PLEASE NEED QUICK HELP!! Need to buy oxy tanks!

[brayjr4484]

So of course the One of the last things I try to do before we leave in our mobile shop is Buy Some OXy tanks either size 244 or 300. I get to my oxy place and they do not sell them wich is a bunch of crap I think they a huge supplier in our area and have a wearhouse full of tanks when I go change mine in. but they dont sell em and Neither does anyone else Ive called. Well one person did but said they were Q tanks and that it was 80 cubic feet or somethin but she said that was smaller than what I was looking for. AGHHHHH.................... Im Supposed to leave FRI in mobile shop.....and now Im might be delayed for second time unless yall got an answer for me quick.

WHERE CAN YOU BUY A OXY TANK with the appropriate paper work saying I own the tank so I can have it filled on the road if need be????????????????? Hopefully I will jsut be filling it with an EX2000 but you never know.

[gmarv]

if you can find them atwoods sells the 244 size, but i don,t know if you can exchange them at other places.
marv

[Kare TX]

Big R is another farm store. I think they have tanks, I know ours will fill. Not cheap but not crazy. Also AirGas here in Colorado honored our Texas contract, including the pricing which is 2X as much here normally. Other national companies may do the same.

[gmkcpa]

I bought 2 tanks from Praxair years ago and every few weeks I swap them out for full tanks. NO OTHER COMPANY WILL FILL THEM! I asked a different company (AirGas, I think) if they sell tanks. They said they DO NOT sell tanks; they only rent them, and they will not fill (swap out) any other company's tanks.

[menty666]

I think there's actually some law that they can't sell over a certain size, which I don't quite understand, I figure somehow you can blame Osama/Bush/Gerald Ford/Butterflies, etc.

I think there's likely a loophole somewhere about selling to companies vs people though; I haven't looked into it though since if you own you're responsible for the inspections and whatnot. Better to just do the swaps.

Unless you're setting up a mobile shop and have to travel that is.

I did buy a tank fairly recently I take to demos, it's about 3 feet high, maybe it's the 80? Just get 4 of those perhaps. They're lighter and with the shorter height might fit in your space better anyway?

[Mr. Meker]

If your filling it every day, 80cf should be fine. You could get 2 and switch when you need to.

[loco]

Look on Craigs list. One VERY IMPORTANT thing to look for is a plain collar, that is an owner owner tank. The company owned tanks have their name on the band and I know of very few places that will swap or fill them. I have a few owner owned I used before I switched to liquid. The place I go will swap them out for owner owned (plain collar) or will fill them while I wait.

[brayjr4484]

Thanks yall!

[Mr. Smiley]

Down here the owner tanks are all stamped 2R or 3R... it's in the numbers banged into the tank... and yeah, a lot of companies will treat them like Coke and Pepsi bottles... won't fill anything other than their own... up north that's not an issue in some places. Traveling with owner tanks is gonna be a pain no matter what. The rules are not universal. My place just got a new manager from up[ north and the new directive is to swap out any tank the customer brings in... he thinks the way they were running things is silly and he's right, but you'll be lucky to find a guy like him along the road.

[fattirebiker]

I own my tank but when it comes time to refill the company swaps out the tank for a full one.

[menty666]

I could see it from their perspective too. Say you have a lease from Praxair and the tank is due for an inspection. Airgas takes it in and now they're on the hook for the cost of the thing.

Why they can't just agree to take it in and fill it then return the same tank 24 hours later...that's another kettle of fish.

[cheng076]

Back in my youth I was certified to test, inspect, and stamp high pressure cylinders. The whole process takes about 20 minutes per tank if you're reasonably good at it. so that equates to about $20 labor per tank.

[Ro]

i bought my tanks from a fire dept supply company locally, my local welding supply gave me their info. $150 each for two 244 , that was maybe 5 years ago now though.
ro

[PamS]

I think the reason most places won't fill tanks they don't own is that they don't want to be responsible in case there's a problem. They probably have insurance to cover tanks they own and maintain, but not those that other people own.

I have a small tank that I use in my glider when I fly higher than 12,500 ft, and I fill it from big tanks of aviator's oxygen that we keep on hand at the gliderport. No problem there. We're supposed to get the tank hydro'd every 5 years but people rarely do.

[Lorraine Chandler]

We are probably going on the road for several years and I decided to go with Airgas, they are national and have welding stores everywhere. You could buy two of their biggest tanks and then exchange them. You own the tanks for free exchange, you do not get to keep the same tanks. Owning the tank just means you do not have to pay rental fees.

Sometimes you get good tanks sometime you get crappy tanks and sometimes you get people that fill them up to full and sometimes they don't. If you are on back roads or in campgrounds you may need to drive a ways before finding a local Airgas.

But a lot of Airgas places have discounts for local artists, just ask. I educated Mike, the manager at my local Airgas, I took in the torch, some books and some pieces of my work, they were all very interested and if you give them one of your paperweights or? "seconds" of anything you do service usually improves quite a bit.

[Reenie]

Interesting. I remember I needed a second tank and I went to my local welding shop and switched both of my mapp gas containers for an oxygen tank. I had to pay a little as well but it was worth it. I thought everyone could buy one.