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Recertify your bottles

johnnielsen

John (Makonjohn)
Premium Member
I exchanged some emails with Adam of Majestic Hydrotest 36, 4807 32 St SE Calgary regarding recertification of some my welding gas and oxy-acetylene bottles as I empty them.
He said that they charged $40 per bottle with same day or next day turnaround. I have no experience with the company but it sounds very promising.
 
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johnnielsen

John (Makonjohn)
Premium Member
Your bottles will have a certification date on them. They have to be recertified every 10 years.
 
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Tom O

Ultra Member
I just take mine in and get a different bottle every time I bought mine so there is no contract.
That is one thing I want to make this year a water pump pressure tester.
 

johnnielsen

John (Makonjohn)
Premium Member
I provided this info for those that have expired bottles and can't find a welding gas dealer who will recertify at a reasonable price.
 

Bofobo

M,Mizera(BOFOBO)
I’ve had to do that with propane tanks before, good info on other tanks. Thanks
My pass for that was to take my old expired LP tanks (lovingly donated by people who just bought new ones) and exchange them for newly certified ones pre filled at the “tank exchange” at my local petrol station.
 

Janger

(John)
Administrator
Vendor
How do you read the date on the bottle John? there's a lot of numbers and letters...

BTW forum KMS tools seems to have the best prices on refills so far. Perhaps half what the other guys have charged.
 

Chicken lights

Forum Pony Express Driver
My pass for that was to take my old expired LP tanks (lovingly donated by people who just bought new ones) and exchange them for newly certified ones pre filled at the “tank exchange” at my local petrol station.
I do that on the 20 pounders like for a bbq. I’ve got I think a 2 or 5 pounder for my portable torches that I had to get recertified. Don’t ask me how much they are to buy new, but I don’t think they’re cheap. I got mine at a scrap yard for a few bucks
 

johnnielsen

John (Makonjohn)
Premium Member
I have never tried reading the cert. info on my welding gas bottles but I seem to recall my propane bottles were pretty straight forward to interpret. I will google tonight for interest's sake.
I will post any site I find with good info on the subject. I know all but one of my bottles will require recertification when I empty them hence my interest in the subject.
 

Tom Kitta

Ultra Member
Good info - I have an old 20 bottle that is now 20+ years old. To re-certify it would be 1/3 of the new cost.

My big bottle is due next year - for that $40 is cheap (its huge 200 I think).
 

johnnielsen

John (Makonjohn)
Premium Member
I took an acetylene (plumber size) bottle and a corresponding oxygen bottle to Majestic Hydrotest the other day. The recert pricing has changed.
All welding gas bottles except acetylene are $50.
Acetylene bottles start at $60 and go up from there depending on bottle size. Both Adam and Mark were very pleasant to deal with and my bottle turnaround was next day. I received a bottle certification document on each cylinder describing test parameters and bottle condition which they said should be presented to the refill people when the bottles were taken in for filling or exchange.
 

Tom Kitta

Ultra Member
$50 does sound OK - good to know - I have to re-certify my large welding bottle and may get some other bottle for another gas.

I am on the fence of getting acetylene set. Is it still so useful today as in its heydays - I am seeing a lot of torch sets go for peanuts on auction. With extra cost of two bottles as well as refill cost is it worth it?

Also can I use any bottle for say oxygen - I have older 20ft welding bottle that housed argon - can I use it for say oxygen?
 

Tom O

Ultra Member
I’m not sure, I know if I go from argon to c02 they just swap them out mind you I have both now. I would think it works the same.
I’ve been watching Abom79’s videos on shaft buildup using oxy act spray welding it makes you go hmmm.
 

Janger

(John)
Administrator
Vendor
$50 does sound OK - good to know - I have to re-certify my large welding bottle and may get some other bottle for another gas.

I am on the fence of getting acetylene set. Is it still so useful today as in its heydays - I am seeing a lot of torch sets go for peanuts on auction. With extra cost of two bottles as well as refill cost is it worth it?

Also can I use any bottle for say oxygen - I have older 20ft welding bottle that housed argon - can I use it for say oxygen?

At KMS they only sell two bottle types. One type for all the gases - and another type for acetylene. Reading up on acetylene it is quite different to store and manage. I suspect you can reuse a bottle for a different kind of gas but avoiding contamination might be an issue. Wouldn't want oxygen in your argon and then try to weld with that. In practice maybe it is not practical???
 
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