Where to find co2 locally?

Hi all,

New to the forum, and looking for some help. I'm in need of a co2 tank and know there's got to be some place locally I can get them. I have asked at a couple of liquor stores which sell kegs, nobody knows. I've asked at a local 'gas' shop, but they only do propane, and aside from trying to sell me a propane tank with co2 in it, they didn't know.

Where do you go to find Co2 tanks, get them filled, etc?

I ordered the rest of my equip from beveragefactory.com, but left out the tank as I figured it would have been relatively easy to find one. Now I'm hoping to not have to place another online order.

Thanks,
Red Rum

Where do you live red rum? Welding Supply shops sell them in my area for $55 for a 5 lb. tank.

don't a lot of firestations also have the ability to fill CO2 tanks? I think that is what is used to pressurize fire extinguishers, and they might do it for your keg set-up, too.

Some firestations can fill tanks, but don't sell them. Welding Supply places are the best source. Most of them not only sell and fill tanks, but will exchange them for the cost of a fill, which is much faster.

When I was looking for my 5# tank, I actually found it was cheaper to order one online + shipping than buying one at any of the local welding supply shops. I saved about $10-15 by getting mine online, but hopefully you'll have better luck.

First what size tank do you want? 5,10 ,15 or 20 pound? If you go to a welding supply shop or a medical gas supplier you need a 10 pound tank or bigger, because their equipment will fill a 5 pound tank so quickly that it will buldge the tank or blow the saftey valve. Fire extuingisher places can fill 5 pound tanks, but the quality of the gas is questionable. I use my local welding / medical gas/ cryogenic gas supplier, Praxair. They are nation wide so try doing a search for them.
I found a new 20 pound alum. tank on-line for 88 dollars plus 10 bucks for shipping. I think w/ a 20 pound tank i will have to fill it every 3-4 years as opposed to every 9-10 months w/ a 5 pounder.

i would recommend buying the nice pretty tank from beverage factory (spring for the 10 pounder).

I bought the 5 pounder with my first system and then realized the disadvantage. Welding supply places (at least most of the ones around me) don't actually fill tanks, they just exchange them. Yeah, there was zero chance I was giving up by pretty brand new tank for some piece of crap one. I finally found a fire extinguisher supply place that would actually fill it, so that was good.

However, by that time I had already ordered a cheap, crappy tank off of the internet (10 lb) so that I could take advantage of the exchange system. All of the exchange places wouldn't exchange it, so now I have to take it to the damn fire extinguisher place as well. Also, it is damn ugly. Wish I would have just gotten another nice one.

I get my 5# tank filled at the welding supply shop with no problems. They fill it off of a tank that's maybe 4-5 feet tall, maybe 12 inch diameter.

A local bottling company (water, soda) is where I get mine filled for $1 a lb. I struggled initially finding some place that didn't want to swap tanks or who told me you can pick it up in an hour. This was walkup, pay fill and go.

I see a truck come by the deli. like a propane truck, but CO2. I had one fill my nail gun tank a few years ago, very cheap. Keep you eye out? Ask at the pub? Got a friend at a restaurant?

Is there any big hazard in transfering your own? That's basically what the delivery truck does...welding stores probavly sell the fittings...

i have got mine filled at a local Fire/Safety Supplier that charges extinguishers and such. or, the local HBS (at least mine does re-fills).

Thanks for the replies - I've got a feeler out to a friend who tends bar, to see if his supplier will sell to home brewers, but no reply yet.

I'm in the Atlanta area (Kennesaw, GA) - it occurs to me this would have probably been helpful in the original post. Welding suppliers seems to be the response of choice today, I'll google that when I get home. I didn't buy one from beveragefactory.com originally due to thinking it would just be an exchange once I got it, and like cowain mentioned I don't want to spring for something brand new to lose it on the original fill.

Guess I append my online order and look for a filler, unless the bartender connection works out.

Red Rum

Red Rum, I live on the southside of Atl and I use O2 Plus to get mine. I just swap out a 20lb for about $13.00. You should be able to find someone up that way...

casebrew said:

Is there any big hazard in transfering your own? That's basically what the delivery truck does...welding stores probavly sell the fittings...

Click to expand...

That's what we did on my setup. I live in Jackson, MS and only one welding supply store would fill my tank here and I'd have to leave it for a few days. It was a brand new 5lb tank from beverage factory so I wasn't real comfortable leaving it.

My future father-in-law/brew mentor said he had all the fittings to transfer CO2 from his 20lb tank. He rigged up his setup of high pressure fittings and hooked the tanks together. Needless to say being the first time either of us had tried this we were a little nervous. We had no way of knowing how much was going in our tank b/c we didn't have scales.

It ended up working fine, opened the tank's valves, and waited a few seconds and closed them off. I've been running off that tank for about 2 months now.

I'm going to check out some firestations and medical supply places now after reading this post. Thanks for the info everyone.

I can't believe that no one has mentioned paintball! After weeks of looking around to the usual places, I realized that there was a paintball store two miles from my house. If they are a distributor to larger companies (like farms for play) they should be able to hook you up.

There was one mention of a water / soda place to fill co2 but to expand on that a bit... your local soda distributor. Coke and Pepsi distribution centers are set up to do this. This is what I use. As others have stated, I purchased my nice shiny tank on line so I don't want to swap it for some ol piece o crud. I do have to leave my tank for a couple of days to get it filled. Thats why I have two!