#1 Acetylene bottle valves

[Gary Fowler]

I've been told the largest owner cylinders in my area are 80³ft. I have a 75³ft acetylene, and an 80³ft oxygen. The oxygen is $24 for a refill, and acetylene is $48. I average about $100/ year using 2 oxygens and 1 acetylene. I only use them if I have some long cuts in 3/16 or thicker steel. A 4 1/2 inch angle grinder just doesn't have the guts to do it fast enough. Not to mention if the cuts are long enough, I'll go through a few discs.

I think you must have been given some wrong info. Heck that is scuba tank size and the cost is high for refill mostly due to labor cost I would think. I would check as many LWS places as you have in Pine Bluff to verify. The 125 CF is about as small as I would want for O2. The 75 on the acetylene might be ok if you dont use a rose bud a lot for heating. A propane weedburner torch from HF does a good job of heating if you dont mind heating a large area.

 

[Fedup]

It turns out my oxygen bottle is 125 cu ft and the gas bottle is 75. Last refill on the O2 was $45. When I bought them 14 or 15 years ago, I think it was something like $300 or $400 for the pair. This was actually the first exchange on the gas in all that time. Probably twice on the O2.

I use a torch mainly for brazing, and most of that is custom hydraulic fittings. I need a little rosebud help once in a while, but very little cutting. When I do, it's mostly light stuff using a drag tip so it takes very little gas.

 

[A-one]

I think you must have been given some wrong info. Heck that is scuba tank size and the cost is high for refill mostly due to labor cost I would think. I would check as many LWS places as you have in Pine Bluff to verify. The 125 CF is about as small as I would want for O2. The 75 on the acetylene might be ok if you dont use a rose bud a lot for heating. A propane weedburner torch from HF does a good job of heating if you dont mind heating a large area.

I can't say I was or wasn't given bad advice. While I was considering the best route to take, I was making phone calls to ask questions. I couldn't get an answer about prices or sizes of cylinders. Then I called one place that's based out of Hot Springs, and got some answers. Maybe that's just their policy with small users, but I give them my business. Besides that, they're the lowest price in town on refills. Not by much, but they are the lowest.

I didn't buy their bottles. An online supplier had the best price I could find for the money I had to work with. Those cylinders were about $180 a piece. I also took loading/ unloading for refills into consideration. Given the fact that I only have one strong arm, that's about as much weight as I want to handle. I'm just a hobbyist, and those are a pretty good size for my use. I don't have any rosebuds. Just a couple of cutting tips and a welding tip. I'm not heating any large areas.

Lately I've been entertaining the thought of going to oxy-propane. The only thing it can't do is weld, and that is fine by me. If I go with that option, I am going to swap my acetylene cylinder for 75/25. Maybe I'll look into upgrading my oxygen cylinder to 125³ft. That's going to depend on the weight. I have read that a 20 pound propane tank will outlast a few oxygen refills, on top of frying a few crappie and bream.

 

[Old Irish]

for acetylene : https://www.amazon.com/Yellow-Jacke...+wrench&qid=1606662151&sr=8-4&tag=googhydr-20

I used to have empty mc tanks every time I turned around, would pick up tanks and get to a job and when the regulator was put on it would be half empty so I started making them put a test gauge on the mc and o2 before I would leave with them. the mc tanks with the square stem are still standard here but from time to time I will get one with a knob. at one time I had 3 full sets of tanks for my tote set at home and still had problems having gas when I needed it so I gave the whole shooting match to a guy on my crew who is trying to stock his home shop and now use O2/LP at home. we still use oxy/acetylene at the shop with both full size rigs and totes and using AirGas as our supplier we have only had one questionable tank in the last 12 or 15 years so if you are getting tanks with faulty valves your supplier isn't maintaining them and it may be worth moving your business elsewhere.