FieryFurnace Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 I've been looking for torch tanks for some time now! There are a trillion regulations that rules out most of what's on craigs. I was supposed to look at a $400 set in Nashville this past Friday morning, but the owner sold it before I could get there. Another set for $175 sold within 24 hours of the owner posting it for sale, so I missed that one too. Basically the fill places will only take 80 CF tanks or smaller without the whole train of paperwork. (That's like a #2 tank or smaller I think.) I was on the verge of buying or renting tanks. Renting is $160 per year plus fill fees for the 80 CF sizes. Buying the 80 CF tanks new would be between $500 and $800 depending on where I purchased them. The other day I decided to call the local radio station that does a swap, buy, and sell hour. I simply stated I was looking for decent sized torch tanks. I got two phone calls right off. One didn't pan out, but today I met the other caller in the TSC (Tractor Supply Co.) parking lot to look at his tanks. He had a #5 Oxy and a #4 Acetylene tank. They were TSC tanks so I was able to get a guy out there to say that they could exchange them. They are able to exchange that size. Long story short, the guy gave me the two tanks, a nice cart, and the tank caps for a grand total of $100. Since I own the tanks, I will not have a yearly rental fee which to me is a plus. In addition, the tanks are much larger than anything I could have afforded to buy new or to rent. I am very pleased. It pays to be patient! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Good deal! Glad to hear good things happening. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreedomForge Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Not bad at all. I also have been on the hunt for the last year or so in Montana. They come up at auctions here and sell for cheap but not cheap enough for me. It does pay to be Patient. Just this week I finally found a Victor set-up with two full 80CF tanks. He said another guy would give $150 but wasn't able to make it until the weekend. Just so happened that I was off work that day and picked them up for $125! Cash. He dropped the price since I showed up within the hour cash in hand. Only thing It needed was a new hose.( The one he was using was very questionable). Boy I love getting a deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clinton Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I once bought a Victor cutting torch and regulators on the side of the road for $40.00. The torch is 4 feet long great for demolition. Out here tanks can be found cheap and as long as they are owner tanks you just exchange it for a full one- no paperwork no questions. But you do get to pay the state for the "Hazardous material fee" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FieryFurnace Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 I had a friend over this afternoon after church. He helped me hook all the torch stuff up.....we found that one of my regulators is missing the part that attaches it to the tank! My steel supplier has a bunch of old regulators for pretty cheap. I'm hoping I can find one of them that will have a matching part for my regulators. Otherwise everything looks good. I should be able to get the tanks filled tomorrow and hopefully get the regulator part too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 FireyFurnace, the proper fitting, New, is available from most welding supply places for a very reasonable price. If you buy a used fitting and it is for the Oxygen tank make sure it is thoroughly de-greased before using. Grease + Oxygen under high pressure = new address with 17 diferent zip codes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FieryFurnace Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 FireyFurnace, the proper fitting, New, is available from most welding supply places for a very reasonable price. If you buy a used fitting and it is for the Oxygen tank make sure it is thoroughly de-greased before using. Grease + Oxygen under high pressure = new address with 17 diferent zip codes. Ok! Is mineral Spirits or WD-40 ok to use for degreasing in this situation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkunkler Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 WD40 contains mineral oil, a no-no for oxygen fittings. Anything that can leave oil or organic residue behind is a problem. Also no pipe joint compound. Be safe and check with your gas supplier or place that does gauge repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Mineral spirits or WD-40 would be ok IF the part were washed with soap and hot water to remove all traces of the mineral spirits or WD-40 and then just for safety sake, I would put the part in a pan of water and boil it for a few minutes then let it air dry. That should get rid of all traces of mineral spirits or the WD-40. When I mentioned grease, it is just one form of a hydrocarbon, mineral spirits is another form of a hydrocarbon, and WD-40 contains some sort of a solvent which is another hydrocarbon. Any hydrocarbon and oxygen under pressure gets the same results which isn't a good one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuge Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Good score. There's a great demo video for sale on the umba site (http://umbaonline.ning.com/page/dvd-library-1) where Ralph Sproul goes into great detail about the dos and don'ts of oxy acetylyne. It's # RD 102. You get a lot of other Sproul wisdom too, power hammer stuff, shop layout and efficiency, more... "Know the rules" is his mantra in regards to the torch. It's a well spent seven bucks. Those things can and have killed many experienced metalworkers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FieryFurnace Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 I looking up a bunch of youtube how to's, tried to remember what some other's have told me, and read the owner's manuel, and finally got everything working. No large mushroom cloud yet! It took me a while to get the OXY filled because the Tractor Supply Company here had a bit of a mix up with their delivery man. I was able to cut up a bunch of semi truck leaf springs yesterday, fo a garde tool we are working on. It's working great, and is a real handy tool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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