So....whats the best deal on welding gas now?

Having found a decent mig, I am looking for a reasonably priced source of gas. Probably not even use a bottle per year to be honest, so the smaller the better.

I see Air Products do Integra cylinders which have a built in regulator. Anyone using those? And what sort of price are they?

Cheers,
David

Integra is more expensive as you are renting the regulator.

I use even less gas than you, that's why I'm a pub gas user.

I know it isn't as good, but the bottle I have out in the shed costs me £12 to fill and it lasts as long as it lasts.

I once exhaustively calculate it all out based on paying rental up front, renting daily, all of that stuff. You name it, I considered it.

Whatever way you slice it, they're all pretty similar and if you're a low user, they have you by the nads.

Hi Dave.
Try /www.adamsgas.co.uk Hobby and low user gas. £40 deposit on bottle and no rental.
Be Lucky Mike.

[Edited on 2/11/09 by Myke 2463]

OK, pub gas....

How and where? There are several pub cylinders floating around on ebay, some full others not. So where would I get one of those filled?

And no I dont know any friendly landlords

Of course the other option is disposables, the last one I had seemed to last blinking ages...maybe i should try this route first and see how quickly I go through them as if its going to be £150/year for rental+fill then thats 15 bottles which I run at abour 5lpm so thats 22mins constant welding from a disposable....

Hmmm

[Edited on 2/11/09 by flak monkey]

quote:

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Originally posted by flak monkey
OK, pub gas....

How and where? There are several pub cylinders floating around on ebay, some full others not. So where would I get one of those filled?

And no I dont know any friendly landlords

---

I'm going to give that Adamsgas a try as recomended by Myke
At least you can get propa Argonmix

linky

David

I got my last argon cylinder from Adamgas - slightly smaller than a pub CO2 bottle, very clean and new-looking. Slightly less pressure (and hence capacity) than a BOC tank of similar size. No rental to pay, and I get the deposit back when I return it.

Pros
1. no rental.
2. No handling charges when collected.
3. Much, much cheaper than disposables.
4. cylinder valves have a big knob (ooer!) so no key required.

Cons
1. you will have shipping charges, unless you collect.
2. the cylinder valve has a side outlet - my regulator is for valves with a top outlet, so I had to get a 90-degree adaptor (a job to find one at a sensible price).
3. slightly smaller capacity compared to the main suppliers.

It's the perfect solution for me, as I use my welders only very occasionally so cylinder rental hurts, especially when it seems to go up 10% every year.

http://www.volkszone.com/VZi/showthread.php?t=591078

FOUND THIS

if we breathe out CO2 (amongst other gases) wonder what the results would be like if we breathe on it through a regulator...?

Been onto Adamgas this morning.

They quoted me the £40 deposit on the bottle and £25.99+VAT for the gas (Argonmix)
Delivery to Rochester Kent was only two quid, so not bad at all

I also got intouch with BOC using the Volkszone link that "maskedavenger" posted,
and they quoted me the £60 all in for the Y size bottle.
But that is for the year only, you then loose the bottle.
The guy told me it will be posible to renew the hire for one year costing about £35.
The refill was £25 inc.

HTH David

I got my pub bottle from The Beer Seller Ltd. There may be a branch near you, check on google. Paid £15 for it no deposit.

Otherwise there's alist of suppliers on this thread:

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=9334

Got a quote from adams gas today.

A 9 litre cylinder first time (inc £40 deposit) was £96.30 then each subsequent refill would be £70.99 inc carriage both ways.

Sounds a bit steep to me

It's the carriage that's the killer - I took my wife on an outing to Margate* and got the gas while I was there. Probably spent more on petrol than I would have on carriage, but it wasn't a bad day out.

I think I paid around £85 including the deposit, which makes it a bargain when compared with disposables or BOC long-term rental.

* Don't ever rush to go to Margate...