Shopping around for welding gas

[Nozzle]

So having discovered at least one reason for my rhubarby welding job on a floor pan is that I was using CO2 instead of Argon mix, I've decided now is probably a good time to get a bulk cylinder of the stuff rather than rhubarb money up a wall with disposables.

The cheapest I've found so far is BOC both in annual rent (£68.50) and refilling (£44.77) for an X-sized cylinder. That is, until I had a phone call the other day from an Air Liquide agent who offered me a rent-free option. Does anyone know about these little things:http://www.minitop.ca/minitop.asp?lng=en

Though this website only features O2 and acetylene, they also fill these Minitop cylinders with Argon and Argon mix, available in 5 and 11 litre sizes (I'm yet to find out what pressure and/or volume of gas they're filled to), they're £200 for 11 litre, £165 for 5 litre and the cylinder is bought out-right, so no continuing charges, perhaps an exchange next time you fill it. (filling = £37.50/£33.14). And they have a built in regulator, so no need to spend out cash on one of those, plus it sits inside the collar of the cylinder so wont get damaged if the cylinder falls over...

Has anyone come across these during the course of their welding or maybe at work? Do you know how much gas goes into the 5 and 11 litre cylinders??

Nozzle

edit - IIRC the bloke said that delivery was included? Odd for such a small cylinder!

[dazzler]

Hey

I use BOC, mainly becuase they are easy and i have a local dealer for them

Best thing i ever did was move to Argoshield (<spelling?)

[Zippyrude]

Same here
i use boc with no regrets. Ok not cheap but thats acceptable for me atm

[ibrooks]

Whats the problem with CO2 - works fine for me and it's significantly cheaper than Argon or Argoshield. No reason to go for anything exotic if you're just working with mild steel.

Iain

[asahartz]

Whats the problem with CO2 - works fine for me and it's significantly cheaper than Argon or Argoshield. No reason to go for anything exotic if you're just working with mild steel.

Iain

I'm fine with plain CO2 as well - but CO2/Argon mix is definitely nicer to weld with.

[NuFab]

I use Severn Gas Supplies in Worcester... £25 for the bottle, then £25 per refill, and no rental. I've so far done doorsteps, full floors, and wheelarches on both side of my car, plus god knows how many patches, plus learning to weld, and I've nearly finished my second bottle.

Don't know what size the bottles are, but it is about 3ft tall, and they fill it with Argoshield.

I have to go and fetch refills, but then Worcester isn't far from home in Birmingham... plus it's a nice place for a spot of lunch after getting my new bottle!

[Nozzle]

Whats the problem with CO2 - works fine for me and it's significantly cheaper than Argon or Argoshield. No reason to go for anything exotic if you're just working with mild steel.

Iain

I soldiered on with CO2 as I already have a cylinder of it, but struggled with my floor pan/inner sill patch, particularly with positional welding - Did a little reading up and found that CO2 isn't really any good with lower voltage settings, so to counter this I was turning up the wire speed (which increases current) to get the power in to melt the bead. So I was either ending up with a high bead or blowing holes. Bought a little bottle of Argon/CO2 mix and the difference was phenominal, like a new welding machine. with Argon/CO2 I can get a stable spark at lower voltages and this is so much better for thin material

Nozzle

[Nozzle]

The deal was done: £165+Vat for the 5 litre cylinder:


Though in this image it looks about half the size, but that's just the perspective - it's about 2/3 as high and slightly larger diameter than the pub gas CO2 cylinder. Only it's charged to 200 bar too, apparently containing 1160 litres of gas, (for comparison a BOC X size is 2510 litres).




So the built in regulator needs an adaptor, but seem to be widely available. Also the regulator works to control flow, not pressure, so that could be a bit of a win too. The cylinder is really light, the 5 litre one is made from ali, the 11 litre (2550 litres of gas) one steel.

Nozzle.
No owonder I struggled to find any info on these prior to now; as the name in this country is Albee gas cylinder, not MiniTop http://albeegascylinders.com/