Thread: How old is that gas bottle?

OK folks here is a new game for all the family.

Lets play how old is that gas bottle.

As I haven mentioned before I recon some of the industrial gas bottles are older than the average apprentice, some will be older than full growed tradesmen.

I just had a look at all the gas bottles in and around my shed and this is what I found.

My recently aquired G size mig gas ( that I own) is clearly dated 2014..beauty.

The soon to be no longer rented E argoshiled from CIG apears to be manufactured in '86 and has a number of stamps on its kneck, the most recent 2011......this is an aluminium bottle.

moving to my soon to be not rented E oxy bottle..this one is steel and I can't find a manufacture date on it but there are plenty of stamps including 04 and 07...its bar code lable is punched at 07 and inicates it expiures in 2017.
tis has no australian standard mark on it and is stamped CIG which dates it pre 96

Interesting under the black paint (indicating oxygen) there is blue and grey paint indicating it has been used for an argon mix at some time.

The acetylene D sized acetylene bottle is a bit hard to read, I could
not find any dates on it.....it is steel, obvioulsy recently repainted.
It has AS standard mark and manufactured by rheem.

now a couple of interesting ones, a couple of bottles that are just passing thru and probaly have not been filled in a very long time.

One an e sized oxygen by the colour of what paint remains is clearly marked 1980, it is steel and had been stammped in 85....no standards mark, no makers mark and no company ID.

The other clearly black is definitely CIG....its stamped in big letters.....it seems the only thing that looks like a manufacture date is 85..and it was stamped in 04 and in 07....this one os aloy

Now both have hand wheels on the taps.....so that is a dateing thing....anybody remember when they started putting handes on the bottles instead of needing a key....I remember needing a key.

So i recon none of my rented bottles are less than 10 years old

So how old are your bottles.....I recon there are some grampas out there.

anybody got some idea of the varous type study indicators.

we know that BOC replaced CIG in 96
when did the requirement for the standards mark come in
when did the bar codes come in.


cheers

Wow, soundman, do you collect bottles?
I only have one for now, the Mig shield gas I bought and is also marked 2014 as opposed to the one I returned to BOC that was about 10 years old.
I will probably go with Bunnings for the oxy and acetylene. I hardly use them and have returned the cylinders a while ago.

One thing I would like to experiment with is C02 for mig welding. Supposedly better penetration and that?
There is also a plus for me in using CO2. Each time I weld I will remind myself that I am contributing to the overall phytosphere well being and it's sustainability by releasing yet more CO2 into the atmoshpere. Am I green or what?

No I'm not a collector of gas bottles....I would normally only have 3, shielding gass, oxygen and acetylene....but I'm in a state of transition away from bottle rental.

As fas as the use of Co2...when you consider all the Co2 held in bottles by people like yourself who are low volume users.
It could be considered a significant method of carbon sequestation.

I believe home owners and hobisits should be encouraged to have Co2 cylinders at home...even if they are used and refilled that couls sequest quite a lot of Co2..
Well that makes more sence that growing something half burning then burrying it.

cheers

I just realized that each time I have a cold one I ... uhuuu...release yet more CO2.
No point in sequestering it, released it I say !

OK jokes aside, do you mig weld with CO2 at all?

No I don't I use argon blend.

cheers

Originally Posted by Marc

OK jokes aside, do you mig weld with CO2 at all?

I do, in fact I use CO2 almost exclusively and have done for many years.
It is much better for any galvanised product including Duragal and handles dirt and rust better than argon mixes as well as being cheaper to use and the spatter sticking less. It is less prone to porosity as well.
Down sides, cannot spray transfer or pulse transfer, but realistically how much of either does the average home or farm workshop do? If I have a heavy fab job, I put on a roll of DW100 fluxcore and go for it.
If you are sitting on the fence re CO2, then my advice is to jump squarely on the CO2 side. Just be sure to use an ES6 wire ie ER70-ES6.

That's the thing Karl, I am a blacksmith and a (one kind hardware blue) stick welder that is now playing with a MIG. I understand the words cheaper, spatter, and porosity. I have a roll of flux core wire that I bought for an emergency and tried to use once i run out of argon without changing the polarity and got me swearing at whoever invented it.
The rest of your post is cyrillic to me.

PS
I really need to get myself into a welding course.

Okay, I'll break it down a bit.
You bought a 250A Lincoln mig if my memory serves me correctly. We can therefore throw pulse welding out of the equation.
To simplify further, spray transfer occurs in the upper ranges of amperage and is a flat position process only.
My fluxcore DW100 is a gas shielded flux core, runs the same polarity as solid wire and is a higher grade weld than plain old solid wire. The fluxcore you have is self shielded and a totally different beast.
I should imagine that you will be running dip or short arc transfer for 90% of your needs and as such CO2 has all the advantages I mentioned and its two down sides will not affect you one iota.
Wire comes in ES2, ES4 and ES6, with ES6 being the most commonly available. The ES number relates primarily to the deoxidisers in the wire. Lincoln, BOC, CIGWELD and WIA all market ES6 wires.
Go for the CO2 option and you will not be sorry.

Originally Posted by Karl Robbers

Go for the CO2 option and you will not be sorry.

+1

I did some simple weld comparisons between CO2 and argoshield in a thread on here some time ago, but can't seem to find it now. CO2 is all I use now for MIG.

So vern...how old is ya CO2 bottle

cheers

Originally Posted by soundman

So vern...how old is ya CO2 bottle

Dunno, I'm at work, so can't check. Was bought new about 3 or 4 years ago.

Originally Posted by Vernonv

I did some simple weld comparisons between CO2 and argoshield in a thread on here some time ago, but can't seem to find it now. CO2 is all I use now for MIG.

And a good little comparison it was too...

http://www.woodworkforums.com/showth...24#post1256124

I am an old curmudgeon nit picker, I know full well !

BUT PLEASE !




Beer and other goodies comes in Bottles

But gas is contained in CYLINDERS

O- bloody -K

Grahame the grumpy

Seeing as we are talking gas cylinders, I wonder if and when the next leap in welding gas cylinder material will occur. We have seen the switch from steel to aluminium as the material of choice and reaped the rewards of decreased weight, but breathing apparatus cylinders are making the move to Carbon Fibre, (and nearly doubled their fill pressure at the same time). It is a strange feeling holding a cylinder with 300 BAR inside, that is light as a feather and appears semi see through although I think that is more an illusion.
Obviously cost would be a factor, but that was once the case with aluminium cylinders too. Not too sure how carbon Fibre would stand up in a fabrication workshop either.
Makes you wonder though.

Originally Posted by Karl Robbers

Not too sure how carbon Fibre would stand up in a fabrication workshop either.
Makes you wonder though.

I know what you mean Karl .There seem to be individuals in some workshops capable of breaking an anvil with a rubber hammer.I have seen one guy in the NT rolling an I beam into the shop from outside using the cylinders as rollers.At least the buggers could not arc on them.

If it means profit ,the new materials will be introduced sooner than later.

Grahame