New Tig advice if you don't mind

[Hood]

........monthly rental of about £30 per cylinder.........

That seem rather expensive, I am under £10 (think £8 but would have to look) for a 33l 300 bar cylinder rental per month.

 

[Munkul]

My choices would be:

Budget:
Parweld XTT

up the budget a grand:

Lorch HT200 (I have one and love it)
Lincoln Aspect 200 (I think these are underrated and underappreciated, very versatile machines, and proper EN/EP offset like a Dynasty which is pretty cool, they are finally pricing themselves back into the market)

there's loads of good machines around to be honest, I'd be looking for the best value best quality machine that you can buy from a dealer within driving distance.

 

[Brad93]

I said they can be expensive to repair. Are you saying they don't fail, and those that do are cheap to repair? Your last statement suggests otherwise.

Any machine can go wrong, it’s electronics at the end of the day.

Have you had a lorch machine fail then?

In my opinion they’re highly reliable sets. None of mine, in 4 years of ownership, have had any issues.
I know plenty of others who have had them far longer and theirs are fine too.

What I have seen, is many kemppis fail. The new X8s, Mastertigs that need new ACX panels, had a 6 month old Kempact RA catch on fire on me once.

So in my opinion, I think a lot more could be said of lorch quality than of Kemppi.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

find a BOC rep on fb and you can get the gas at prices as low as £10 a cylinder (size Y) and then monthly rental of about £30 per cylinder

If you fancy a trip to Beds or if I come down nearer London I would be happy to give you some tuition?

Using the Volkszone scheme, I pay BOC just under £10 p month for Y size bottles of AgroShield Light AND pure argon - that's for both.

 

[Wallace]

It might be worth considering a large W size bottle of Argon on contract while you practice then going to Y on the Hobby deals when it runs out. I went through loads of gas initially practicing.

 

[eSCHEn]

Using the Volkszone scheme, I pay BOC just under £10 p month for Y size bottles of AgroShield Light AND pure argon - that's for both.

Yep I just paid for my rental a couple weeks back. £60 inc VAT for year's rental of size Y. Pure Ar and refills are (IIRC) about £45 ish.

 

[Richard.]

It might be worth considering a large W size bottle of Argon on contract while you practice then going to Y on the Hobby deals when it runs out. I went through loads of gas initially practicing.

Absolutely. It’s very easy to polish off a full Y sized cylinder in an afternoon practice session

 

[JLP]

Using the Volkszone scheme, I pay BOC just under £10 p month for Y size bottles of AgroShield Light AND pure argon - that's for both.

Yep I just paid for my rental a couple weeks back. £60 inc VAT for year's rental of size Y. Pure Ar and refills are (IIRC) about £45 ish.

Do you just ring re that scheme?

And can it include mig gas?

 

[eSCHEn]

Do you just ring re that scheme?

And can it include mig gas?

I believe you do just ring up and ask for it. Originally it was the "Volkszone Deal" as that was the forum which negotiated with BOC for the deal. Since then I think it's just the "Forum Deal" with them but it has been over five years since I sorted mine out so that may have changed.

Yes, it includes Ar Mix and Ar Pure. Prices are similar for rent and refill but I think overall pure Ar is a wee bitty more expensive as you would expect.

Not 100% but I think O2 may be on the deal as well. SWK will be along shortly

 

[Munkul]

How much is a W size cylinder of argon for rent and refill on the volkszone deal? Can they do the high pressure cylinders on the deal?
I'm with Dixons industrial gasses which aren't bad price wise, but can always improve things... I like the high pressure "titan" cylinders, more easy to handle than W size and seem to last forever.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

I think the Volkszone deal is now known as their 'Hobby' deal. There's a separate section at H.O. which deal with it, ask for them if you phone Head Office [Branches don't necessarily know about this].

Very easy, all done over the phone with forms emailed for completion & return.

 

[Wallace]

I think the Volkzone/Hobbyweld deal was only for Argoshield Light and Argon in size Y but don’t quote me on it.

 

[Tom Orrow L]

You ought to give Buse Gases a ring and see if you've got a local agent you can collect from. Their rent can be around £8 + VAT per bottle but fill cost considerably less than BOC, and they do their 300BAR 30LTR REG+ bottle which makes things nice and easy as its got a built in reg and quick connector.
We've just become an agent for them and people are signing up left, right and centre.

 

[Dr pipe]

Great info so far ..I have a full size on Argonshield for my mig but that has to go when it's finished so wasn't sure what the deal was with cylinders these days but will now look into that. Seems like a nice machine the Lorch, so will have to find who is my local dealer down here.

 

[Hood]

You ought to give Buse Gases a ring and see if you've got a local agent you can collect from. Their rent can be around £8 + VAT per bottle but fill cost considerably less than BOC, and they do their 300BAR 30LTR REG+ bottle which makes things nice and easy as its got a built in reg and quick connector.
We've just become an agent for them and people are signing up left, right and centre.

@Tom Orrow L What kind of money are you talking (rental and fill) for a 300 bar 30l.
Don't think there are any agents up my way anyway but would still be good to know.

 

[Dr pipe]

Company down here just checked.. Sgs... £100 deposit fully refundable on return £25 for fills on a 30Litre cylinder.. Does the 30L equate to a Y cylinder ? No agents for buse down here...but plenty of buses !

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Afaik, some fill to different pressures? I'm sure someone with all the info at their fingertips will confirm or deny this.

 

[Hood]

Company down here just checked.. Sgs... £100 deposit fully refundable on return £25 for fills on a 30Litre cylinder.. Does the 30L equate to a Y cylinder ? No agents for buse down here...but plenty of buses !

That sounds very cheap for a refill of a 30L, when I was with SGS I was about £90-£100 I think. Then again I think the agents decide on the price but even still £25 sounds very cheap.

Y size is much smaller than 30l, I think it will be 20L.

 

[Tom Orrow L]

@Tom Orrow L What kind of money are you talking (rental and fill) for a 300 bar 30l.
Don't think there are any agents up my way anyway but would still be good to know.

Between £26-£30 for a 30L, pure argon and mix. Depends on usage levels though.

 

[Dr pipe]

Yep your right those were the prices Sgs said but when I called the agent...Bit different only do 20L and that's £75 plus vat ! Unknown pressure. Plus your surcharge of £101 if you don't have a return.