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Welding For Beginners?


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Posted

Seems as good a place to ask as any, has anyone got any tips on getting gas cylinders refilled?

 

A few years ago I worked in a pub so got them to get me a bottle of CO2.

 

It was GR13 VALU at £15 and has recently run out mid Alfa weldathon.

 

I've just taken it to a local beer gas place in the hope of a refill but they won't do it as apparently my bottle belongs to "Air Liquide" so I'm a criminal and should be treated like one.

 

 

Does anyone else use pub CO2 and if so how do you get refills? If I ever went to pubs I suppose I could ask there but I don't.

 

I'm quite prepared to bend over and pay the deposit and get some argon mix from Hobbyweld etc, just wondered what everyone else is doing.

 

 

CHEERZ.

Posted

I have a local firm (SGS Gases) who do pub gases and drop me bottles in/collect the old ones when they're delivering in the area - they actually do me argon mix as well as CO2 as they make argon anyway for other uses. They're peanuts compared to most specialist welding gas places - I pay a tenner a year for bottle rental and about £25 for a refill, and the collection/delivery is free, so it might be worth finding out who supplies your local pubs.

Posted

The crowd I'm going to use when I replace my old MIG is called Hobbyweld, was recom'd by friends, they have outlets all over the place. You buy the bottle initally and just pay to refill as necessary.

 

I thought the 'Pub-gas' route was a thing of the past, didn't breweries cotton on to this quite fast when their CO2 bottles started going AWOL very often? Plus didn't they start using nitrogen in the mix to try to spoil everything - or is that just a BS myth? 

  • Like 1
Posted

Dunno, I think the pub gases come in different options and the mob I attempted to buy a refill from definitely have welding gas and 100% CO2 on their website.

 

http://beergasexpress.co.uk/welding-gas/

 

Anyway at the time it was a great idea, if it's no longer possible then so be it.

 

SGS gases have a stockist near me so I might pop in there and see whats what.

Posted

Argon, or Argon mix (co2/argon) is meant to be the business for sad old bleating back street mechanics. I used it and didn't really notice much difference but I'm far from a professional.

 

I've tried to get pub gas many times - loads of garage owners I know can get it for me, but when I actually need it, nobody can get it.

  • Like 1
Posted

I must have been on too much coffee this morning - it's J&R I'm using, not SGS. No idea where that came from :D

Argon with 5% CO2 or similar gives a lot less spatter and a smoother arc so it's definately nice to have over CO2 for thin bodywork, Co2 works fine if you have it though.

  • Like 1
Posted

Just spoke to J&R depot in Penistone, bottle rental is 5 years upfront at £55 + vat and £26 a fill for Argon trimix.

 

So first bottle is £93 all in and £26 for a fill thereafter.

 

Bit steep but I suppose it's only £20 a year - based on my last gas bottle I'm unlikely to use it all in 5 years unless I decide to buy a Mini or something.

 

The other option I've seen is this guy in Stockport:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172589723812?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

Not entirely convinced on the listing skillz though, cheaper upfront but would you then be stuck with a cylinder nobody else will fill if your man disappears?

Posted

I bought a pub gas bottle years ago off ebay and I take it to a local fire extinguisher shop for a refill every couple of years, costs about £20. Last time, they said the bottle was ‘out of date’ but just gave me another bottle with a few years left on it, and chucked my old one in their ‘to do’ pile (I think they pressure test em, leak test the valve and repaint the cylinders).

Posted

I'll have to try that Mr B.I was told that refills were about £50 odd from the proper place

Posted

C02 has a cleaner weld profile. Mixed with argon (argoshield) makes it cheaper.

Posted

This guy is on my list, £65 for a 10l/6kg bottle and then £20 for refills.

 

http://yorkshire-co2gas.co.uk

 

He will also refill any in date cylinder that isn't robbed off BOC or somewhere (boo!) for £20.

Posted

I've also found out that CO2 fire extinguishers use the same fittings as pub gas cylinders, so you can actually use them as welding gas if you've got a CO2 regulator and can find a way to keep the trigger squeezed.

Posted

I get mine from Rufforth A/J, first Sat of the month. Its Co2/ Argon mix AFAIK. Think its £18 plus bottle.

He used to do Huddersfield A/J, but doesn't now.

If you still need some let me know towards the end of this month, I'll pick one up for you and drop it if you are Huddersfield.

I probably have a spare empty bottle somewhere.

Posted

I've had a BOC account for bloody years.

 

Changed the bottle a couple of years ago and found there was a £14 collection charge.

 

Changed it last week. I've gone for a larger bottle........mainly because it is cheaper.

 

I was on size X and rental was £68 a year and gas about £27 a go. Plus £14 collection fee or £25 delivery

 

Spoke to BOC......now on size Y which is twice the amount of gas. Rental now £43 for year and gas about £27 a go. no charge for collection. Apparently this is the volkszone deal.

 

The gas is argoshield light.........and it's the argon bit that is expensive not the co2.

 

Plain co2 gives a very hot weld.........apparently. Not sure it matters a lot though.........it's not like I'm welding bits for the space shuttle.

Posted
  On 03/04/2017 at 18:07, Dave_Q said:

This guy is on my list, £65 for a 10l/6kg bottle and then £20 for refills.

 

http://yorkshire-co2gas.co.uk

 

He will also refill any in date cylinder that isn't robbed off BOC or somewhere (boo!) for £20.

I've had gas off him a few times. Quite a strange setup, some old boy passing you a freshly filled gas cylinder out of the front door of his mid terrace house. I lent my bottle to "someone" and now it's gone ffs.

Posted
  On 03/04/2017 at 19:34, Mally said:

I get mine from Rufforth A/J, first Sat of the month. Its Co2/ Argon mix AFAIK. Think its £18 plus bottle.

He used to do Huddersfield A/J, but doesn't now.

If you still need some let me know towards the end of this month, I'll pick one up for you and drop it if you are Huddersfield.

I probably have a spare empty bottle somewhere.

 

Thanks, that's a very kind offer but I'm in the middle of welding up a car so need to get some this week really. 

 

I think I'm gonna go and get some from Cobblers' mate in Donny - £65 all in isn't too bad with no rental or owt, if I went for argon mix from J&R it would be about £105 in total as I'd have to get an adaptor to use my regulator as well.

Posted
  On 03/04/2017 at 18:59, Dave_Q said:

I've also found out that CO2 fire extinguishers use the same fittings as pub gas cylinders, so you can actually use them as welding gas if you've got a CO2 regulator and can find a way to keep the trigger squeezed.

 

you need to use the extinguisher upside down though , as they have a dip tube which makes liquid co2 come out when you pull the trigger, this would freeze the regulator  ;-) 

i would guess a cable tie would hold the trigger on and could be slipped along the handle to shut off the gas when you are finished.

Posted
  On 03/04/2017 at 17:47, Bren said:

C02 has a cleaner weld profile. Mixed with argon (argoshield) makes it cheaper.

CO2 is cheaper, Argosheild gives a flatter bead with a smoother arc. Argon is more expensive than CO2 is.

 

Argoshield has small percentages of C02 and often oxygen added to keep good penetration on a MIG, pure Argon for TIG though.

Posted

hobbyweld argon 5% 9 litre for me

 

Inc VAT

£72 deposit on the bottle - most of which you get back if you keep the paperwork. no annual charge shit either

£39 / fill

 

On all the weldage that I have done on the Range Rover project I have used nearly half the bottle

 

I didnt go for Hobbyweld 5 ultra which comes with a built in regulator because that was way more expensive than the above and me buying a regulator

Posted

I use a local wholesale place for my co2. £16 a refill.

 

Sent from my F5321 using Tapatalk

Posted

^I think £15-20 a refill is possible for CO2 but it turns out nobody will refill a stolen cylinder.

 

Something to watch out for if looking to buy one on ebay.

 

 

Anyway I went balls deep and got a 10L "argon 5" from J&R gases, hopefully the better gas will make me a welding god.

 

I could have saved £30 or so getting the CO2 from Doncaster, but then I would have had a 2 hour round trip to go and get it.

Posted

I use hobby weld too for an argo mix. Not bad price wise given the amount use.

I had a weldfest last night and the side of my face feels like it's been stuck under a heat lamp even though I had my full mask on.

Posted
  On 04/04/2017 at 15:09, Dave_Q said:

^I think £15-20 a refill is possible for CO2 but it turns out nobody will refill a stolen cylinder.

 

 

 

The place I go to will fill a cylinder that isn't theirs. I got mine from a local council recycling centre. I actually got around 5 cylinders but found out I needed a specific style fitting of CO2 which fitted on the wholesalers machine so took all of the cylinders that wouldn't work back to the dump.

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