There are a couple of way to own gas bottles but the big ones are expensive.

Around here the owner bottles that can get filled without ownership paperwork are 75 cubic foot bottles and smaller.

I recently purchased a pair of bigger bottles and got the original paperwork from the seller who bought them in 1968. I took them to the local welding supply for refills and the first question was whether I had ownership paperwork. I did and they agreed to swap them, but instead I "sold" them back to the welding supply and "bought" the smaller owner bottles. Cost about $50 to swap for full bottles of the smaller size.

If you buy the bigger bottles on CL and don't get the ownership paperwork you will not be able to get them filled anywhere.

 

I went by this morning and was able to do a tank swap on both (same shop that does my mig tank). One tank was a 125 and the other was 100 capacity. According to him, he is able to swap tanks as long as they are not marked by one certain shop in our area....any other tank is fine. I'm guessing that has to do with those that may be leased. Y'all had me nervous after reading some of the posts but looks like I'm okay. These tanks should last me a while based on the amount of cutting I do.

 

As always there is so much I don't know, apparently there is a huge difference between bottles of inert gas's and explosive gas's, and for good reason. I think a stop by the local gas supplier is in order. Ignorance can be deadly, I now realize I need to learn more about this tool b4 proceeding. Id like to thank everyone who has responded to this thread, I for one have had my eyes opened. FTE folks are the best!

 

As stated, figure out local policy. Not all suppliers refill all tanks. See if the tanks have any brand marks, decal thereon. That oxygen tank needs a steel cap before it is moved.

 

Hi Jim,

I went through that several years ago....I bought a used setup. When I took the Oxygen tank in for refill they said that it had been a rented tank. I ended up buying a new tank then. The acetylene tank was OK. Since then, no problem with simply exchanging my empty tank for a full one. They did try to ding me with a re-certification fee on one occasion. I complained that the tank had only expired because they had supplied me with a full tank that was close to the expiration date. They agreed and waived the re-certification fee.

I can also tell you that a good cart for the cylinders is really important. It might be a good idea to stop in to a welding supply shop to ask about tank ownership versus rental....and price out the equipment that you're looking for. Make sure that anything you find on craigslist is priced right!

By the way...I have never had the guys at the gas supply shop (praxair) say anything about limiting the size of cylinders that I could have.

Dan

 

There are a lot of things to learn about use of the OA torches before striking a flame. There's a very complete summary in this Victor manual, buried in between hundreds of safety cautions (which should tell you something!)

http://victortechnologies.com/IM_Upl..._0056-0138.pdf

It also has typical pressures for each gas with different tips, very useful.