Found a place to refill co2 in NYC

As some of you NYC brewers know its a pain in the butt to find a place that refills co2 tanks in our area. I live in Brooklyn and had to trek to the last stop in Queens and walk for 20 mins for a place that would do it. Recently I had to refill a tank and tried calling a few places in Manhattan that were fire extinguisher type stores. I found a place that is 10 blocks away from my job and that sure beats taking a day off or a leaving a few hours early to travel to remote parts of Queens. If you have a car you might not have the same problem but in my searches the only places in Brooklyn that do it are welding shops and they are usually open 7am-12pm and are all in remote parts of Brooklyn that hard to get to. They do not refill on the spot, I think they drop it off to their supplier and let you pick it up a few hours later.

This place that I found I dropped of my tank and picked it up filled a few hours later. $21 for 5# which I know is a little more expensive than other places (I paid $15 in Queens) but $6 extra is worth the convenience of not spending 1-1.5 hour in extra train commute.

http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-...roup&ct=more-results&resnum=4&ved=0CBcQtQMwAw

Able Fire Extinguisher Co
241 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10001-6946
(212) 675-7777‎

Thumbs up!!!

PS. Stay away from Roma Syrup Corporation in Brooklyn. 7401 16th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11204-5110 - (718) 259-1842 When I had problems last year getting co2 I was going to purchase an extra steel 5# tank from them that I can do exchanges. I sent my father to pick it up for me (after speaking to the owner on the phone a few days in advance) and told him to check the tank to make sure it has an inspection sticker (its an old steel tank after all). As soon as my father asked for that the store owner told him to leave. He was trying to sell tanks without inspection and when I called him he claimed that 5# tanks dont need inspection.

Pivzavod said:

PS. Stay away from Roma Syrup Corporation in Brooklyn. 7401 16th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11204-5110 - (718) 259-1842 When I had problems last year getting co2 I was going to purchase an extra steel 5# tank from them that I can do exchanges. I sent my father to pick it up for me (after speaking to the owner on the phone a few days in advance) and told him to check the tank to make sure it has an inspection sticker (its an old steel tank after all). As soon as my father asked for that the store owner told him to leave. He was trying to sell tanks without inspection and when I called him he claimed that 5# tanks dont need inspection.

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Hey, you got a problem with that?

Sounds like the NY I grew up in, just a guy trying to make a few bucks at your expense. So what if it blows up someday and takes your head off - no receipts given!

LOL

man your co2 is more than double the price and three times the work than ours out here on the west coast.

dude i spent 5 hours round trip one day to get gas only to get cockblocked. went to a place and they told me the guy that fills it is not there. i called in advance and they said i can come on saturday to get it filled.

Exchange with them guys, trade your empty for a full one, ownership is not important, you will always have one, it just won't be the one you bought. Beats the heck out of waiting for the certified tank filler to come back from lunch or vacation. Besides, in an exchange I have never had anyone look at the the hydro date or question the ownership.

Exchange brand new aluminum tank for expired steel tank? I dont think so.

Pivzavod said:

Exchange brand new aluminum tank for expired steel tank? I dont think so.

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Ha, ha, you will. If you value your time and trouble.

P.S. It's against the law for them to let an expired tank out the door, and your aluminum tank will expire someday too.

Bell Fire Extinguisher, Prospect Ave btw 3rd and 4th Avenues. That's where I go.

And I always switch out. I didn't see any reason to come back the next day to pick it up every time just so I could have a nice shiny tank hiding in my dark refrigerator. Better to walk out the door with a full one in 2 minutes.

Wellshooter said:

Ha, ha, you will. If you value your time and trouble.

P.S. It's against the law for them to let an expired tank out the door, and your aluminum tank will expire someday too.

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I pick it up the same day from the new place that I found. The place that did on the spot refills was extra 1-1.5 hour commute from work.

I know its illegal thats why I am mentioning it here. My tank was brand spanking new, as in 5 years left on inspection. If I exchange for expired tank and try to refill it / exchange it anywhere else I would have to pay for an inspection. Steel for steel exchange is fine, aluminum for steel sucks.

Airborneguy said:

Bell Fire Extinguisher, Prospect Ave btw 3rd and 4th Avenues. That's where I go.

And I always switch out. I didn't see any reason to come back the next day to pick it up every time just so I could have a nice shiny tank hiding in my dark refrigerator. Better to walk out the door with a full one in 2 minutes.

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This place does only exchanges?

No, but I think it takes a day to get yours filled. I just do the exchange. My "new" tank is long gone now.

If you refuse to exchange then eventually you will have to leave your tank for an extended period to get a hydro and be charged for it. If you exchange you never have to worry about the hydro date. The supplier will get the hydro done which includes a new date stamp and you don't have to pay for it.

The aluminum tanks are cool and expensive, and everybody wants one. I had one, but I exchanged it for a steel tank because of all the hassel and since then have exchanged it many more times without any problems or worries. I've been exchanging CO2 tanks a lot longer than I've been brewing beer.

presto does refill in queens for a good price

I used to goto Presto before and they do refills on the spot and its a few bucks cheaper. Getting to Presto after work is 1.5 hour round trip for me. I do recommend Presto for those that can access it and it was originally recommended to me by another forum member.

On the recommendation of the Brooklyn Homebrew blog I went to Simplex Fire Extinguisher Co. this morning to get a tank filled. They want you to call and make an appointment before you come in, but will fill it for you on the spot. They topped my 5 pound tank up for $20 and in just a few minutes I was out the door.

They're located at 1621 Mcdonald Ave, Brooklyn, NY‎ - (718) 998-1250.

Tech air will exchange a tank and will give an aluminum tank for a steel one . I bought two older steel tanks and now have two aluminum . Seems every time I go there is an even mix of tanks . They didn't even look at the date on the old one.

The gas industry exchanges tanks. That's just how they do business. I think they probably chuckle at home brewers when they are shocked to learn that they will have their tank swapped out. That said, a local industrial supply place has re-filled mine a few times, because it was shiny. They didn't want to swap it with an ugly one for me

chrispykid said:

On the recommendation of the Brooklyn Homebrew blog I went to Simplex Fire Extinguisher Co. this morning to get a tank filled. They want you to call and make an appointment before you come in, but will fill it for you on the spot. They topped my 5 pound tank up for $20 and in just a few minutes I was out the door.

They're located at 1621 Mcdonald Ave, Brooklyn, NY‎ - (718) 998-1250.

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This place is the closest to my house but I could never get the owner to answer the phone.
First time I called him he answered but was leaving in 30 mins. Every single phone call since then was no answer and I left a VM once but he never called back.

What time of the day were you able to speak to someone? What part of Brooklyn are you in if you are close to Simplex?

What time of the day were you able to speak to someone? What part of Brooklyn are you in if you are close to Simplex?

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I get the sense that the hours aren't very regular. I called them yesterday in the early afternoon and arranged to bring the tank in this morning.

I live in Prospect Heights, just off Grand Army Plaza. I rode my bike down there this morning with the tank in a backpack. Five miles in the rain makes for a pretty gross ride, but I thought it was a decent deal, and I didn't want to trade out my brand new tank. The fact that they filled it on the spot was nice too. Hopefully they can help you out next time and be a good source for a while.

PS I got a notification that you tried to send a PM but that it got bounced due to a full inbox. I cleared out a couple messages so feel free to try again if you had other questions outside this thread.

Just called around town to fill a 10 lb tank:

Atlantic Industrial Gas - $15 on the spot! (7:30am - 3pm)
Atlantic Welding Supply - $20 drop-off / pick-up same week (7am - 4pm)
Simplex Fire Extinguisher - $25 call before you go, cuz they're on the road all day

popping by Atlantic Gas tomorrow morning.

Another potential candidate for anyone interested is

Liberty Industrial Gases And Welding Supply Inc
600 Smith Street, Brooklyn (Red Hook)
http://www.libertygases.com/
1-718-596-0060

Simplex wasn't open last time I needed a refill on a Saturday and these guys were able to hook me up. They wouldn't refill on the spot, but they had and identical aluminum canisters ready to go and I walked out with one on the spot. I think the price was $20 for a 5lb tank, but I'd call to confirm.

I think I got a 20lb tank at presto for $20... on the spot

Atlantic Industrial Gas (97 Georgia Ave) Update:

5# - $15
10# - $20

Headed home with a full tank within 5 min!
(well, after waiting 30 for them to open late)

FYI: This is the same business as Atlantic Welding Supply (218 39th st) so the guy there was just gonna charge me 5 bucks Extra to bring my tank over to Georgia Ave and have it back 3 days later. I live right in between so I just biked over to Georgia this morning (nice dudes, no hassle) and now have a nice cold tank waiting to purge and pressurize my first 2 Kegs tonight Looks like the parent company http://www.airweld.net/ has locations all over Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Long Island so even if they don't fill on the spot, they'd probably at least take drop-offs.

They wouldn't refill on the spot, but they had and identical aluminum canisters ready to go and I walked out with one on the spot.

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Naughty Liberty Gas...
this post is old, but sounds like they still just swap, so keep an eye on what you are getting back and what you are giving up!

Swapping tanks is the easiest and safest way to refill CO2. The gas company is required by law to check the hydro test date of every bottle that goes out the door and maintain records of that date. When the hydro expires they are required to retest and re stamp the bottle.

word. heard. just over protective of my shiny new aluminum baby...

Regulator was springing leaks all over the place so it went flat half way though a keg of pumpkin ale Filler at Atlantic was out every time I called, but I was lucky enough to catch the guys @ Simplex and got my tank filled an hour later! ...just in time to re-carb, patch leaks, and serve the rest at our new years eve eve gathering.

Happy New Year Y'all!

Just came back from Able Fire. Dropped off my tank earlier in the morning and was able to pick it up 1-1.5 hour later. The only difference from last year was that the price went up to $25 + tax ($27.81). Last year it was $20 ($4/lb), now its $5/lb.

Franklin Square, on Long Island, on Franklin Ave, there is a fire extingwisher distributer that refills C02. 5# tank cost $5.

McKinney Welding Supply on 52rd between 10th and 11th refills 5lb tanks for 12 bucks. That's the best I've found in Manhattan. Nice guys too.

Nerdie said:

presto does refill in queens for a good price

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Is this the place on Steinway?

Prest-O-Sales & Services Inc‎
4014 19th Avenue
Astoria, NY 11105-1049
(718) 721-8100

Its in your neighborhood dude

I am not from Queens but according to Google Maps there is a place called Steinway & Sons Pianos within a few blocks of Presto.

Sweet! I'm going to head over today for a fill!

Steinway pianos...built in Astoria, played the world over

You're a lucky bastard to have co2 place so close to you. For me its always a mission to get gas.

Pivzavod said:

You're a lucky bastard to have co2 place so close to you. For me its always a mission to get gas.

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I have a friend that gets his filled somewhere near the Brooklyn Homebrew Shop....I just don't know exactly where. Is that anywhere near you?

Probably the fire extinguisher place on Prospect between 3rd and 4th. I used to use them also.

It's not close by me and would require multiple trains. The main problem is that some of the places such as welding shops work early hours when I am at work.

The closest to me is the McDonald Ave fire extinguisher place but catching them in the office requires a miracle. It seems that even catching them on the phone is a miracle.

I tried calling Able fire extinguishers today and they said they don't fill them. I dont think anyone there has any idea what's going on though. I talked to three different people before i could get an answer.

I second McKinney welding. super nice guys and $15 for 5#. They are actually between 11th and 12th on 52nd, at 600 w 52nd. if you google them, there address comes up as 530 w 52nd, and it shows they are on the corner of 12th and 52nd, which neither of are true.

Not sure about Manhattan (I live here) but I go to Prest-o-sales... I mentioned them in previous posts

davcjohn said:

I tried calling Able fire extinguishers today and they said they don't fill them. I dont think anyone there has any idea what's going on though. I talked to three different people before i could get an answer.

I second McKinney welding. super nice guys and $15 for 5#. They are actually between 11th and 12th on 52nd, at 600 w 52nd. if you google them, there address comes up as 530 w 52nd, and it shows they are on the corner of 12th and 52nd, which neither of are true.

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It used to be true. They moved a block west (to the new address you list) several months ago. The hours on their website are also wrong, so call before going.

I can attest to McKinneys. I called them today and they were the nicest people I have dealt with in a long time.

Before I could ask, the guy went off to check that he had a tank (I wanted to exchange a 5 lb) so that I didn't waste a trip. He had one, which he put on hold for me! 15 clams later I was out the door with a smile.

If you are in Manhattan I HIGHLY recommend them. Extremely nice people and they were happy to hear that I was using it for homebrewing.

As for hours, I don't recall the start time but they close at 4pm. Call ahead if you have a doubt. 212.246.4305

Oh, and I have no commercial connection with them, I just was surprised by their level of customer service, especially for Manhattan.

So is McKinney's the only recommended place in NYC to refill? I'm getting a 5lb tank soon and need to plan for refilling. Do people ever get hassled for bringing the tanks around the city...on the Subway or bus?