Argon

Zach_T · Tue Jun 17, 2014 2:49 am

I'm planning to start teaching myself tig soon and all I need now is a bottle of Argon I've seen small bottles and I'm curious on what bottle size would be best? I plan to tig a lot an I'm wondering if I should just spend a little more on a bigger bottle or just buy a small one for now and maybe upgrade later on?

RichardH · Tue Jun 17, 2014 4:43 am

Call around to your local welding gas supply houses to get pricing - it'll influence your thinking. E.g., you might find that it's only twice as much to fill a 330cf vs. an 80cf cylinder. You will also find a wide range of prices between shops, so it pays to call around.

Also ask about renting bottles - it can take a few years to break-even on buying a large bottle vs. renting one. See what they charge to re-certify a bottle, and also if they'll refill customer-owned bottles above a certain size. (This varies by locale, probably due to local laws.)

The bigger bottles are hard to move around, weighing close to 200 pounds. The small bottles obviously run out faster. If you're not mobile, you can park a big bottle in the corner and it's not a problem. Around here, 125cf and 220cf bottles are fairly common on Craigslist; check with your local shops for pointers to make sure you're not buying someone's old rental bottle.

Other tips... Use a small line from your flow meter to your welder (like 0.170" i.d. / 0.250 o.d. white poly line from Home Depot) and/or look at putting a valve at the back of your welder to regulate the flow there instead of at the cylinder. It'll avoid the gas surge at the start of each weld, which can waste a lot of argon. Check out this thread: http://forum.weldingtipsandtricks.com/v ... =10#p26728

Cheers,
Richard

Val-Weld · Tue Jun 17, 2014 7:55 am

I think you should go w/ a 125 or the 200. I' m understanding that you have bought a tig so for it to work you need a bottle? I'm a dealer for AirGas ..Just remember to look on " your" bottle on the tag in the lower right-hand corner an trade only with the same gas company.They have a list of who they trade with too.(other gas companies) As for the needle value contraption , your on your own for that one. Just use soapy water in a spray bottle when checking for leaks at all fittings .So if you forget to turn your bottle off , You Will Really waste some gas! As for rental tanks ,they used to be different colors ,but about 10 years ago AirGas stopped its different colors.Now we roll all the same color tanks. They have all the info from the person renting the tank to charge if they break the lease agreement . ---BUY A TANK--- .

dirtmidget33 · Tue Jun 17, 2014 9:30 am

If you are planning to use it a lot get biggest bottle you can. Biggest argon normally is 300 or so size. As for as lease, place i deal with has 5, 10, 20 year leases you pay one time lease fee. You will not hear from that company until lease is up. Of course you will exchange tank before that happens. As for as refills the larger tanks are just slighty more in price to refill but the volume makes up for price difference. Example 300 is $70 to exchange while 150 or 125 (don't remember next tank down size exactly) is $55 to exchange extra 20 bucks gets you twice the gas basically.

Oscar · Tue Jun 17, 2014 12:58 pm

dirtmidget33 wrote:If you are planning to use it a lot get biggest bottle you can. Biggest argon normally is 300 or so size. As for as lease, place i deal with has 5, 10, 20 year leases you pay one time lease fee. You will not hear from that company until lease is up. Of course you will exchange tank before that happens. As for as refills the larger tanks are just slighty more in price to refill but the volume makes up for price difference. Example 300 is $70 to exchange while 150 or 125 (don't remember next tank down size exactly) is $55 to exchange extra 20 bucks gets you twice the gas basically.

If I had to do it all over again, I would have done this ^^^^^^

rick9345 · Tue Jun 17, 2014 1:22 pm

I am home hobby/welder/fabricater I HAVE 2 OF THE 300 CF BOTTLES(BIGGEST SIZE)
each last about 6 mos. keep the spare full as I usually run out on the weekend
and yes bigger fill is cheaper per CF

AKweldshop · Tue Jun 17, 2014 6:09 pm

Zach,
Buy as big of one as you can get your hands on.
I started out with (2) 84 cuft bottles , one argon,other c25.
They cost $48 each to fill.

Right now I have (2) 155cuft bottles.
One argon, other c25.
They cost $68 to fill.

I'll be getting bigger ones ASAP.

Good luck.
Obtw,
Watch CL, and call your lws before you buy it.
Ask me how I know.

~John

dirtmidget33 · Tue Jun 17, 2014 9:01 pm

AKweldshop wrote:Zach,
Buy as big of one as you can get your hands on.
I started out with (2) 84 cuft bottles , one argon,other c25.
They cost $48 each to fill.

Right now I have (2) 155cuft bottles.
One argon, other c25.
They cost $68 to fill.

I'll be getting bigger ones ASAP.

Good luck.
Obtw,
Watch CL, and call your lws before you buy it.
Ask me how I know.

~John

oh oh did you get stuck buying a stolen tank. Just so you know Zack_T most LWS have the tanks with serial number mine uses a scan tags so if anyone steals your tank and brings it into one of there stores they know whos tank it was.

Riverrat · Tue Jun 17, 2014 9:07 pm

Hey zach i agree with akweldshop just get the big ones. If your just learning you'll go threw alot of gas and I'd rather be welding than running back and forth to the gas suppler. Good luck.

Zach_T · Wed Jun 18, 2014 12:18 am

Thank you everyone for your replies I talked to my lws and they set me up with the biggest tank they have all I have to do is save up to buy and ill be on my way!

RichardH · Wed Jun 18, 2014 12:57 am

Val-Weld wrote:I think you should go w/ a 125 or the 200. I' m understanding that you have bought a tig so for it to work you need a bottle? I'm a dealer for AirGas ..Just remember to look on " your" bottle on the tag in the lower right-hand corner an trade only with the same gas company.They have a list of who they trade with too.(other gas companies) As for the needle value contraption , your on your own for that one. Just use soapy water in a spray bottle when checking for leaks at all fittings .So if you forget to turn your bottle off , You Will Really waste some gas! As for rental tanks ,they used to be different colors ,but about 10 years ago AirGas stopped its different colors.Now we roll all the same color tanks. They have all the info from the person renting the tank to charge if they break the lease agreement . ---BUY A TANK--- .

Why only exchange bottles with the last company on the label? That's the whole point of owner bottles - you can can get them refilled anywhere and you don't pay rental.

The thing to watch out for is if the bottle has a company name cast on the heavy ring on the neck. If so, it may be a rental bottle, in which case you'd be challenged to get it refilled. But that's not always the case; there are plenty of companies no longer in existence, but their bottles are still in circulation as owner bottles. If there's a name on the neck, just check it with your LWS before you buy it.

As for the needle valve thing, that's exactly what a flow regulator is. That one just happens to be on the smarter end of the hose.

dynasty200sd · Wed Jun 18, 2014 4:04 am

Also, check to see if your LWS delivers (unless the store is a stone's throw away). In my case, the south region Airgas store I swap my tanks with in Pensacola, FL delivers for a $12 fee. The store is 36 miles away, where the cost in fuel for my truck would run me currently around $20-25 dollars.