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CO2 Cylinders - a welding supplier's perspective
I've read a number of posts regarding carbon dioxide cylinders, regulators,
safe usage practices etc., and much of the discussion is factually wrong. As a
welding gas distributor, I can offer the following:
- CO2 tanks can be bought outright from a welding gas supplier if they are
prepared to sell them to you. Generally these would be quite small, on the
order of 10 or 20 lbs liquid CO2 capacity, (about 24" high) which is
ideal for our purposes. National authorities require periodic testing of
all high pressure cylinders using a process called hydrostatic pressure
testing. Cylinders are filled with water in a test area and pressurized to
a very high level to test for failure. The cylinder collar is then stamped
with the date. Tests are done anywhere from 5 to 10 year frequencies. The
testing equipment is costly.
- The distributor typically takes your empty tank and exchanges it for a
full one. They rarely fill them on the spot since it is a time consuming
process done in large batches. Grant Cockshott
Vice President and Sales Manager
Welders Supplies Limited
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
gwc at magic_mb.ca Your tank disappears
into his pool of other tanks. When you show up with your little 20 pounder,
he takes it and gives you one of his which has been part of his tested and
maintained pool. The point here being that if you bought your 20 pounder
from someone other than him, such as a buddy or another distributor even, it
may require a test soon, or painting, or be a non-standard size for his
pool, or even be ready for scrap. If you didn't buy it from him, he may be
reluctant to exchange it.
- If you do buy a tank, get it from a reliable supplier that has been
around for a while and you know will be able to fill it. If you already
have a tank, take it to the distributor and ask if they recognize the tank
are will exchange it for you. The are not being jerks about this, its just
that we're talking about a very high pressure cylinder that is costly to
replace if its bad, (about $175 CDN) and both safety and economics play a
role here.
I hope I've shed al little light on the cylinder thing without boring
everyone.
Cheers!
Grant Cockshott
Vice President and Sales Manager
Welders Supplies Limited
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
gwc at magic_mb.ca