Co2 refills from airgas..

[TreehouseJ]

Forgive my ignorance here, but I'm trying to get my first 20 lb co2 fill from a local Airgas and I've already run into an issue. Their website reads as follows..

Compressed Carbon Dioxide Gas & Liquid Carbon Dioxide
We offer compressed carbon dioxide gas and liquid carbon dioxide in a variety of purities and concentrations.

Many industries can benefit from carbon dioxide's inert properties, as well as its cooling and freezing abilities.

Our experienced applications teams across the globe can use their industry and application knowledge to provide you with a compressed or liquid carbon dioxide supply and technology solution to meet your unique needs.

Carbon Dioxide Applications by Industry
Food / Beverage
Bakery
Beverages
Dairy/Ice Cream
Desserts
Fish/Seafood
Fruits/Vegetables
Meat/Poultry
Other
Prepared Meals
Sauces/Liquid Foods
Glass / Minerals
Cement/Lime
Medical
Applications
Semiconductors
Silicon Semiconductors
Water and Wastewater
Wastewater
Water

So.. What exactly should I need to fill my tank with? Should I just get a 20 lb fill for "beer"? I thought co2 was co2 was co2..

 

[TreehouseJ]

Or could I get cheaper co2 using an excuse that called for less refined co2? I'm just imagining myself walking in there.. Stoned.. Paranoid.. and looking like a total dhead.

 

[Phaeton]

Ask a person that works there what is recommended for CO2 enhanced gardening.
It really makes no difference as long as it is liquid. Liquid is a hundred times the amount of CO2 per volume over compressed and a hundred fifty degrees warmer than solid.

Some of the applications listed are dry ice, others are low pressure compressed CO2.
Liquid is most common, CO2 fire extinguishers are liquid. I know several gardeners using regulators adapted to fifty pound extinguishers that have them refilled as fire extinguishers.
I live in a small town and the local LiquidAire plant makes CO2 monthly and everyone shows up with their empties on that day.

 

[queequeg152]

Ask a person that works there what is recommended for CO2 enhanced gardening.
It really makes no difference as long as it is liquid. Liquid is a hundred times the amount of CO2 per volume over compressed and a hundred fifty degrees warmer than solid.

Some of the applications listed are dry ice, others are low pressure compressed CO2.
Liquid is most common, CO2 fire extinguishers are liquid. I know several gardeners using regulators adapted to fifty pound extinguishers that have them refilled as fire extinguishers.
I live in a small town and the local LiquidAire plant makes CO2 monthly and everyone shows up with their empties on that day.

alot of places are doing cryogenic C02 now. no bottle deliveries, a truck simply pulls up and pumps co2 into the dewer that they lease from the gas supply house.

you may or may not want cryogenic co2. idk to be honest.
but im guessing you would have to be using shitloads for it to make sense.

co2 is a liquid at fairly low pressures... but its expansive like all gasses... cryogenic co2 at atmospheric pressures is probably like twice as dense as the shit in cylinders at 20c 1200 psi or what ever it sits at.

regarding co2 purity levels . they are all probably the same with the exception of analytical/medical/pharmaceutical grade junk which i doubt your average airgas or matherson or what ever even supplies. i think they need STUPID high purity gasses for the fancy computer chip plants too.

the argon bottles i get from the local gas supply is listed at "high purity". it seems a shame to waste such "high purity" gas while welding... but in reality pretty much all gas produced by liquification can be considered high purity.

most of the time the only diffreence in generic gas and the analytical stuff is simply having the batch analyzed and qualified by a laboratory... then storing it in different vessels.

the only exception to all of this that i know if is oxygen. you get medical grade and the standard shit you use in OA cutting.

medical grade gas comes in a very different bottle.

 

[DemonTrich]

Little ot, my local airgas wants 27 for exchange. Local grow shop wants 21. Go figure. Might be better, cheaper, and u don't have to fill out contract sheets at local grow store vs airgas. Just a heads up.

 

[queequeg152]

Little ot, my local airgas wants 27 for exchange. Local grow shop wants 21. Go figure. Might be better, cheaper, and u don't have to fill out contract sheets at local grow store vs airgas. Just a heads up.

i get ass raped on bottle exchanges too... up to like 47 bucks for an 80cu bottle now.

you dont get the good deals untill you open a line of credit and get big bottle deliveries.

wish the hydro store sold argon.

 

[Holdin']

Forgive my ignorance here, but I'm trying to get my first 20 lb co2 fill from a local Airgas and I've already run into an issue. Their website reads as follows..

Compressed Carbon Dioxide Gas & Liquid Carbon Dioxide
We offer compressed carbon dioxide gas and liquid carbon dioxide in a variety of purities and concentrations.

Many industries can benefit from carbon dioxide's inert properties, as well as its cooling and freezing abilities.

Our experienced applications teams across the globe can use their industry and application knowledge to provide you with a compressed or liquid carbon dioxide supply and technology solution to meet your unique needs.

Carbon Dioxide Applications by Industry
Food / Beverage
Bakery
Beverages
Dairy/Ice Cream
Desserts
Fish/Seafood
Fruits/Vegetables
Meat/Poultry
Other
Prepared Meals
Sauces/Liquid Foods
Glass / Minerals
Cement/Lime
Medical
Applications
Semiconductors
Silicon Semiconductors
Water and Wastewater
Wastewater
Water

So.. What exactly should I need to fill my tank with? Should I just get a 20 lb fill for "beer"? I thought co2 was co2 was co2..

In basic terms there is food grade co2, which is normally filled in aluminum tanks and is used for gardening, beer, soft drinks, etc., and industrial co2 which is normally filled in steel tanks.

If you already have your tank, and it looks like this:

Just bring your tank up to the counter and tell them you want a refill. Done. They'll take your take and bring you out another, already filled tank. Don't worry about all of that other nonsense.

If you don't already have a tank and you are buying one, just tell them you want a food grade tank. If they ask what it's for, tell them soft drinks. It's the same thing we all use in our gardens.

Little ot, my local airgas wants 27 for exchange. Local grow shop wants 21. Go figure. Might be better, cheaper, and u don't have to fill out contract sheets at local grow store vs airgas. Just a heads up.

This, OP. Pretty much same here. I think I paid like $28 or $29 at AirGas (with a fucking contractor's account), but I normally get swaps for a $20 bone at the local grow shops.

 

[queequeg152]

tell them kegerator or keezer... they probably get 100 home brew guys a week in and out buying bottles of co2.

they probably get like 1 guy a year telling them he wants co2 for 'soft drinks'. just saying.

 

[TreehouseJ]

Ya'll are the best.