No, I didn't know short term rental was an option. I will give that a try. Thanks

Stephen Newell · Feb 10, 2014

That's a good idea. I was beginning to think I was going to have to gamble and buy the used tanks and go to different places to try to get them filled.

Bill in IL · Feb 10, 2014

I have 7 bottles from 80cf to 250cf for the torch and welder. Here in Illinois there is not title system anymore. Just take the tank in and trade for a different one of the same size. Have dealt with airgas and more so now praxair. Have bought all my tanks second hand and have never been questioned about where they came from.

I hear in other parts of the county you guys are not so lucky.

davyfireball · Feb 11, 2014

I bought mine back in 75 and they have a title just like a car. On that title it says that I can sell them back to the suppler for the (going rate) So I paid $200 per tank. I can sell them back for the price that a new tank cost.Mine are very large tanks.I just take them in and swap.

Used gas welding cylinders

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