shielding gas prices

[bvweld]

I am paying $75 for a 293 cf Tri Mix fill for s.s. and $69 for a 336 cf Argon. Does this seem high? I run about $200- $400 a month with my LWS so I am not a big shop. I know gases are going up but ????

[Joe H]

I guess it varies depending on the part of the country you are in. I pay $35 to swap my 300cf bottle for one full of pure argon. That $35 is including HazMat fees and tax. I might do $200 of business with them every 3-4 months.


That price is from the nice guys at the independently owned LWS here. If I go to Airgas or another franchise (which I don't) it's closer to $50.

[bvweld]

I guess it varies depending on the part of the country you are in. I pay $35 to swap my 300cf bottle for one full of pure argon. That $35 is including HazMat fees and tax. I might do $200 of business with them every 3-4 months.


That price is from the nice guys at the independently owned LWS here. If I go to Airgas or another franchise (which I don't) it's closer to $50.

This is from an independant LWS. I think I might be getting burnt. I have 14 of their tanks in total. This summer I bought 4 rolls of ER70S-6 .035 33lb and they charged me about $70 ea. I told them I could order from Mcmaster Carr and pay $46. They came down to $48. I know they have to make a profit but I have been a customer for 15 years. I guess start the squeeking wheel

[professur]

The guy I got my CO2 bottle from specialized in drink machine and fire extinguishers, but today sent out that he's starting to carry Argon .... at $1/cf.

Somehow, I don't think he'd gonna get a lot of sales.

[chenry]

maybe 10 cents a cubic foot

[cnitrofumes]

Just swapped my 90 cu ft Argon out friday.... Was $52 total...$45 for gas..$7.00 misc handling charges.

[whateg0]

$27.09+tax for 150 of Ar or C25. $17.93+tax for 200 of O2.

prices as of 26 Apr.

Dave

[gnm109]

I have two "customer owned" 160 cu. ft. argon cylinders. Airgas is where I usually go to exchange them. In the past five years, they have almost doubled their prices here in Sacramento. I've been doing other things than welding for a while so the tanks are still full from last time. I'm just a hobby welder but I expect to get busy again later this summer.

The last time I exchanged a cylinder was in October, 2007. They charged me $75 including tax and Haz Mat fees. I think this is terrible. I called their office and was told that I should ask for a better price next time. I certainly will.

If I can't get a better deal than that from Airgas, I understand that the other two LWS's may wish to help me out. Within two miles there are three LWS's: Airgas, Praxair and Barnes. I will certainly have to shop if I can't get some relief from Airgas.

Airgas gets $23.00 for a 20# liquid C02 (160 cu. ft. gas equivalent). That's not too bad. I use straight C02 on my Lincoln MIG.

Airas is pretty high on Oxygen and Acetylene. I don't recall the exact prices for the medium tanks that I use since I exchange them very seldom. I do recall being upset about their prices the last time I exchanged those, however.

So, I guess the bottom line is that prices are getting out of hand. Too bad we can't find some way of recapturing Argon and C02 instead of blowing it out into the atmosphere.