Bought empty Argon bottle!

[JOEPRO]

Do you know that you do not use pure argon for mig welding? It's commonly used for tig welding stainless steel, for mig you need argon mix or co2.

Yes I know this - I needed the new Argon cylinder for my new TIG welder. I already have a c02 one for my MIG

 

[JOEPRO]

My first bottle of Argon appears to have gone the same way as yours….
I bought a new reg from Staticarc on eBay, went for a bottle got it home to find it only had around 30-50 Bar or so in it…I didn’t realise at first as I was too interested in starting to learn to Tig weld, but am aware now so my next bottle, I’ll be checking and taking my reg with me…..lesson learnt.

Hobbyweld or another supplier? The weight is a dead giveaway I suppose this cylinder today was very heavy so I didn't bother checking it until I was home as I knew then something was clearly wrong with be other ones.

 

[JOEPRO]

FWIW 9L 137bar hobbyweld argon fill was costing me £80. This 10L 200 bar is £35. Leas than half the price.

They did me a favour really! It pays to shop around for the rent free bottles and ask for the refill price. This place is in my town and I drive past it every day on my work commute.

 

[Chippie]

Hobbyweld cylinder…

 

[markbow]

Was looking on here yesterday for sizes of SGSgas bottles has nothing on the website I did email them to ask why is not on their website and put a link to Hobbyweld page with all sizes and weights haven't got reply
After reading this I thought I would check my own unused Hobbyweld argon to my surprise the bottle was empty
I fault it must be the gauge so I took the gauge of my mig gas same result I know this was working as been watching it go down to 0 last couple of days I have the blue copy form Hobbyweld NO date or nothing on it only argon box ticked
went to local motor factors today for I mig gas and yes I took my pressure gauge all okay except price £75 for 10 litres sgs of mig gas

JOEPRO
did you get your gas for £35 from a national company if so please let us know who

 

[JOEPRO]

Was looking on here yesterday for sizes of SGSgas bottles has nothing on the website I did email them to ask why is not on their website and put a link to Hobbyweld page with all sizes and weights haven't got reply
After reading this I thought I would check my own unused Hobbyweld argon to my surprise the bottle was empty
I fault it must be the gauge so I took the gauge of my mig gas same result I know this was working as been watching it go down to 0 last couple of days I have the blue copy form Hobbyweld NO date or nothing on it only argon box ticked
went to local motor factors today for I mig gas and yes I took my pressure gauge all okay except price £75 for 10 litres sgs of mig gas

JOEPRO
did you get your gas for £35 from a national company if so please let us know who

Wow definitely something up with these Hobbyweld Argon bottles.

They must not be filling them correctly. The valve on mine wasn't even tight. Hobbyweld also didn't assist they just said to return for a refund. (I had provided them with my and the shops contact details and asked if they could enquire)

One thing for certain is that there are no quality control checks in place or this would not be happening. Vendors should be made test the bottle before selling to a customer.

In any case, the new bottle I got was from a local Auto parts store in Co Tyrone Northern Ireland. (It is not a chain unfortunately) FWIW the gas also came from a local company in Northern Ireland.

I believe I still have to get my refills from the auto parts shop though which is AOK. Its not BOC is what I'm saying.

I believe Argon is cheaper than MIG gas also. From the hobbyweld price compared to my old refills I assumed it was dearer but traditionally from what I read Argon is cheaper.

 

[Turbo]

Was looking on here yesterday for sizes of SGSgas bottles has nothing on the website I did email them to ask why is not on their website and put a link to Hobbyweld page with all sizes and weights haven't got reply
After reading this I thought I would check my own unused Hobbyweld argon to my surprise the bottle was empty
I fault it must be the gauge so I took the gauge of my mig gas same result I know this was working as been watching it go down to 0 last couple of days I have the blue copy form Hobbyweld NO date or nothing on it only argon box ticked
went to local motor factors today for I mig gas and yes I took my pressure gauge all okay except price £75 for 10 litres sgs of mig gas

JOEPRO
did you get your gas for £35 from a national company if so please let us know who

SGS bottles are 10l, 20l, 30l & 50l if you need any more info contact @Agautosport on the forum - he owns SGS!

 

[Turbo]

Wow definitely something up with these Hobbyweld Argon bottles.

They must not be filling them correctly. The valve on mine wasn't even tight. Hobbyweld also didn't assist they just said to return for a refund. (I had provided them with my and the shops contact details and asked if they could enquire)

One thing for certain is that there are no quality control checks in place or this would not be happening. Vendors should be made test the bottle before selling to a customer.

In any case, the new bottle I got was from a local Auto parts store in Co Tyrone Northern Ireland. (It is not a chain unfortunately) FWIW the gas also came from a local company in Northern Ireland.

I believe I still have to get my refills from the auto parts shop though which is AOK. Its not BOC is what I'm saying.

I believe Argon is cheaper than MIG gas also. From the hobbyweld price compared to my old refills I assumed it was dearer but traditionally from what I read Argon is cheaper.

View attachment 383299
View attachment 383300

What part of Tyrone are you in? McIntyres in Dungannon are a Hobbyweld agent as well as a supplier of tools & welding equipment. They have a good reputation among the trade & they might be better to deal with than your current supplier.

Until hobbyweld get their quality control sorted my advice would be to switch to SGS. I've never had a dud cylinder from them yet!

SGS gases have 3 agents in Omagh, 1 in Dungannon & 1 in Cookstown.

https://www.sgsgases.co.uk/find-a-d...88481706929245&search_location_address[zoom]=

The initial deposit seems steep but it is 100% refunded. You also get cashback on your first bottle if you contact the owner on here. The bottles are filled to 200bar & work out better value than hobbyweld.

 

[JOEPRO]

What part of Tyrone are you in? McIntyres in Dungannon are a Hobbyweld agent as well as a supplier of tools & welding equipment. They have a good reputation among the trade & they might be better to deal with than your current supplier.

Until hobbyweld get their quality control sorted my advice would be to switch to SGS. I've never had a dud cylinder from them yet!

SGS gases have 3 agents in Omagh, 1 in Dungannon & 1 in Cookstown.

https://www.sgsgases.co.uk/find-a-distributor/?drts-search=1&search_location_address[text]=Omagh, UK&search_location_address[radius]=30&search_location_address[term_id]=&search_location_address[taxonomy]=&search_location_address

=54.5977149,-7.3099596&search_location_address[viewport]=54.58304451885641,-7.336454368752368,54.62091546818979,-7.288481706929245&search_location_address[zoom]=​

The initial deposit seems steep but it is 100% refunded. You also get cashback on your first bottle if you contact the owner on here. The bottles are filled to 200bar & work out better value than hobbyweld.
​

Yes it was Mcintyres I went to first and got the hobbyweld bottle. When I discovered it was empty I went back and they tried other cylinders and those were empty too! So I got a full refund.

Cookstown is nearest to me so I got my current bottle from RT Autoparts which is a 200bar 10L bottle fully charged and much cheaper than the 9L 137 bar Hobbyweld also.

Thanks for the tip ref SGS but I think the £35 refills from RT autoparts is fine for me.​

 

[Turbo]

Somehow I missed the info on the different supplier, I thought you were still using hobbyweld!

I'm going to send NC an e-mail to see if they have an agent near me, that price is very competitive! Is the £85 charge the deposit?

Did you manage to leave McIntyres with just the gas? Every time I call in for a browse I never leave empty handed!

 

[Bravheart]

Is this a case of stock control and mixing up full and empty bottles? Did the new bottles that you and the shop tried have some form of tamper proof seal you broke to try the pressure?

 

[JOEPRO]

Is this a case of stock control and mixing up full and empty bottles? Did the new bottles that you and the shop tried have some form of tamper proof seal you broke to try the pressure?

It was a brand new bottle never been out before not a scratch on it. It had a yellow plastic bung / seal on the outlet also.

 

[Bravheart]

It was a brand new bottle never been out before not a scratch on it. It had a yellow plastic bung / seal on the outlet also.

And the others were they tamperproof sealed or just a bung?



Sounds to me like hobbyweld have a problem here they are not letting on about and hiding behind distributors.

 

[JOEPRO]

And the others were they tamperproof sealed or just a bung?



Sounds to me like hobbyweld have a problem here they are not letting on about and hiding behind distributors.

Yes they all had this yellow bung on them but I should clarify you can just unscrew it by hand. It was not a security seal per say.

It was very strange that the Argon bottles on the shop were all empty!! They could not explain it and agreed there was an issue. (They did start by saying it needed connected to a welder to show pressure so it wasn't simple either. I lost about £40 in diesel and 4 hours time messing with those cylinders)

 

[JOEPRO]

Gas price comparison FWIW:

Hobbyweld 9L @ 137 bar = 1.28m3 volume. £78.99 refill cost = £61.71 per m3 Argon.

Autoparts store 10L @ 200 bar = 2.07m3 volume. £35.75 refill cost = £17.18 per m3 Argon.

(Over 3 times the price with Hobbyweld in NI)

 

[Chippie]

I wish there was a cheaper supplier here in Newcastle….apart from hobbyweld

 

[Sergei Slovenija]

There are some very old bottles out there. Especially in the U.S. Check out the test dates and interesting marking on these bottles.

Nazi Paraphernalia in Lab – Chemistry Blog

Looks like complete rubbish.
There was a branding standard for the Nazis. D.R.G.M. + manufacturer's digital code. (Deutsches Reichs Gebrauchs Muster) marking was used 1936-1939

 

[addjunkie]

I wish there was a cheaper supplier here in Newcastle….apart from hobbyweld

I use SGS from AVTaylors, or TMS.

Find a Distributor | SGS Gases

www.sgsgases.co.uk

 

[Shox Dr]

Looks like complete rubbish.
There was a branding standard for the Nazis. D.R.G.M. + manufacturer's digital code. (Deutsches Reichs Gebrauchs Muster) marking was used 1936-1939

There was a long standing thread on Weldingweb.com
Part of the WW2 reparations the USA took most if not all the Nazi oxygen and acetylene bottles. Many are still in use to this day.
Plenty of forum users with pictures of bottles with Swastika stamps

 

[Sergei Slovenija]

There was a long standing thread on Weldingweb.com
Part of the WW2 reparations the USA took most if not all the Nazi oxygen and acetylene bottles. Many are still in use to this day.
Plenty of forum users with pictures of bottles with Swastika stamps

it's anything but a swastika, a square with bars, roughly branded. The swastika belongs to heraldry (awards, monuments, insignia, banners, etc.). The military acceptance had an eagle with a swastika, a "little chicken", of tiny size. A gas bottle, a utilitarian thing.