Argoshield Supplies - South East

[Retroanaconda]

Hello all.

I have searched, there are a few topics found regarding gas but none relating to my area.

So I'm looking for a small size (the one about 3' tall and about 6" wide, possibly an 'X'?) bottle of Argoshield to go with my welder (Murex Miget). It has the 3/8" gas fitting I believe.

BOC want £68.50 a year rental, plus £31.43 for the actual gas, plus £13.34 just for the privilege of the refill. So a £113 starting out cost, £68 a year rental, and then £45 a go to refill the thing.

This strikes me as a bit much...

These guys in Margate will sell me a bottle for £30, no rental charge, and just charge the same for a refill. Only problem is Margate is a bit far away and they want £27 to deliver it and another £42 to collect it for the refill. Had I been closer to them (or lived 10 miles further East and qualified for their 'within Kent' delivery charges) this would have been ideal. That said, it's still cheaper than BOC.

So my question is, those of you who are local to me in the West Sussex or Surrey sort of area, whom do you use? I am sure there are many for whom the BOC prices are worth it due to the amount you use, but my question is more aimed at those who find themselves in the same situation as me

So are there any other 'local companies' who sell the gas at reasonable rates like the guys in Margate above?

[mickeyw]

I have a mate who used Air Products gases for work. He's based in Rusper,so in the right area. I've no idea how much they charge, but I know he changed to them having got fed up with BOC prices. I think he has some arrangement that does not involve bottle rental.

[pinny]

i agree with you i had oxygen and acetylene from boc ive taken back the acectylene and im now using propane for cutting i looked at air products as a supplier but didnt seem to work out any cheaper like you said the fixed charge for collection is a p take,but i suppose there aint any company who can compete with boc ive been a customer with boc for 22 years but i keep looking for another supplier,chris.

[Retroanaconda]

I suppose the advantage of BOC is I have a depot a few miles away in Crawley. There is apparently an Air Products dealer about 20 miles away in Uckfield, I will see what they can offer.

Thanks for those suggestions, any more are very welcome

[yalan]

Very similar experience here.

Mine currently comes form AP and is pretty much the same as what you quote.

I udes to pay monthly and it ended up costing nigh on £17 a month just for rental. Turns out the longer you own a bottle the more you pay in monthly rental. Crazy! I've just switched to annual payment.

Don't know what their rental prices are like - but these guys have been very good to me with equipment & the like. They're BOC agents & local to me in W Sussex.

[FridgeFreezer]

I've shopped round in the past but never found anyone convincingly cheaper than BOC.

[integerspin]

I will look into that margate place, maybe if a few people round here wanted to go for it we

could get several cylinder at the same time and make it more reasonable.

Someone in reigate used to flog air products stuff, they guaranteed they would save me money

on the BOC prices. However their price list didn't give prices that you could easily equate to

BOCs and they woudln't give me straight answers to questions, but when you sat and worked it all

out it wasn't going to be any cheaper.

There is a section on mig welding forum on shielding gases, There are some BOC alternatives.

[mike4444244]

I have a BOC contract, I use a Y size (i think thats what you're describing) this lasts me ages so the low rental cost and higher fill cost suits me as I rarely need to refill... How much welding do you actually do?

Mike

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

I've also looked into this in deepth, and no I am not a fan od BOC Either

But, what I have is a Y size (half full size) but, and its a good one,

I have a second bottle I picked up through ebay , so I can

run the bottles till they are completely empty and have a spare full

at all times and a rental on just one

One of the probs I always had was whjen I had a big job on,

I worried I'd run out of gas, so often I was going back to BOC with it not fuly

empty

Also bear in mind that the pressures BOC have in the bottle / contents is far

far higher than the other options, whuilst they look cheap the gas runs out far faster.

The 2 bottle route + 1 rental agme is a good compromise IMHO

Nige

[Retroanaconda]

Hmm, don't they barcode all the bottles now to stop that sort of thing?

Looking at the figures, BOC isn't actually that expensive over a whole year. And considering they are five mins down the road it does make it very convinient.

So i may just go with them

[roguevogue]

Just to be pedantic, if you want Argoshield then BOC is your only option.

We used Corgon from Linde for a while but the deal wore out so we were enticed back by BOC. We collect from Mercury Welding in Horsham who are a BOC agent.

When we used Linde it was delivered by Four Seasons Fuels in Coneyhurst.

[forkrentfitter]

Just to be pedantic, if you want Argoshield then BOC is your only option.

We used Corgon from Linde for a while but the deal wore out so we were enticed back by BOC. We collect from Mercury Welding in Horsham who are a BOC agent.

When we used Linde it was delivered by Four Seasons Fuels in Coneyhurst.

boc is owned by linde

[rusty_wingnut]

I still use BOC, spot as I can collect from South Wimbledon or Crawley easily.

Always a good service and the abrasives are good value.

[Retroanaconda]

Might just have to bite the bullet and get the stuff from BOC then I think.

Thanks for all the help chaps, will hopefully pick some up tomorrow

[garymorris]

What about sourcing a bottle through ebay or asking around and then when you need a fill up go to a steel fabricator(give them some cash and swap bottles ) or some times scrap metal yards will have bottles.

Cheers

Gary

[missingsid]

What about sourcing a bottle through ebay or asking around and then when you need a fill up go to a steel fabricator(give them some cash and swap bottles ) or some times scrap metal yards will have bottles.

Cheers

Gary

See below:

Posted 03 May 2010 - 10:09 AM

Hmm, don't they barcode all the bottles now to stop that sort of thing?

Marc.

[FridgeFreezer]

Not had a barcode checked and I refilled an "illegitimate" BOC bottle recently. They did write to me and ask where I got it, but no problem filling it.

[garymorris]

Air products don't check either

[Retroanaconda]

Well I have an account with BOC now, so if I happen to 'acquire' another bottle by some means I will try it out.

Ta folks.

[smilne]

If you are in the area then a company called migtigarc in Portsmouth (here) do an equivalent to argoshield for much less than BOC.

The bottles are about the size of the smaller 'X' size BOC bottles from what I can see, although they may be slightly smaller than this. It does however still work out significantly cheaper..

From what I remember their contract is as follows:

Cylinder deposit = £35

3 year(!) rental contract = £53

Each refill = £21

This means that it will cost £109 initially but then take into account the longer rental length, return of deposit and cheaper refill and it looks pretty good. This is especially so if you are a 'light' user..

For example: If you didn't require any refills over the three year period you would only part with the equivalent of £25 a year!

There isn't much on their site about the gas rental but give them a call and they will give you the details.

I hope this helps.

Sam

[roguevogue]

If you are in the area then a company called migtigarc in Portsmouth (here) do an equivalent to argoshield for much less than BOC.

The bottles are about the size of the smaller 'X' size BOC bottles from what I can see, although they may be slightly smaller than this. It does however still work out significantly cheaper..

From what I remember their contract is as follows:

Cylinder deposit = £35

3 year(!) rental contract = £53

Each refill = £21

This means that it will cost £109 initially but then take into account the longer rental length, return of deposit and cheaper refill and it looks pretty good. This is especially so if you are a 'light' user..

For example: If you didn't require any refills over the three year period you would only part with the equivalent of £25 a year!

There isn't much on their site about the gas rental but give them a call and they will give you the details.

I hope this helps.

Sam

Take note of whether the fill pressure is the same, the difference in gas content between 150bar and 230bar (BOC etc.) is huge.

[Darren Roberts]

Hi,

I run Argoshield on a pukka bottle on my BoC account - my mate has a BoC bottle that he "aquired" - same size. If I let him fill up on my aco**** am I going to get stuffed for the rental - currently £70 per year for Size X bottle?

Happy to let my mate have the use of my aco**** - just don't wanna get stung for the rental - anyone else had an expereience of this?

cheers

Darren

[roguevogue]

Hi,

I run Argoshield on a pukka bottle on my BoC account - my mate has a BoC bottle that he "aquired" - same size. If I let him fill up on my aco**** am I going to get stuffed for the rental - currently £70 per year for Size X bottle?

Happy to let my mate have the use of my aco**** - just don't wanna get stung for the rental - anyone else had an expereience of this?

cheers

Darren

It is my experience that, assuming the cylinders are the same type and size, you will have no trouble exchanging a non account cylinder. Although people are saying that cylinders are marked and scanned I have seen no evidence of this from BOC.