Gas Welding Kit

[Bodger Dave]

Hi, have seen a gas welding kit from the welders warehouse in july issue of practical classics mag. I like the look cos it includes gas but without bottle rent, does anyone know if its any good????
thanks in advance

 

[weldequip]

Refill costs look prohibitive to me...79 quid for an Oxy refill ...you could have two or three industrials for that! Most of that cost will of course be taken up by delivery/collection costs though.
If you have nobody local that can supply/refill Oxygen (maybe collect from W/Warehouse?) it may still be worth your while taking the rental option through the likes of BOC etc. There's no real substitute for Acetylene, although Oxy/Propane is good for Brazing & Heating, and may be worth looking into; Propane cylinders are readily available & cheap, you would just need to source an Oxygen cylinder. More & more independant suppliers these days offering 'rent-free' cylinder options - try a Google

 

[Ragnarok]

adams gas and SGS both do rent free oxygen cheaper than that, the adams gas one is only about £35 to fill a 9L bottle at 137bar, the SGS one is £50 a fill but the bottle is 20L same size as the boc Y and 200bar too, there are suppliers all over the place for both of them and there are many more similar suppliers around those are just the ones i've used.

also albee do a rent free acetylene lots of dealers for those too but the initial cost is quite high if i remember correctly.

 

[oofafoo]

oofafoo

Refill costs look prohibitive to me...79 quid for an Oxy refill ...you could have two or three industrials for that! Most of that cost will of course be taken up by delivery/collection costs though.
If you have nobody local that can supply/refill Oxygen (maybe collect from W/Warehouse?) it may still be worth your while taking the rental option through the likes of BOC etc. There's no real substitute for Acetylene, although Oxy/Propane is good for Brazing & Heating, and may be worth looking into; Propane cylinders are readily available & cheap, you would just need to source an Oxygen cylinder. More & more independant suppliers these days offering 'rent-free' cylinder options - try a Google

The only thing to be aware of with propane is that you tend to use up to 3 times as much oxygen to operate it properly. This is often overlooked by company bean counters when they only see the cheaper cost of propane. Personally, I hate propane. I've seen a few videos of propane cylinders exploding - not a pretty site. Also, being a heavier than air gas, it will sink to the lowest level if you are working in a confined space like a garage pit for example if it;s leaking from somewhere. Oops, rambling now. Just ignore me.

 

[Ragnarok]

The only thing to be aware of with propane is that you tend to use up to 3 times as much oxygen to operate it properly. This is often overlooked by company bean counters when they only see the cheaper cost of propane. Personally, I hate propane. I've seen a few videos of propane cylinders exploding - not a pretty site. Also, being a heavier than air gas, it will sink to the lowest level if you are working in a confined space like a garage pit for example if it;s leaking from somewhere. Oops, rambling now. Just ignore me.

according to murex charts a 1/16" PNM cutting nozzle preheat uses 1130-2490l/h of oxygen and 280-620l/h of propane, and a ANM uses 425-800l/h of oxygen and 400-700l/h acetylene.

i actually find that oxy propane does what i want it to better than acetylene since i switched, larger softer flame for heating and i find it cuts smoother easier, so i like the propane, but i don't use it a huge amount anymore since i got tig and plasma, hence switching from acetylene to a rent free oxy-propane setup.