Just got my renewal in for rental of X size Argoshield £75.84!!!
What's more its around £50 IIRC to get a refil by the time all the extra's are added on a nd thats every 6 months.
Is there a cheaper pucca alternative for proper welding gas - not pub co2?
Cheers!
I've returned my Air Products Integra Cylinder - Pure Argon.
Rental started off around £80 a year. It's crept up to £130.
Couldn't take that for welding up (mainly other peoples!) components.
I'm looking into Adams Gas and other options.
James
I'm using Dixons of Westerhope, they use a welding supplies place in Carlisle as a depot & I pick up rom there. I think they may have adepot
in Glasgow? Here's their site: http://www.dixonsofwesterhope.co.uk/industrialgases/
A bit cheaper than BOC & I can pick up on a saterday morning which is a big thing, with BOC I'd have to get down there for 8;15am when they
open & dash back to work 20 miles away for 9, no time to combine the trip with any other jobs, waste of fuel!
I also returned my Argon Integra at the end of last year 
Just started looking around again, I've been looking at Albee cylinders from Air Liquide, there's a supplier in Glasgow -Weldtech. Not had a
chance to call them as I'm stuck in Canada at the moment.
ALBEE Home page
It would be nice if we could update this thread with any deals.
Cheers
Davie
code:
I'm stuck in Canada at the moment.
Stick with BOC but negotiate a better deal. I posted the following on this forum last summer......
I have always had a BOC Argoshield bottle and paid a small fortune for the gas and the bottle rental. That was until I discovered that BOC were
offering a "hobbyist discount" over on the Mig Welding forum.
The guy at BOC that set up this discount for non commercial customers is into car restoration and posts on the welding forum. I now have replaced my
small X sized bottle for the huge Y sized bottle (this is going to last me ages) for £61.31 for the gas and an annual rental of £35.77. Now I know
this is still dearer that tapping up your local landlord for pub gas but it is a much better deal for any existing BOC customers amongst us and anyone
considering Argoshield. The guy you need to contact is
Justin Crook
Business Development Advisor
Direct Sales
CSC Worsley, Manchester
Tel : 0161 930 6822
E Mail : justin.crook@boc.com
From my experience he is one of the most helpful friendly people you will ever deal with.
Contact Justin and ask him to put you onto the hobbyist discount deal, he should be able to sort it for you over the phone.
quote:
Originally posted by macspeedy
code:
I'm stuck in Canada at the moment.
if only !!
I was meaning, i wish i was in Canada...... 
(edit'd) hic... k ..
[Edited on 8/4/11 by macspeedy]
Quote: Stick with BOC but negotiate a better deal. I posted the following on this forum last summer...... I have always had a BOC Argoshield
bottle and paid a small fortune for the gas and the bottle rental. That was until I discovered that BOC were offering a "hobbyist discount"
over on the Mig Welding forum. The guy at BOC that set up this discount for non commercial customers is into car restoration and posts on the welding
forum. I now have replaced my small X sized bottle for the huge Y sized bottle (this is going to last me ages) for £61.31 for the gas and an annual
rental of £35.77. Now I know this is still dearer that tapping up your local landlord for pub gas but it is a much better deal for any existing BOC
customers amongst us and anyone considering Argoshield. The guy you need to contact is Justin Crook Business Development Advisor Direct Sales CSC
Worsley, Manchester Tel : 0161 930 6822 E Mail : justin.crook@boc.com From my experience he is one of the most helpful friendly people you will ever
deal with. Contact Justin and ask him to put you onto the hobbyist discount deal, he should be able to sort it for you over the phone.
Thank you for the contact Paul. You are right, Justin is very helpful and I received a very prompt reply from him. This is his reply:
Hi John
The discount was only for Argoshield Light for light Mig welding
this does not apply to the gases you take
there is no " General Discounts " for hobbyists at the moment ...however.....
We are working on some new products and pricing for the hobbyist market which we will announce soon
Kind regards
Justin
So, no help for those of us who use pure Argon and oxy acetylene but some hope in the future maybe.
John
Thanks for posting your results Paul, it will save everybody contacting the guy to ask the same question.
I'll try and chase up on the Albee cylinders when ever I make it back to the UK.
Regards
Davie
Ta for the contact Paul I'm sorted now Justin is a good guy.
As it turns out Argoshield Light is better for my applications than the Universal I was using untill now. Light is for up to 4mm thick steel which is
about the capacity of my mig welder anyhow.
Justin had all questions asked, answeres and account changed in 24 hours - I wish all suppliers had a "justin"
In my opinion this deal makes BOC hard to beat if you are into hobby welding mild steel.
Cheers!
Just been looking at the adamsgas site and emailed the contact. Here is a copy of the reply, which may interest the scottish/ north east guys.
"We can get cylinders to you, or if you are not in a hurry, we are in talks
with Turrif Caravans as to becoming a stockist of our cylinders in your area
Regards
Steve"
I've been really happy with my albee argon cylinder for the TIG. Pretty hefty upfront costs, but easily paid off in a few years compared to
renting. It's filled to 300 bar iirc so has a fair bit more gas in it compared to other cylinders of that size.
The double edged sword is that it has a built in regulator and flow meter. Its ideal that everything is compact and contained within the bump cage on
the top of the cylinder and it all gets changed for new serviced stuff when you exchange the cylinder (so you don't need to worry about leak
checking the reg), but makes it a bit of a faff if you're needing to back purge stainless welds.
It looks like they do a MIG mix now too. Might price it up next time I get the argon refilled but I don't think I use the MIG enough to justify a
big bottle.
Hi Guys
There is a supplier in Partick in Glasgow that does proper welding gas in proper cylinders which are rent free.
I have just handed back my BOC cylinder after I got a bill for over £100 for the Argoshield rental, these guys do rent free cylinders.
They take a deposit (£100 for my 20L bottle) then you just pay for the gas. They said anytime I wanted a refill they would swap my empty cylinder for
a full cylinder. If I ever decided I no longer needed the cylinder I was told just to give it back and as long as its not damaged then the deposit is
given back. They said even if it is damaged or defaced I'd get some of my deposit back with just a charge for whatever I did to the cylinder.
I got 5% Argon/CO2 mix (I used BOC Argoshield Light before) - I can confirm it works perfectly. 20L bottle cost me £58+vat so £69.60, plus my £100
deposit. Next time it'll just be £69.60 for a refill - and no rental charges!!!!
I picked up a leaflet of their prices so you guys can check it out
Argon/CO2 5%, Argon/CO2 20%, Oxygen - all £30+vat for 9 Litres and £58+vat for 20 litre bottles
Pure Argon was £48+vat for 9 litres and £80+vat for 20 litres
Nitrogen was £28.50+vat for 9 litres and £49.50+vat for 20 litres.
The company was
Balloons and Gas Ltd
Unit 6
8 Meadow Road
Partick
Glasgow
G11 6HX
0141 337 3373
They are just off Dumbarton Road, near the Thornwood roudabout and the Partick police station.
They are open Mon-Sat, and have a car park. They are a party and balloon shop - they said they are massive sellers of helium nationwide and have just
started to expand into other gases. Supposedly they have been around for the past 22 years so they are going nowhere fast.
Well worth a try - staff are not that experienced on welding, but they know what gas to give you. Assuming like me you know what you are looking for
then these guys mean I no longer have to pay BOC cylinder rental - thankfully!
Hope this helps some of you guys
Graeme
Why pretend you a customer of Balloons and Gas Ltd, when in fact you ARE Balloons and Gas Ltd?.
quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
Why pretend you a customer of Balloons and Gas Ltd, when in fact you ARE Balloons and Gas Ltd?.
I just googled his user name, its the ebay ID for the company.
I think trader status was defined as selling multiple items regularly, so for one post would unlikely be necessary. Just seems a bit of a silly way to
promote a company by instantly telling fibs!
These guys do rent free bottles in all sizes
http://www.barnet-welding.co.uk
quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
Why pretend you a customer of Balloons and Gas Ltd, when in fact you ARE Balloons and Gas Ltd?.
quote:
Originally posted by Minicooper
quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
Why pretend you a customer of Balloons and Gas Ltd, when in fact you ARE Balloons and Gas Ltd?.
Why does this bother you so much? it may save members money which is always good
David