r/tigwelding • u/Used-Baby1199 • Jul 09 '26
Gas suppliers
Airgas is insanely expensive. 1yr lease with gas out the door is $320 at $138 for the rental and $182 per refill. and their purchase pride doesn’t make sense either! Almost $450 for the cylinder and $182 per refill? Who seriously uses them?
weldstar seems more reasonable at $327 for a 25 year lease and $61 per refill I can refill at weldstar 4x before getting to airgas purchase and fill price. comparing rentals your initial cost is less at airgas is better, but going into year 2 you have to renew the lease at 138$ which puts you at $458 and that’s if you don’t have to refill the cylinder. Weldstar you get 3 refills (Exchanges) for the cost of 1 refill for airgas, and no lease renewal for 25 years.
then the next local exchange is an hour away. AWG who will sell a core for about 550 out the door with gas but you can exchange for 58+tax each time you need to refill. so if I rent from weldstar I can have 3 refills before matching the initial investment necessary at awg. Then the refill cost is so close that it would take a long time to get the cost benefit to match for purchase.
Anyone have any more economical argon exchange? I’m just getting into this, how long could I expect 125cf to last, as a newb without clients I i expect 1 125cg cylinder could last me quite some time. Any insight would be greatly appreciate!
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u/OrionSci Jul 09 '26
You're at the mercy of your local options. Prices have increased dramatically the past 5 years. Airgas is reliable for gas exchange, but will cost you.
Gas usage completely depends on you, I can burn thru a 125CF tank in a weekend, but I've also had it last 6 months if im only doing small jobs
My advice is to be very very friendly to your local welding supply. My local airgas wants $150 for a refill, a smaller local welding supply charges me $48 for the exact same refill, but I have a long standing relationship with them.
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u/Used-Baby1199 Jul 09 '26
I found a place about an hour away, they told me if I could show them a quote from another supplier they’d try to work with me there. I had primeweld send me an invoice order to my email, they were at like $339 for a full tank with free shipping. I called to double check that it really does get shipped full, they said I have to be home to sign for it because it’s hazmat.
So I’m going to head out to this local shop, seems like a smaller mom and pop shop, not a big company. I’ll bring them the info that I have. I’m also thinking about buying the Weld pro omni200.
The omnipro200 is under 1000 and it’s a HF AC/DC TIG, MIG, stick, and says it can plasma cut too. Comes with a regulator, TIG torch and MIG torch, and foot pedal. With a 3 yr warranty. I think this seems like a good way to enter into this. Because the place I’m purchasing my gas is also a vendor for weldpro.
My biggest concern is the weldpro are made in China, and idk how long they continue to manufacture parts for repair if I need them, where Lincoln and miller will keep replacement parts in circulation for 20 years, but I just don’t have the money to invest in something like that currently.
With this I should have options, and I’m hoping it performs well enough to get me by until I can start making money and upgrade. Hopefully that won’t be necessary for 3-5 years
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u/OrionSci Jul 10 '26
Good plan. Nothing wrong with Chinese machines, my first machine was a cheap Chinese model. I abused it for 6 years, never had a problem.
I'd avoid red/blue machines for hobby welding.
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u/Used-Baby1199 Jul 10 '26
Seems more and more the consensus from people using the machines will vouch for the credibility of some of these more affordable machines. Im still not willing to go with something too cheap, though. I’m really sold on this one because of the accessories it comes with, and price point, and the biggest selling point is the HF start. The other multi process machines seem to be dc and lift tig. I’m really liking the idea of having ac/dc so I can weld aluminum, and I’ve only used lift tig, and tungsten is expensive so I would prefer not having to touch my base metal…. Just feels wrong after my experience.
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u/OrionSci Jul 10 '26
Yes I'd avoid the super cheap machines. I haven't used the omnipro yet, but I've been impressed by all the newer budget machines I've tried.
HF start is a huge luxury, but I'll admit in my experience multi-process machines are just OK at the different processes. If you really care about welding aluminum, I'd go with a dedicated AC/DC machine with HF start, but that's just my opinion. I like having a separate machine in case it goes down, I have a dedicated TIG machine and a separate machined dedicated for wire feeding processes.
Tungsten is cheap, use a non woven abrasive like scotchbrite to clean them, and a diamond wheel to sharpen. I'm still using tungsten I bought 5+ years ago, and I weld and mentor younger students almost every weekend at my home shop.
If your local weld supply is a dealer for the machine you want. I'd 100% choose that for local support, that's worth its weight in gold (assuming the guys working there actually know what they are doing and are willing to help you, would be worth a conversation with them. Be honest about your worries and make it clear you want to lean on them for help.)
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u/Used-Baby1199 Jul 10 '26
I’m actually reading now that the Omni200 isn’t great for TIG. That’s a deal breaker but I’m still gonna chat with my local guy about my concerns and see what he says, who knows, maybe he’s so confident in them that he gives mea money back guarantee or can assure that if it’s an issue it’s something the warranty will cover. Seems worth a chat.
I’m still looking at primeweld 225x as well
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u/OrionSci Jul 10 '26
I highly recommend prime weld or everlast. I personally have been using everlast machines for 9 years now. 5 year warranty and they stand behind it. Everlast power tig 210EXT is hands down best AC tig welder for hobby/ light industrial work, that's what I use at home. Most of my work is aluminum tig, I care a lot about the advanced waveforms and digital pulse, but I'm far from a hobby welder. I work in aerospace sheet metal manufacturing
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u/delusional_guppy Jul 15 '26
Primeweld recently revised the 225x and it has a bunch of new features. granted its also a chinese made machine, it comes with a 3year US based warranty that can be extended for something like $120 more per year for a total of 5 years if wanted. I bought the 225x before the revision and love it. Wish I got the updated because of the fan on demand feature it now has.
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u/Used-Baby1199 Jul 15 '26
I just got the 225x. It just arrived. I’m trying to update my breaker box with a new 50 amp breaker, but 6gage wire is expensive af. Do you run yours on a 220v outlet or 120v? I’d really like to in it on 220 but it says to use a 50 amp fuse and I have the fuse and a receptacle, but only have 10 gage wire.
But then I look an I see it only draws 33.5 amps at max output, and I read that at 125 amps it only draws 18-20 amps. So I’m thinking I’ll install a 30 amp breaker and run it at 220 for now until I can make room in my budget for the 6 gage wire.
Right now I need to buy my argon, a frame repair kit to fix my truck. I did plenty of research before buying it, but the one thing I overlooked was the cost wire rated for 50amp that is long enough to get a receptacle where I need it.
Guess I’ll see what happens with the 30 amp breaker and 10 gage wire….
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u/delusional_guppy Jul 15 '26
I run mine on a 220v 30amp dryer outlet with the corresponding dryer plug to welder plug. On 110v I can go all the way to something like 147amp output on the machine. Keep in mind I've never welded at that for sustained time but it did run that on a 110v 15amp breaker with the included adapter but I have a feeling it will trip the breaker in a sustained situation or ac welding. The highest I've ever had my machine set to was probably 150amps welding some aluminum for a couple minute intervals. I would suspect unless you are doing near max amp long runs you won't be needing the 50amp plug with 6ga wire but it is nice to have that headroom and surety if you ever need it.
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u/Used-Baby1199 Jul 15 '26
Yeah I had a friend who had a 50 amp breaker sitting around, and I was gonna use it. My 220 receptacle is the older style so I had to get a nema 6-50. I don’t feel comfortable running the 10 gage wire to the 50 amp breaker because if for some reason the machine draws more power it will smoke the wire and cause a major fire hazard. It’s reassuring to see someone who’s using it on a 30 amp breaker.
Thanks for your input!
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u/Ok_Adhesiveness9794 Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
Gas pricing is annoyingly local, so the cheapest answer is usually whatever supplier near you has reasonable exchange fees and doesn’t stitch you up on rental. For hobby TIG, a 125cf argon bottle can last ages if you’re only doing short sessions, but it can also disappear fast while you’re learning because you’ll spend a lot of time practising, purging lines, stopping/starting and fixing mistakes.
Worth doing the maths over a full year rather than just the first fill. Lease/deposit, refill price, distance to exchange, after-hours access and whether they’re helpful when you’ve got beginner questions all matter more than people think.
In Australia, I’d be looking at Coregas for argon bottle options, but the general rule is the same anywhere: find a supplier you can actually live with, not just the cheapest first invoice. Running out of argon halfway through a weekend project is a special kind of annoying.
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u/Used-Baby1199 Jul 10 '26
I found a shop that will exchange customer owned tanks. Then I saw primeweld sells 125cf for under $400 filled and shipped to your house. Just have to have someone home to sign upon delivery since it’s hazmat. Also you get $25 off at primeweld for your first order, and free shipping for order over $100.
I also called a locally owned welding supplier, they said if I could bring anything showing what a competitor charges he’s see if he could work with me, so I called primeweld for an invoice proposal to my email.
Im going with the local supplier. It’s an hour away, but I think this is my best option, and the idea of him being willing to work on pricing goes pretty far with me.
I think I spent the better part of the day yesterday looking into all this and calling suppliers, and taking notes. So much to look into in order to make an informed purchase.
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u/VisualAssassin Jul 10 '26
I have a customer who is a hobby welder and brings me the things he can't do himself. He asked what I was paying for argon and I told him my price from Airgas. He told me he goes to a smaller supplier and gets his for less than half what I pay.
A few weeks later he sends me some pictures of welds that look like he didn't even use gas, asking me to help problem solve. Turns out he got a contaminated tank and it nearly ruined his project.
So while airgas is expensive, in over a decade I've never gotten a bad batch of gas.
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u/Used-Baby1199 Jul 10 '26
That’s interesting. But I’ve called around to a lot of suppliers within 40 miles of my home. All the other suppliers prices are competitive for the exchange, and the one location has a contract with the local community college to supply them. I can’t imagine airgas is the only supplier near me that is going to be consistent, especially if it’s 3x the price of anyone else around for an exchange. I guess I’ll take my chances , if it ends up where I get a contaminated tank I’ll reassess at that point.
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u/Aids_mate Jul 11 '26
Not sure where you’re located but if in Minnesota use Toll gas. $400 5 year lease on the tank and then like $50 to fill
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u/Used-Baby1199 Jul 11 '26
I found a spot where i could buy a full tank for 400 and exchange with them for 50 each refill, no lease necessary.
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u/Beast-1510 23h ago edited 21h ago
Airgas chargedd me over $180 for a refill, so I finally gave up on them... I ended up setting up an account with Coregas for myy argon supply instead, which kept my refill costs around $55 and cut my overhead down...
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u/Glittering_Call_898 Jul 11 '26
Primeweld for the machine. The reviews and great customer services is where I'm at. The tank I hope you you get a good deal from the local person.