Argon bottles, rent or buy???

Hey guys,

I've got another topic thats kinda got me wondering. Would it be cheaper to rent the argon cylinder from the gas company that I would have it filled at, or would it be better just to buy a new 40cf cylinder for $100? and is a 40cf cylinder brand new with 10 year hydro-test be worth $100? Now if you lease a bottle from the gas company do you pay a monthly fee or is it a one time fee for a certain amount of months? I've never rented a bottle from a gas company. Let me know how it all works. Thanks a bunch guys.

 

I just bought my bottle, no headaches that way

 

It's all over the map on this. It's up to the shop you're dealing with regarding how the fees are paid. But if you buy your own, then you may run into troubles with different shops not wanting to fill "another shop's" bottle, or may charge you extra for it.

That being said, I bought my own bottles, and have only paid one upcharge. (the one time they knew I was a "new" customer to that particular store..."Oh, that bottle is out of date, we need to trade you up..." ) The other store I deal with sees me often enough that they either didn't think anything of it, or missed it, so I wasn't charged except for the gas.

[EDIT] Most stores (around here) will just exchange bottles, so you'll always have a "new" bottle. That is, the bottle has been tested. You simply take in your empty, and they give you a different "full" one. YMMV. [/EDIT]

Check out your local stores, and decide from there, but I'd still lean towards buying your own bottle.

 

I bought my tanks for cutting and shielding. I don't know the size but they are all about 4ft tall. each was 75-100 plus gas. When they run empty I just drop them off at the front of the gas place walk inside pay for more gass and someone returns different filled bottles to my truck. So far its been an easy painless experience.

I did buy a very small tank of co2 shield gas once. It lasted 20 minutes and I kept running out. before I could do anything usefull. After getting a few polite I told you so's from the staff they gave me a slight credit on the new 4ft tank.

The alternative was rental tanks at 2.75 a week plus a $40 deposit on the tank. With the exception of the inital purchace its been much cheaper to own my tanks.

 

i leased and I have no regrets. because the pressure tests every five years