A bit OT: Oxy/Acetylene rig question

This is a bit off topic, but I figured someone here would know the answer. A neighbor has a 20 year old oxy acetylene welding setup I'm interested in buying, but I don't know much about these and a I want to make sure the tanks, regulators etc. are not obsolete (eg, they haven't changed the fittings since the mid '80's & I'll be able to get the tanks filled or exchanged). Anyone know?

TIA

Rick

Reply to
Richard
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Reply to
will350

Thanks for the reply. Tanks are 1984, what do you mean by "hydro"?

Thanks again

Rick

Reply to
Richard

Whenever you turn your tanks in for refill/replacement, the gas company will look at the dates stamped on the tank. If it has been awhile since the last testing, they will test the tanks underwater with some extreme pressure for a burst test. Nothing to worry about if you exchange your tanks whenever you purchase your gas.

Reply to
Kruse

One more item you need to check into before you purchase. Talk to your insurance agent and update your homeowners policy. This is one item that may or may not be relevent, but some people forget to do this and regret it later.....

Reply to
Kruse

Thanks Kruse!

Rick

Reply to
Richard

Hmmm!

I have oxy/acetylene, argon, CO2, and Tri Mix (for stainless mig) in my shop and I just take them into the gas dealer and they exchange them for me.

The only bottle I don't own is the TriMix and that belongs to the dealer and no other dealer will fill it. I also pay monthly rental on this TriMix.

However I own all the rest, no longer have to prove ownership. I just go to any gas dealer and they exchange bottle for bottle without regard to the inspection dates.

I think the idea is, they get the exchange bottles cycled through inspection and don't have to worry about refilling bottles that are out of date (the refill process determine if they are due).

Many years ago (early '80), if you owned your bottles, you had to show proof and if you didn't own any bottles, they had you make a deposit on "their bottle" and charge a monthly rent.

Now they don't seem to question owner bottle exchange. And if you don't have the the bottle, they rent theirs to you along with a deposit and the refill.

Something that you should be aware of, is the present day cost of Acetylene. I stopped using it about 8 years ago due to the cost and now use tig or mig for welding and plasma for burning. I still keep a small bottle around for silver soldering and make sure the valve is tightly closed. I estimate a simple gas welding or burning job can now use about a bucks worth of gas.. I have never liked propane for welding or burning. MAP gas seems to be common in industry but I don't have much experience with it.

Reply to
Steve

A couple other concerns.

An O/A rig has various seals, etc. that deteriorate with age. In general, they're inexpensive and doing a little re-building is no big deal... So long as you can get the parts...

There are some top-of-the-line manufacturers (Victor comes to mind) that are widely distributed and for which parts are easily available. Then there are some off-the-wall ones where it becomes a real problem.

Jerry

Reply to
Jerry Foster

Thanks for the continued input, very helpful.

Rick

Reply to
Richard

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