Comparison cost of Argon (Canada vs US)

[Mike J]

I thought this would be kind-of fun, but likely depressing for me. I am shopping around for a Argon cylinder/fill here, and had the following offer:

The price on a (T size) (Roughly 330cu/ft) Argon Cylinder fill cost is $92, the rental fee is $8.95/month, or if you want to do a yearly lease, its $89 a year.

What are you guys paying in comparison? This is one consumable that is difficult to order and have shipped...

Cheers,

Mike

[67cudafb]

I have a 125cf airgas charges $40 dollars to refill

[acourtjester]

A different story on Hydro testing the tanks. The local guy told me they test them in a swimming pool and air fill the tank just a big splash if it blows. The other way you may contaminate the tank with water inside is they don’t pull a good vacuum on it before filling.

Have fun
Tom

[redbeard]

I just got a "T" from our regional company, they price-matched airgas at $313 for the bottle, and $88 for fills. They both said no charge to loyal customers for hydro testing. You can also request a tank with a long date when you trade it out.

[jerky]

so i went out and got myself a tank today. small 80cu BOUGHT for 275. came with a free refill so i dont know how much argon is yet. heres the little guy infront of my bandsaw. also i talked with the guy and he said if i find that i do need a bigger tank, they will buy the tank back off me and we can do the lease thing.

[Tinker]

If that bottle ends up being too small you might see if you can trade up to a larger bottle at the supplier. I did that with a couple of my junker bottles that I got freebee from my neighbor (former SnapOn dealer). They (Airgas as I recall) suggested it when I brought one of the little ones in for a refill. Can't recall the price to upgrade with the fill but it didn't strike me as a big deal, even as a hobbyist.

BTW, I've got an Enco version of that bandsaw and I couldn't live without it... It might get less use if I ever spring for a small plasma cutter.

Gary

[DVA]

so i went out and got myself a tank today. small 80cu BOUGHT for 275. came with a free refill so i dont know how much argon is yet. heres the little guy infront of my bandsaw. also i talked with the guy and he said if i find that i do need a bigger tank, they will buy the tank back off me and we can do the lease thing.

You shold be able to purchase 150 or 225 CF for about $220, 80 CF bottles go for about $140 around Arizona.

[performance]

70.00 bucks a year lease. And fill is between 65-80 bucks as it floats up and down somewhat.

[DaveO]

The best pricing I've found locally is $83 to lease, and a T size 330 cf is $118, for either pure argon or C-25. Cylinder rental is just plain ugly: one place wants a refundable deposit of $65 and $5 per month; another place wants $0.50 a day for rental.

Close by there are only two competitors: one is a regional operation with locations in VA, MD, PA, SC, and FL; the other is Airgas. The regional company has what they call a hazmat fee: they charge $9 on top of the gas in any month you fill a bottle. I haven't figured that one out yet- not sure how they could keep a high-use customer happy. They charge less per fill on the gas but that fee makes them even with Airgas if a low-use customer swapped one bottle in a given month.

Could we expand the topic of this thread a touch: how long does your bottle last for the kind of welding you do?

[zoama]

What do you do when you get home with a bottle thats supposed to be filled to 2640psi and it's only at 2050psi ?

[DaveO]

Good question- does anyone check pressure while they're still at the gas supplier? Too much effort just to catch that 1 in 50 (or whatever it is) shortfill?

[DVA]

Why not just purchase the bottle. Around PHX you can pick up a 225 CF bottle for abound 150 used, sometimes filled. Just bing it in to the gas supplier and they will trade out the bottle rather than wait for the same bottle to be filled. At some of the rental prices it will not take long to pay for the bottle multiple times.

I can get a 225 CF bottle filled for about $40 and my 80 and 60 are $14 each to fill.