10 replies to this topic

[Daveuk]

to put it simply i've ran out of welding gas,

i have a 5ft cylinder a mate got me which is from airproducts.

he is unable to source me anymore so i'm going to have to find either a refill somehow or start from scratch and rent another.

my query is how have you guys gone about acquiring some argonshield (CO2/argon mix), im currently researching so when i go to get some at least to the other person i know what im talking about ha ha

i'm assuming boc won't refill this cylinder and airproducts will question where i got this from as i don't have an open account with them with a bottle out on rent (yer i aquired this cylinder throu the back channels)

i've searched on here and seen people get a X size cylinder form boc and filled it up that way, however i was hoping to just get a refill on mine.

any help or pointers will be greatly appreciated

cheers Dave

[lrostoke]

It may just be worth being cheeky and going see if BOC will do anything for you, If they are open Saturday mornings normally find those are best days when main bosses aren't in.

I did mine the backdoor way a few year ago, had it through a companies account I deal with, I've just had a replacement and they did if an RRR at first because even though same account they had non of the big cylinders listed against the account ??

If all else fails what about CO2, most beer gas suppliers should be able to sort that.

[Daveuk]

i think thats my only option just go in and see, just wanted some info so i don't go in there lookin like a complete newbie.....

[tommy13]

Looked into this a while ago as my son wants a MIG welder. BOC will not exchange of fill an Air Products cylinder, they will however open an account for anyone, but the rental is expensive, over £100 a year plus £40 for the gas depending on size of cylinder. This is an expensive solution if you only use the welder occasionally. The days of bunging the bloke down the scrapyard £20 to swap a bottle are long gone, and all BOC bottles are now tagged.
Pub Co2 can be used but doesn't give as neat a weld and more splatter than the 5% argon mix.
There are bottles full and empty on E-bay and places which presumably can refill them, but many are far away from my location.
The prices I quote from BOC are only roughly what I remember as I threw the brochure away as a non starter. There is a link here with everything you need to know under the various tabs.
http://www.boconline.co.uk/
All you will need to know is the cylinder size and type of gas(Argoshield light usually) and they will tell you the rest.
I'm sure there are many (me included) who will like to know what you find out. Please keep us posted.

[Daveuk]

yer i will keep you all updated to what i get, i will be going for the argoshield as thats whats i have been using so far, cost do not matter for me at the minute as i need to still do alot of welding,

cheers

[cambiker71]

Looked into this a while ago as my son wants a MIG welder. BOC will not exchange of fill an Air Products cylinder, they will however open an account for anyone, but the rental is expensive, over £100 a year plus £40 for the gas depending on size of cylinder. This is an expensive solution if you only use the welder occasionally. The days of bunging the bloke down the scrapyard £20 to swap a bottle are long gone, and all BOC bottles are now tagged.
Pub Co2 can be used but doesn't give as neat a weld and more splatter than the 5% argon mix.
There are bottles full and empty on E-bay and places which presumably can refill them, but many are far away from my location.
The prices I quote from BOC are only roughly what I remember as I threw the brochure away as a non starter. There is a link here with everything you need to know under the various tabs.
http://www.boconline.co.uk/
All you will need to know is the cylinder size and type of gas(Argoshield light usually) and they will tell you the rest.
I'm sure there are many (me included) who will like to know what you find out. Please keep us posted.

Cost is about £60 per year to rent the bottle (I have size x), the gas is as you say for a refill around £40, but this will do around 10 times the amount of welding that four disposable bottles will cost, which last about 35 mins of welding (roughly one disposable bottle to do a mini wing as a vague comparison)
You can save on the rental by using the gas up and dropping the empty bottle back to a BOC agent without exchanging it for a full one. Then keep your account open and when you next need a bottle to do some welding go and collect one. I use mine a fair bit and it's far cheaper than the rubbish disposable bottles overall.
Hope this helps

Edited by cambiker71, 16 May 2010 - 02:58 PM.

[Ethel]

Have a look on miw-welding.co.uk, there are other companies with other charge structures, & I think there was a thread on here about a BOC deal for hobbyists.

Looked into this a while ago as my son wants a MIG welder. BOC will not exchange of fill an Air Products cylinder, they will however open an account for anyone, but the rental is expensive, over £100 a year plus £40 for the gas depending on size of cylinder. This is an expensive solution if you only use the welder occasionally. The days of bunging the bloke down the scrapyard £20 to swap a bottle are long gone, and all BOC bottles are now tagged.
Pub Co2 can be used but doesn't give as neat a weld and more splatter than the 5% argon mix.
There are bottles full and empty on E-bay and places which presumably can refill them, but many are far away from my location.
The prices I quote from BOC are only roughly what I remember as I threw the brochure away as a non starter. There is a link here with everything you need to know under the various tabs.
http://www.boconline.co.uk/
All you will need to know is the cylinder size and type of gas(Argoshield light usually) and they will tell you the rest.
I'm sure there are many (me included) who will like to know what you find out. Please keep us posted.

Cost is about £60 per year to rent the bottle (I have size x), the gas is as you say for a refill around £40, but this will do around 10 times the amount of welding that four disposable bottles will cost, which last about 35 mins of welding (roughly one disposable bottle to do a mini wing as a vague comparison)
You can save on the rental by using the gas up and dropping the empty bottle back to a BOC agent without exchanging it for a full one. Then keep your account open and when you next need a bottle to do some welding go and collect one. I use mine a fair bit and it's far cheaper than the rubbish disposable bottles overall.
Hope this helps

[Jordie]

we use just co2 and get it filled by a local fire extingusher type company. Its about £8-£10 for a bottle. When i say bottle im talking waist height on me, so about 3ft-4ft tall.

[Daveuk]

cheers cambiker

co2/argon mix is what i'm after so a trip to airproducts or boc, see which can do me a deal.

[cambiker71]

cheers cambiker

co2/argon mix is what i'm after so a trip to airproducts or boc, see which can do me a deal.

No problem, that's what i use, Argoshield light from BOC as the agent is only a few miles from me

[Daveuk]

whoo hoo got me self a nice bottle of argonshield!

rang boc on this number 01619 306822 (i was under the assumption you needed to talk to justin) doesn't matter who you speak to just ask if they've still got the argonshield discount offer on, they setup an account and they find the nearest place to pick up.

(note remember to take id and bank account details....) yes i forgot but still managed to get some gas ha ha

simple!!

only cost me £61 for gas and year rental

next year it will be £35, refills are £24.50



old large one is 5ft the new one is 3ft damn i must have had some moneys worth to begin with!

hope this helps everyone