When I acquired my welder I also acquired a full size (Like 5''6" tall) Linde gas bottle. I called the 0800 number on the bottle and a week later I got a call saying they would collect the next day - Result
I have mixed experience. I had a leaking Camping cylinder so rang the number on it and BOC bloke came to my house and made it safe and told me as its a faulty one BOC would change it for another, well after several phone calls the not so local branch wanted me to make a two hour journey to swap his faulty bottle! After many Emails to head office they agreed to swap it via a local Garden centre, it was that bad I will never used BOC ever again. With my motor home I received a BOC Propane cylinder the valve is very stiff so I called them they will take it back as faulty but give me nothing in exchange its still full so I will just keep it.
Not sure if it's already listed on the forum somewhere but some useful info regarding transporting gas, pretty hefty amount of info. http://www.bcga.co.uk/assets/publications/GN27.pdf
I too had a very poor experience with BOC which meant I'd never deal with them again either. As I was winding down my business prior to retirement, I'd cancelled my Argon/CO2 contract and they'd collected the bottle and had provided the paperwork proving they'd done so. I'd kept on the Oxy/Acetylene bottles as my forge was being demolished to make way for a housing development and my landlord had asked me if I'd cut up some structural steel into manageable lengths to allow him to weigh it in. Having done so, I cancelled the Oxy/Acetylene rental and BOC collected, again issuing me with the relevant paperwork. About three months later I noticed the debit for the Argon/CO2 rental had reappeared in my bank statement, on ringing BOC they insisted that I still had their bottle and therefore I was obliged to pay the due rental for it. By then my Migatronic 325 Compact was well on its way to a new life in Poland and I had no workshop, let alone BOC's bottle sitting in it. Unbelievably it took about 2 months to sort it out during which time they continued to dip into our bank account. Eventually they admitted their mistake, and I got my money back, it appeared that they had my notification ending the bottle rental but no paperwork proving the bottle had been returned, I considered myself fortunate to have kept my copy intact, paperwork usually ended up covered in soot, scale and weld spatter. Do miss having the Oxy/Acetylene though but not at BOC's prices.
it may not get used a lot but I couldn't be without oxy acet its so versatile and you cant spot heat stuff with anything else
I bought a welder a few years back that came with a small cylinder or a argon mix and was able to scrap it locally with a bunch of other metals. Not sure how legit that is mind
Cut the bottoms off with an angle grinder (or plasma if you are flash..) and they make good bells Hang a nice big one by the front door, along with a hammer on a string...That even reaches me back in the w/shop out back. KF
Slightly vivid memory of a garage fire, when one of the spectators was offed by an errant cylinder. He was well away, but it launched itself like a cruise missile. I was assuming one had unscrewed the tap.
there was an attempt about 10 years ago, by AL to buy out BOC, but it all got turned down in the end, by the MMC at the time
I was an agent for BOC for many years and used to get all sorts brought back in .... or dumped at my gates ... if they were returnable I sent them back. if they weren't the tops and bottoms got cut off in the bandsaw and turned 'em into flower pots for t'other half LPGs were the biggest head ache ... so many different breeds and usually ended up with the neck taken out and a spike driven into them so the scrappy would accept them
Paperwork never was their strong point although they generated enough of it .... not unusual to get several copies of the same thing day after day ... and their record keeping was abysmal
Our local recycling chap will take them - he keeps them in a fenced compound, and if he knows you just lets you pick out one or more suitable for your needs and away you go. I sometimes see them in Gumtree ads too, folk [try to] sell them..... Or, you could stick them on Freecycle.
This is something that has bothered me for a while, so I had a browse and came across this advice: 1. Ensure the cylinder is totally empty by fitting the torch / regulator and opening the valve fully. 2. Remove the Schraeder valve (same as a car tyre valve). Do they all have those? 3. Deface the label / mark "Empty". 4. Dispose in metal waste skip. It seems obvious now I've read it, but didn't seem so before. Maybe a bit off topic, but used razor blades pose a similar problem.
