What are you paying to refill/exchange 10# co2 tanks?

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I had a 5# bottle that was needing recertified and took it to Air-gas for an exchange. The price was $29 for a new full bottle exchanged. This is in the Kansas City area. When it's time for refill I'll take it to my regular place and see what it costs now adays. I go to a fire extinguisher place that has food grade co2. That place is always cheaper than Air-Gas. I think prices are different nation wide.
 
I bought two 10# tanks and when I get them filled, it is about $21 each (including taxes). Was about $18 pre-pandemic.
 
See if you have a company that sells and services fire extinguishers near you. I can get a 20# filled for 25.00. Never asked about a 10#, but I think he has a minimum of $20 for 5& 10 pounders
 
Wayne1 said:
You might want to check around at Hydroponic supply shops. Here in Denver, I get 20 lb, food grade, CO2 swaps for $6.99 at Way to Grow.
Click to expand...
That's a really good deal ! Is that in cash or trade...wink,wink ?
 
Airgas in the Chicago suburbs, $25 for a 20#, $20 for a 10# refill. Pays to go with a 20# tank.

I assume the $79 included the cost of the empty tank.
 
jwil911 said:
exchange at "Airgas" gave me sticker shock $79.00 :oops:
Click to expand...
Holy Cannoli! That must be the high record for 10# of CO2.
I hope you declined, and left...

$26 here for a 20# swap, aluminum for aluminum. Praxair.

I can get them filled at a Fire Protection place for a similar price. But then have to deal with recertification at some point, which they do there too, for $30, and waiting for up to a week.

Swapping has been easiest.
 
A lot of it is the "minimum" charge factor...small or large there is basically a flat cost to the supplier for labor, admin, etc...

The CO2 cost is practically nothing...that is why a 2.5 bottle costs almost as much as a 20#.

So always go as big as you can.

$79 at Airgas? that's way high. Airgas is not my favorite and they are not cheap...maybe it's California taxes or something.
 
@mozicodo
You may want to check out
Way to Grow at 4610 Northpark Dr, Colorado Springs.
$7.00 swap for 20 lbs. No recertification with swaps.
 
For me in northeast Ohio, a 5# exchange was a little over $19, and a 20# exchange was about a dollar more.
 
I'm in the Atlanta area and Brew Depot charges 16 bucks to refill a 5# tank. The old shop I used to go to charged me like $30 to do an exchange. Would rather refill my nice shiny tanks. Doesn't matter either way I guess, but they are somewhat nicer to look at.

I paid thirty bucks to fill my nitrogen (beer gas) tank at Sidney Lee Welding Supply.
 
@jwil911 Airgas sucks, they’re overpriced on everything. Call Morebeer in San Leandro and see what they’re prices are for 10’s. I’m not sure if Praxair carries 10’s, but they may be able to swap you up to a 20 (regardless, they’re always cheaper than Airgas). Lastly, you can always drop your tank off for filling and pick it up the next day from California Beverage Systems in Hayward (a little inconvenient because you have to make two trips, but most likely the cheapest) Lastly, just opt for beverage grade CO2.
 
I usually pay about $30 for 20 pounds.
But 2 things ...
- In recent months CO2 is said to be one of the things in short supply. Short supply raises prices.
- on my last fill the welding supply added some kind of "State Mandated" fee of $6.95 was added. Only problem is, no state agency ever in the world of state agencies charges such a fee :( And the gas supplier HQ won't speak to me anymore once updated on that fact.
 
General fire and safety in Nebraska last year was 50ish for 2 15# tanks

Cheers
 
jwil911 said:
I got a new 10# (empty) bottle from Northern Brewer and exchange at "Airgas" gave me sticker shock $79.00 :oops:
What are you paying? Where are you having them filled/exchanged?
John
SF East Bay Area
Alameda, Ca
Click to expand...
$79 sounds more like buying a tank from them. Here in town, swaps of 5lb tanks with an empty are about 30. Not giving them a empty was over 50 bucks. (Air-Gas) they're pricey for sure. I swapped some old tanks that were out of hydro to just get it over with, and get em filled at a hydroponic shop not far away for next to nothing.
 
Cellar_Dweller said:
I'm in the Atlanta area and Brew Depot charges 16 bucks to refill a 5# tank. The old shop I used to go to charged me like $30 to do an exchange. Would rather refill my nice shiny tanks. Doesn't matter either way I guess, but they are somewhat nicer to look at.

I paid thirty bucks to fill my nitrogen (beer gas) tank at Sidney Lee Welding Supply.
Click to expand...

I'm also in the Atlanta area. I just called Nexair and they quoted me $90 to swap out a 20# tank that's out of hydro date. $45 for the hydro test, $45 for the refill. I used to use Beverage Control in Tucker - it's a long ways away, but was a lot cheaper IIRC.
 
apache_brew said:
@jwil911 Airgas sucks, they’re overpriced on everything. Call Morebeer in San Leandro and see what they’re prices are for 10’s. I’m not sure if Praxair carries 10’s, but they may be able to swap you up to a 20 (regardless, they’re always cheaper than Airgas). Lastly, you can always drop your tank off for filling and pick it up the next day from California Beverage Systems in Hayward (a little inconvenient because you have to make two trips, but most likely the cheapest) Lastly, just opt for beverage grade CO2.
Click to expand...
Last word on this from me; I just called American Ave. Hydroponics in Hayward. Thirty bucks to fill a 20#, $175 to buy tank filled.
So I'll still be on the lookout for a 20# tank. Won't be going to Air-Gas.
 
Just found my re-certification receipt from last summer; $47 with refill. Normally just over $20 to refill my 20# tank
 
Swapped tanks are NOT "customer owned". They are supplier owned and have their label on them. They are responsible for the cert. If you have no tank to swap then you are charged the cost of the tank as a deposit (just like propane tank exchange). I've also purchased brand new tanks that were mine...the supplier placed a "customer owned" label on the tank and I always get that tank returned to me.

A "proper" supplier will factor recert cost into the exchange price and it gets spread evenly among all customers. Every time you exchange a tank you are not getting one back with the same "life" left. But it should not matter. It's their tank. My local Praxair does this.

Dis-reputable suppliers will change a full recert fee if the tank is one day out of date and then you will likely be given one that has a date a few years old in return. Then they can charge you another full recert next time again. My local AirGas does this.

So guess who gets ALL my biz now?
 
jwil911 said:
I got a new 10# (empty) bottle from Northern Brewer and exchange at "Airgas" gave me sticker shock $79.00 :oops:
What are you paying? Where are you having them filled/exchanged?
John
SF East Bay Area
Alameda, Ca
Click to expand...

That's seems absurdly high. I live near you and pay $24 to exchange a 20lb bottle. Head over to D&S Garden Supply on 130 Doolittle Dr. (near the Oakland airport). It's a massive hydroponic supply warehouse with plenty of CO2 (and free beer on tap from local breweries while you shop!)
 
jwil911 said:
Last word on this from me; I just called American Ave. Hydroponics in Hayward. Thirty bucks to fill a 20#, $175 to buy tank filled.
So I'll still be on the lookout for a 20# tank. Won't be going to Air-Gas.
Click to expand...
I would swap out tanks at another hydroponics store in Hayward for a while until I learned up about some horror stories of non beverage grade tanks. Did I ever have any problems with the 10 tanks that I swapped out? Not to my knowledge, but to me the extra $15 to swap out a bev grade tank at Praxair is worth the piece of mind knowing I won't potentially contaminate my kegging system/beer.
 
fuzzybee said:
I'm also in the Atlanta area. I just called Nexair and they quoted me $90 to swap out a 20# tank that's out of hydro date. $45 for the hydro test, $45 for the refill. I used to use Beverage Control in Tucker - it's a long ways away, but was a lot cheaper IIRC.
Click to expand...

And they ended up charging me $65 for 2 20lb refills.
 
@apache_brew
Where did you hear this rumor?
My local hydroponics store is part of a small chain that has five locations.
The CO2 is bought in bulk from a local gas supplier.
It is stored in a bulk tank made of stainless steel.
It is then filled in Luxor aluminum 20 lb tanks and sent to the stores.
The CO2 is food grade at 99.9%. The same as beverage grade.

When I was brewing professionally, we bought beverage grade CO2 in bulk at a cost of $0.20 a pound.
 
Wayne1 said:
@apache_brew
Where did you hear this rumor?
My local hydroponics store is part of a small chain that has five locations.
The CO2 is bought in bulk from a local gas supplier.
It is stored in a bulk tank made of stainless steel.
It is then filled in Luxor aluminum 20 lb tanks and sent to the stores.
The CO2 is food grade at 99.9%. The same as beverage grade.

When I was brewing professionally, we bought beverage grade CO2 in bulk at a cost of $0.20 a pound.
Click to expand...
I didn't claim any rumor specific to hydroponics store CO2 change outs or even bash the quality of the gas that I obtained for 10 change outs at my hydro store. I simply lumped them in with everything else not classified as "food grade". Unlike you, I didn't know the backstory of where my store was getting it's gas or how close to food grade it was. Hence I simply made the decision to instead of pay $25 at the hydro store to swap out a tank, drive to the gas supplier and pay $40 for a food grade tank for piece of mind.
 
Just paid the equivalent of $116.00 for a 20 pound tank refill in Libreville, Gabon from Air Liquide. They didn't want to refill my aluminum tank, and I had to argue for a while about that, plus it took 3 weeks because they were waiting for a shipment of CO2 to arrive from their plant in the next country over. I'm looking at starting to carbonate my kegs with priming sugar just to save on gas; if all I need to do is push the beer, I'm hopeful the one tank can last my remaining 18 months here.
 
I have a 2.5# bottle that isn't up to date. I was looking around beer stores that would do an exchange. I asked at one yesterday and to my surprise they said they filled them. I said great, let me grab it (didn't mention that '13 was the latest hydro test on my bottle). They filled it, and when I looked at my receipt I was pleasantly surprised. $3.92
 
doogie said:
I have a 2.5# bottle that isn't up to date. I was looking around beer stores that would do an exchange. I asked at one yesterday and to my surprise they said they filled them. I said great, let me grab it (didn't mention that '13 was the latest hydro test on my bottle). They filled it, and when I looked at my receipt I was pleasantly surprised. $3.92
Click to expand...
Great deal!
One of our local LHBS' used to charge $3.60 a pound, and didn't blink an eye saying it.

Mind, this was the price per pound regardless of fill volume!
OK for 2.5#, I guess, but not so for 15 or 20#.
That was a 5-some years ago, and has since changed ownership.

The other LHBS refers you a local refiller, one of a very few left, and only a few miles away.
 

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