Welding Gas Tanks

98TJ · Aug 9, 2020

I have 2 old small acetylene tanks, size B. They are about knee high. I also have 2 old small oxygen tanks, size R, 20 cubic feet. They are slightly shorter than the acetylene tanks. These are smaller tanks comonly used in the HVAC repair industry.

I acquired these tanks about 30 years ago at an HVAC supply house. I believe I paid a "deposit" on the tanks and could bring them back and exchange them for full tanks at that time. That business is no longer around.

I haven't used them in a very long time but now I want to get them filled. All 4 tanks have a Liquid Air label on them. I guess Liquid Air became Air Liquide and Air Gas is now part of Air Liquide.

I know a lot of changes have happened in the last 30 years about rental tanks, tank ownership, hydro testing, etc.

My question is, what is the best way for me to get these tanks filled without going through a lot of bullshit about who owns them, do I have a receipt, etc? Should I just take them to Air Gas in Madison?

Thanks for any help.

TBItoy · Aug 9, 2020

The welding shop I go to (Holeston Gas) will exchange anyone's tank under a certain size (the ones that are about waist high).
I've heard tractor supply will also.

when you are exchanging tanks, no one cares much about who "owns" them in my experience.

Hell the last CO2 tanks I got swapped clearly say "Property of the Coca-Cola Company" on them.

you'll have more issue with the fact they will most likely be out-of-date and they will either charge an inspection/cert fee, or will deny exchange/fill

ToledoDan · Aug 9, 2020

Not sure any of this will actually help you, but here's been my experience in SE Houston...
I've used Praxair for my personal bottles because it's two minutes from where I work and they are within a couple dollars of everyone else. I only have 125cf bottles for welding gases. The location I use only exchanges bottles and does not fill.
I have had friends who have no idea what to do with outdated bottles, I gladly take them off their hands (most don't want to deal with them since they have no use for them). Praxair then charges me a $15 re-cert fee regardless how out of date they are (some have been more than 30years out of date). They are always happy to trade down to 125cf and I am too since I really don't care to load a 300cf botttle in my truck by myself. Once I gave two bottles - 80cf and a carbon dioxide bottle for a 125cf. Not sure if I got ripped off and did not care since I did not give a dime for either of the bottles.

As long as it does not have a company ring at the top, it is considered a personal bottle.
If it has a ring with a raised letter logo for a company widely known to have gone out of business, they are supposed to charge an additional $25. They have never actually charged me this though. They just remind me they are supposed to and never actually add it to the invoice :dblthumb:

If it has a ring for a company that is known to still be in business, you may have trouble exchanging with any of the major companies since they all have agreements they are supposed to honor. I have heard of people removing the ring? perhaps then you could exchange and just pay a recert fee?

98TJ · Aug 10, 2020

That helps. Thanks for the replies.

fourjeepin · Aug 11, 2020

I have heard rumor of folks having trouble, but ToledoDan's experience matches most first hand accounts I have seen. I always read threads about these bottles as my O2 bottle belonged to my grandfather. I am not certain the date on it, but he passed in 1989. I obviously do not use it often.

Nolan6415 · Aug 11, 2020

I live and work in Columbia,TN, had a small bottle at work that was empty and we was trying to get rid of bottles at work, guy I work with has a friend who welds and stuff on the regular and he tried to give it to him. So he called him and told him what was up but he wouldn't take it because according to him, they run the numbers on the bottle and if your not the owner then a place won't fill it. It's been a few months back when this went on and I don't know where he was getting his filled at. Hope this helps.

Dan_Goodwin · Aug 12, 2020

ToledoDan said:
Not sure any of this will actually help you, but here's been my experience in SE Houston...
I've used Praxair for my personal bottles because it's two minutes from where I work and they are within a couple dollars of everyone else. I only have 125cf bottles for welding gases. The location I use only exchanges bottles and does not fill.
I have had friends who have no idea what to do with outdated bottles, I gladly take them off their hands (most don't want to deal with them since they have no use for them). Praxair then charges me a $15 re-cert fee regardless how out of date they are (some have been more than 30years out of date). They are always happy to trade down to 125cf and I am too since I really don't care to load a 300cf botttle in my truck by myself. Once I gave two bottles - 80cf and a carbon dioxide bottle for a 125cf. Not sure if I got ripped off and did not care since I did not give a dime for either of the bottles.

I've had the same experience with Airgas in Birmingham. Took them an outdated acetylene bottle I got at a yard sale, paid a $38 recertification fee and traded it for a bottle of argon for my tig, no questions asked.

ToledoDan · Aug 12, 2020

yep, most people have no clue how easy/cheap it is to recert a bottle and sit on them forever like it is a mystery what to do with this old bottle.
my guess is the $25 fee for accepting an out of business company's bottle is their fee to remove the ring. Any firsthand accounts of removing a ring? Or is that like removing a furniture tag? lol

SCOTTS_4X · Aug 16, 2020

ToledoDan said:
yep, most people have no clue how easy/cheap it is to recert a bottle and sit on them forever like it is a mystery what to do with this old bottle.
my guess is the $25 fee for accepting an out of business company's bottle is their fee to remove the ring. Any firsthand accounts of removing a ring? Or is that like removing a furniture tag? lol

Grind the ring smooth and repaint to match the bottle. Some shops are legally bound to not take bottles with other company's name on them. This will make it C.O.C (customer owned cylinder) I've done this many times, never had a problem. Sometimes I've been charged for an out of date hydro but mostly not (been welding 20+ years).

-scott

GSI · Aug 24, 2020

Based on local experiences with both Airgas and Sexton, I'd take them to Sexton first. They are also much closer to your house. The only problem I've ever had them give me is for customer owned 300 c.f. bottles. At one point they quit selling 300 c.f. bottles and the counter folks wanted to act like there were none out there that they sold even though we bought ours from them.