Welding Tips and Tricks

O.K,

Everytime I go pick up a tank of argon, when I hook up I notice that the total pressure varies from bottle to bottle, but the
tank is never completely full. They came out with these new gauges incorporated on the top of the tank. It has a red bar on it , then a full green bar, a small space and then another smaller green bar indicating the tank is full. I noticed though that the tank is filled just to the starting point of the small green bar, not completely full. The past few tanks I've picked up, I checked my gauge and the readings vary by up to 500 plus or minus each time. So what I am thinking is that they are skimping on the fill up, but charging us full price for a full tank. Multiply this by the millions of tanks they sell and you can see how they are making a huge profit doing this. Another problem I have is this. I brought back an empty tank, got a full one. The vendor never indicated the return, so now they are after me to pay for the tank. Now I noticed that each tank has it's own serial number on it. They never register this anywhere. If they would, then they would be able to locate the tank I returned, but they cannot. So, maybe one day someone there will wake up and smell the coffee and register each tank number when giving it out to a client. Does this make any sense????It's like renting a car, but not taking down the licence plate number. Guys, think about it, how come the tanks are never completely purged?? Why are they never filled to full capacity??? Why are the serial numbers of the tanks not registered???
Any comments are greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

I've worked a little on gas industry, and I can tell you that cilinders have a serial number and normally a company can tell where is one of their bottles. Other think is that they don't want to search it. The refill of the bottles usually has troubles in very hot days, because the gas is hot, and gives fake pressures. a gap between 1 and 5 BARs is acceptable, but if it is a costant problem, and cilinders are emptier, start planning to change your gas supplier.

Sorry for the bad English, I have failed the Cambridge university tests once more

I asked my local gas suppler and he says it is normal to have between 200+ or 200- pounds in a tank because of like the last poster says , ambiant temp and pressures..
Gary

I had a problem with my LWS providing underfilled argon tanks as well. I think I got two in a row of underfilled tanks, including one that about 2/3 full compared to what I paid for. They did "take care of me" however, and they gave me a free refill, but it took an extra 1-2 trips for me, which is a hassle.

Going forward, I'm going to be vigilant and do some quality control on this. I am going to bring my flowmeter/pressure gauge and wrench in on the next refill, and hook it up right there when they give me the tank to check the pressure before I load it into my car. If I don't get close to all the CFs that I paid for, I will not be shy to make some more squeaking noises. I've already brought the gauge down there once and had them check its pressure against a known good gauge they had, so I know it is accurate.

Oddbull wrote:I've worked a little on gas industry, and I can tell you that cilinders have a serial number and normally a company can tell where is one of their bottles. Other think is that they don't want to search it. The refill of the bottles usually has troubles in very hot days, because the gas is hot, and gives fake pressures. a gap between 1 and 5 BARs is acceptable, but if it is a costant problem, and cilinders are emptier, start planning to change your gas supplier.

Sorry for the bad English, I have failed the Cambridge university tests once more

Aupa Oldbull!
I just noticed you are, just like me, from Bilbao. How can I manage to get welding gas supplies arround here? I asked a bit arround and seems like I need to make a contract with the gas suppliers to get pure argon (stainless TIG welding) and such.

Thanks in advance!
Mikel