Good Bye BOC

[monaro308]

Thanks Lozza i figured that out later but it seemed that the pressure from the compressor at max reg was so weak.
I have one of those old dial up incremmented pressure regs so i couldn't see the actual pressure in the tank but it got the job done...very slowly.
But yeah regulated is regulated.....just not enough pressure to regulate in my case.
It was a case of fill the bottle,disconnect,reconnect reg,not a continuous compressor fill.
The moisture would have been the reason you said.
cheers...always good to know.

[EML]

Yesterday we got another price increase from Air Liquide, it goes up every month or two and they send another list. But the rental really hurts, just a few dollars every month, month in month out, for every bottle. We swap the bottles every time rather than hold them over but we need to be on the ball so as to not run out during a job though they are only five minutes down the road. Only once did we hold a bottle over and they slugged us twice and then tried it on every month thereafter until we threatened to burn them down!!
We've found that if they are cheaper on one type of gas they will be much dearer on another as if they only make one type and BOC makes the other and they have to buy it from them.

[yamaico]

Does anyone know if you can still buy these bottles of argon? I can't seem to find out anything about them. The ebay link doesn't work but maybe it's just timed out.
Thanks,
Pete.

[Mick D]

Does anyone know if you can still buy these bottles of argon? I can't seem to find out anything about them. The ebay link doesn't work but maybe it's just timed out.
Thanks,
Pete.

Hi Pete, heres the active link.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/D-Welding-Welder-Argon-MIG-TIG-Cylinder-including-Gas-/140452934154?pt=AU_Welding&hash=item20b3a5b20a

[yamaico]

Thanks very much for that Mick, much appreciated.

[lukeb1961]

in the same vein, is it possible to get oxy or acetylene rather than be taxed by BOC forever?

[Mike52]

Bought a bottle off LINDI if I recall correctly.
$350 and never pay rent again they said.
4 years later AIR LIQUIDE bought them out.
Quess what.
Am now back at BOC.

[David Lahey]

I rent Air Liquide cylinders because the local BOC shop doesn't open on Saturdays while the AL agent does.
I worked for BOC for 10 years and loved it but theres no sense being stuck without gas on the weekend

[Mike52]

I have used FOOD GRADE Co2 in my MIG on mild steel.
Ran out at St George and only place open was the Soft Drink factory.
Had to play with the fittings a bit.
Works OK , bit harsh, bit of undercutting, very cheep tho

[David Lahey]

I've just read this thread from the start and no-one has said anything about the cost for Ji when the cylinder is due for testing (10 years from the last test date in the case of Argon). When I worked at BOC (and ran the cylinder test shop at Rocklea, Brisbane) we used to do testing of privately owned cylinders (RAAF, army, Telstra etc) and it was about one hundred dollars per cylinder (in the 1980s). God knows how much it would be nowadays, and no gas company would fill Ji's Argon cylinder if it was overdue for test.
About the heat indicator tags, they were developed by BOC during my time there and it was because there was no way to tell if an aluminium cylinder had been heated slightly above the temperature that causes softening of the metal over a long time scale, and some aluminium cylinders failed during filling due to being exposed to temperatures of about 120 degrees for a long time (the heating was while they were with customers). The previously used heat indicators (test date ring, stickers, valve handwheel and paint) were not affected until the cylinder is heated above the point of softening so we developed those saggy tags that droop if the temperature goes over about 100 degrees C.
It wasn't a legal requirement when I was there but may have been added the Australian Standards since then. We mainly wanted to protect our cylinder fillers from exploding cylinders.
Aluminium gas cylinders are very carefully age-hardened in a salt bath when new and can be just as easily age-softened by customers.
Ji's argon cylinder is not BOC and not aluminium so does not have or need a droopy heat indicator tag.
As far as welding steel with oxy-LPG goes, even with the right tips, it is very hard to control the weld because the temperature throughout the length of the flame is almost constant. Oxy acetylene is so good because the steep temperature gradient moving away from the tip of the bright inner flame makes it easy to control the temperature of the weld pool.
For flame cutting, oxy-LPG is easily the most economical combination and works great.

[lukeb1961]

nobody would be even raising this except for the crazy rental fees...

[LWC82PE]

How does a cylinder get heated anyway? I would not be putting a flame anywhere near it. Even in the hottest tin sheds in the middle of a heat wave with no air con, its only going to get to 50 or 60 deg C at most i reckon.

[oldfart]

There add says that cylinders  DO NOT require a test for 10 years ....  by then they should have an agency in QLD    If my sums are correct he is still way in front by purchasing rather than renting.
It's the rental factor that's killing me, every firkin month there is an increase how the hell do they justify it.
I've been down the LPG - oxy senario .... It's like pissin in the ocean to turn it salty.

[Slakewell]

Ive allways said BOC are not in the gas buiness there in the bottle rental buisness