how much should a co2 refill cost?

I just exchanged a 5lb tank at a local "oxygen" house here in town. It was quite a bit more than I expected. I paid $14.65.

Now, here is the kicker and I don't mind paying the difference. I took in a steel tank and they only had aluminum. So, I definitely got lucky, but I'm wondering if he charged me for my "luck."

I think where you live makes a big difference. I live in a suburb of DC and prices here are astronomical. For exchange programs here they want $100 for the first tank and $20 for exchanges after that for a 5#er!. I grew up in Upstate NY and if you have your own tank you can get refills on a 5# for as little as $5. So needless to say I will be getting my tank filled up there whenever I go visit my parents. I've read on here that paintball shops and fire extinguisher stores are usually the cheaper places to go rather than a specialty gas depot.

I pay $16 for an exchange.

I got my tanks filled at a fire extinguisher place near my house. It was $10 for 6 lbs. The local paintball place only has a fitting for the small paintball tanks.

I pay about $14-$15 for 5#

I pay $20 for a 5# exchange.

I gave close to $100 for my #5 CO2. It's $15 for an exchange. I gave closer to $200 for my #20 tank. That will be a $22 exchange one day.

$17 for 5 lbs, $20 for 10 lbs (exchange).

good, I feel better about it then.

You're mostly paying for the labor to fill the tank. The CO2 does have some value but in the overall price, you're paying for labor.

MC

$23 for 5lb $50 for 20 at the fire shop. Its $30 for an exchange at lhbs

Dam college town.

I get $7 a refill

I was paying $22 for a 5# refill at a paintball shop. Now I exchange a 20# tank for $20.

I pay $12 for an exchange (5lb).

24 bucks for a 20# at the soda distributor. what's an "oxygen" house?

I pay $1.00/lb at a welding supply company (they sell medical grade co2 for this).

$10 for 5lb refill

Misplaced_Canuck said:

You're mostly paying for the labor to fill the tank. The CO2 does have some value but in the overall price, you're paying for labor.

MC

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well if you want to get technical, you are paying more for insurance and certification to be able to handle compressed gas and store compressed gas than you are for the labor.

$14 for 5lb -Asheville NC. $10- knoxville tn

So where are you located Naptown?

20$ for 5# exchange at the LHBS

$20 for a 20# exchange

spokaniac said:

$20 for a 20# exchange

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Where?

$15 for 5# refill. According to the receipt that is $11 for the CO2 and $4 "tank maintenance" whatever that is.

It's $20 for a 5# tank and $24 for a 20# tank where I live.

Just filled mine. $2.99 a pound at my lhbs

Just had my 20# refilled for $15.23.

just filled my 5# this morning; $22.76.

brewhappy said:

It's $20 for a 5# tank and $24 for a 20# tank where I live.

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That exchange or fill? If fill where?

masonsjax said:

I was paying $22 for a 5# refill at a paintball shop. Now I exchange a 20# tank for $20.

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Which paintball shop? I just called a place in gaithersburg (Torrid Paintball). And they they charge $0.25/ounce. So for a 5lb tank that would be $20. But he was saying the tank had to be cold otherwise they use up a lot of CO2 getting it cold to fill it? That sounds like a bunch of BS... I will continue to make the drive to Laurel to get my $15 fill.

brettwasbtd said:

But he was saying the tank had to be cold otherwise they use up a lot of CO2 getting it cold to fill it?

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Interesting.

I once took an empty tank straight out of my keggerator to a CO2 refill joint 5 minutes away. When I handed this cold tank to the guy he said it would be easier to fill since it was already cold.

My last 5 lb tank was 11.50 (last month), my 20 lb tank was 33.00 but that was with a tank recert and fill a couple years back. It's nearly empty again and will get refilled so will have a co2 fill price soon.

I pay 6.00 to fill my tank at a liquor store.

brettwasbtd said:

But he was saying the tank had to be cold otherwise they use up a lot of CO2 getting it cold to fill it? That sounds like a bunch of BS... I will continue to make the drive to Laurel to get my $15 fill.

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Not bull****. But different scale. PB shops are used to filling 20 ounces tanks and having customers ***** that their efficiency sucked because they didn't slow fill the tank. It most likely wouldn't be relevant to our size tanks.

Edit: also, it wouldn't be WASTING co2 per say, but nit filling the bottle up all the way. I have no proof of the following but I'd imagine its due to the increased pressure sustained when the cold co2 supply goes into the warm tank. It will warm up and put too back pressure, resulting in what the operator believes to be a full tank but really isn't.

I'd like to see anyone raise their hands and yell me they've weighed their tank after getting it filled. A not full tank probably happens more often than not but again paintballers will blow through 1-10 tank per day while we are using one for months.

Getting my 10# tank, that I keep in my Landcruiser, for tires and air tools, filled at the local fire house supply store costs about $15.
Exchanging my 5# tank, I use for the kegerator, at the local brew store, costs $17.

Dan said:

Interesting.

I once took an empty tank straight out of my keggerator to a CO2 refill joint 5 minutes away. When I handed this cold tank to the guy he said it would be easier to fill since it was already cold.

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I know this to be true of propane. If the container needing filled is colder than the feed tank, it will fill much faster. This is with a gravity fed propane tank, not a pump fed.
Makes sense it would be true of Co2 also.

Northwest CT: $24 for a 20# exchange at weld suply, 12 for a refill at fire equip hrqrts, 15 for a recert if required.

MaddBaggins said:

I know this to be true of propane. If the container needing filled is colder than the feed tank, it will fill much faster. This is with a gravity fed propane tank, not a pump fed.
Makes sense it would be true of Co2 also.

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MB, That's pretty much the jist of what the guy at the CO2 joint hinted at.

Homebrewers unite! Always take cold tanks for refill and maybe we'll start getting a better price!

I've read before that some CO2 places don't like to fill 5lb bottles because it waste CO2 getting the bottle chilled. Sure would be nice if we could get a break if we bring in a cold tank.

$15 for a 20# exchange @ AirGas

Dan said:

MB, That's pretty much the jist of what the guy at the CO2 joint hinted at.

Homebrewers unite! Always take cold tanks for refill and maybe we'll start getting a better price!

I've read before that some CO2 places don't like to fill 5lb bottles because it waste CO2 getting the bottle chilled. Sure would be nice if we could get a break if we bring in a cold tank.

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Freeze your empty before you take it to the refill joint. Transport it in an ice chest to keep it cold. It will fill faster.
Besides doing it that way for forklifts at work, I do it for small propane bottles at home when I fill them from the 20# tank.

Just today 10.80 for a 5lb fill...

brettwasbtd said:

That exchange or fill? If fill where?


Which paintball shop? I just called a place in gaithersburg (Torrid Paintball). And they they charge $0.25/ounce. So for a 5lb tank that would be $20. But he was saying the tank had to be cold otherwise they use up a lot of CO2 getting it cold to fill it? That sounds like a bunch of BS... I will continue to make the drive to Laurel to get my $15 fill.

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This was PEV's in Sterling, VA. They always had had trouble getting my tank to seal properly while filling it and wasted a lot of gas. Now I swap my 20 lb tank at Airgas in Frederick.