# Argon bottle Lift



## epanzella (Jun 8, 2022)

I got my TIG with an 80cf ARGON bottle. Having done MIG and stick welding (not professionally) for over 50 years I had no idea I was gonna suck so bad at TIG welding. The bottom line is that I have a LOT of practicing to do and an 80cf bottle ain't gonna cut it. I leased a 325cf bottle of ARGON and needed a way to pick it up onto the bottle tray of my welder cart. I wanted something that was not size critical because my MIG, acetylene and oxygen bottle caps are not all the same size. I came up with a kind of floating pincer thing that attaches to my shop crane with welded on bolts that go into the holes in the bottle cap. Worked great.


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## sdelivery (Jun 8, 2022)

That's great. Hadn't thought about listing that big bottle until it's empty


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## brino (Jun 9, 2022)

Nice idea and implementation!
Thanks for posting.
Brian


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## Provincial (Jun 9, 2022)

Basically, a set of logging tongs.  Excellent adaptation of a well-proven design!


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## Firebrick43 (Jun 9, 2022)

What a wonderful idea.  I used to bearhug bottles and lift them with ease.  I still can but last few times I have done so I started to think this sucks and I probably wont be able to do this in 10 years.  What a good solution!


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## epanzella (Jun 9, 2022)

Firebrick43 said:


> What a wonderful idea.  I used to bearhug bottles and lift them with ease.  I still can but last few times I have done so I started to think this sucks and I probably wont be able to do this in 10 years.  What a good solution!


Well I'll be 74 next month and I'm well past the bear huggin' argon bottle stage!


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## GunsOfNavarone (Jun 9, 2022)

I purchased a full-sized bottle of Argon outright. I was burning through the 80CF's too quickly. I tell ya, I about blew out an o-ring bear hugging that thing onto my cart. Where were you then @epanzella ??! I have a cherry picker just for moving all the machines in my shop around, why I didn't think to use it?? I guess because I didn't have your handy tongs. I'll have to remember this when it comes time for a refill.


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## snoopdog (Jun 9, 2022)

Yep, good thinking, bought a tig machine a couple years ago, with a 125 bottle and realized I sucked too, traded it in for a 325. I used to sell the stuff, and roll 2 across the shop floors at a time, my rotator cuff suffered though, no more. Easier, slower,now.


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## epanzella (Jun 10, 2022)

GunsOfNavarone said:


> I purchased a full-sized bottle of Argon outright. I was burning through the 80CF's too quickly. I tell ya, I about blew out an o-ring bear hugging that thing onto my cart. Where were you then @epanzella ??! I have a cherry picker just for moving all the machines in my shop around, why I didn't think to use it?? I guess because I didn't have your handy tongs. I'll have to remember this when it comes time for a refill.


Ha!. At my supply house the largest bottle you can buy out right is 80CF. Everything larger is a yearly lease. I still kept the 80 in case I want to make my TIG some what mobile. My machines are in the basement while the welders are out in the garage with a 10 inch step in between. In the past there have been occasions when it would have been handy to have the TIG at my lathe or mill. The 80 cf bottle will make that possible (but not fun)


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## aliva (Jun 10, 2022)

Just a note of caution, be sure the cap is all the way on and tight. 'I've seen a couple of bottles lifted this way and the cap let go, fortunately the valve did not hit floor. Personally I would choke a nylon sling around the bottle with a wooden wedge and lift. The wedge is to tighten the sling around the bottle.


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## epanzella (Jun 10, 2022)

aliva said:


> Just a note of caution, be sure the cap is all the way on and tight. 'I've seen a couple of bottles lifted this way and the cap let go, fortunately the valve did not hit floor. Personally I would choke a nylon sling around the bottle with a wooden wedge and lift. The wedge is to tighten the sling around the bottle.


Yeah, it's on tight and all the way home. BTW, caps coming off are usually the result of using the wrong cap.


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## jwmelvin (Jun 10, 2022)

Doesn’t the force on the valve from internal pressure very much exceed the weight of the bottle?


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## epanzella (Jun 10, 2022)

jwmelvin said:


> Doesn’t the force on the valve from internal pressure very much exceed the weight of the bottle?


The bottle is lifted by the cap and the cap is threaded onto the body of the tank. The cap is there to protect the valve. It surrounds the valve but doesn't touch it.


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## jwmelvin (Jun 10, 2022)

epanzella said:


> The bottle is lifted by the cap and the cap is threaded onto the body of the tank. The cap is there to protect the valve. It surrounds the valve but doesn't touch it.



I understood your approach. Was questioning the risk of lifting from the valve. Seems negligent. (But I do understand the potential consequences of dropping a full tank.)


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## epanzella (Jun 11, 2022)

jwmelvin said:


> I understood your approach. Was questioning the risk of lifting from the valve. Seems negligent. (But I do understand the potential consequences of dropping a full tank.)


Never heard of anyone trying to lift a bottle by the valve. You would have to be nuts. Break that valve off and you've got a 300 pound side winder missile with no off switch.


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## tjb (Jun 11, 2022)

Great idea.  What material did you use to make the pincers?  Looks like 3/8" or so flat stock, but the profile looks factory made.  Did they come from another piece of equipment or did you fabricate them?

Regards


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## jwmelvin (Jun 11, 2022)

epanzella said:


> Never heard of anyone trying to lift a bottle by the valve. You would have to be nuts. Break that valve off and you've got a 300 pound side winder missile with no off switch.



It’s regular practice to carry SCUBA cylinders by the valve.


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## epanzella (Jun 11, 2022)

jwmelvin said:


> It’s regular practice to carry SCUBA cylinders by the valve.


I don't SCUBA but a 325cf ARGON cylinder weighs over 300 pounds and is pressurized to about 3000 psi. You don't want to pick it up by the valve.  My supply house will not let you on the property if you have a tank with the valve exposed. Break it off and it's an unguided missile.


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## epanzella (Jun 11, 2022)

tjb said:


> Great idea.  What material did you use to make the pincers?  Looks like 3/8" or so flat stock, but the profile looks factory made.  Did they come from another piece of equipment or did you fabricate them?
> 
> Regards


They were left over commercial mower parts from another project. I just had to drill some holes and weld on some bolts . You're right, 3/8" flat stock.


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## Janderso (Jun 12, 2022)

Hey, anything helps. I have the huge argon and C25 tanks. I use the bear hug metthod and Can barely lift them up to the cart.
I think next time I’ll ask one of my boys to handle it.


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## Cadillac (Jun 12, 2022)

epanzella said:


> I don't SCUBA but a 325cf ARGON cylinder weighs over 300 pounds and is pressurized to about 3000 psi. You don't want to pick it up by the valve.  My supply house will not let you on the property if you have a tank with the valve exposed. Break it off and it's an unguided missile.


Long time ago I watched some old timers in the neighborhood shoot 5’ oxygen tanks into Lake Michigan like torpedos. They had built a ramp out of angle iron mounted in the back of a pickup truck. Ramp surround the tank on four sides with thevalve end exposed. Theyd stand outside the truck bed and wack the valve off with a wood splitting ax ducking behind the bedside.
 Those tanks would shoot acouple hundred feet some a perfect trajectory some would skip and flop around. I was a teenager at the time and thought it was crazy but pretty cool to see. I had bad role models


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