CO2 Tank Refill Locations

[tombastian]

I know this topic has been discussed before but I searched the forums and I don't seem to see the answer. I have a 5 and 10# CO2 tank. I just moved from PA to Lawrence and the moving company wouldn't ship my CO2 tanks so I found two brand new ones online for a good price. I wanted to have them filled as opposed to swapping them out. I stopped by the Praxair shop in Olathe and they only have 5# tanks. I called the Lawrence shop and they have both 5 and 10# but they only swap out tanks, they don't refill. The guy at the Olathe store told me nobody fills because of the requirements/regulations.

Is this true or are there places in the Lawrence/KC area that will refill. I just want to check before I got ahead and swap out these brand new tanks for ones from Praxair in Lawrence.

Also where do most of you go to get propane tanks filled in Lawrence? The guy at the Olathe Praxair also told me they don't refill propane tanks, just swap out. So I'm in the same boat with propane. Three brand new tanks that I would prefer to have filled.

[Rob Martin]

Wanted to give you a reply, but don't know what to tell you. I swap out all my tanks. The first time I got rid of my brand new CO2 tank was a bit unnerving, but in the long run it is a lot simpler.

[HazyKnight]

Cintas has a fire/safety division that refills. 10000 Lackman in Lenexa
If I recall correctly, it's drop off one day pick up a couple days later.

[toolman]

praxair is our club affiliate for compressed gasses including propane. i would just
swap our your tanks and some time down the road you may get your new ones back.
fill all of your tanks at once because there is a hazmat fee for each visit, or combine your
visit with friends and split the hazmat fee. make sure you show your club card.

if you swap out tanks then praxair is responsible for maintenance and testing ,
so there is some advantage there.

orval

[klickcue]

praxair is our club affiliate for compressed gasses including propane. i would just
swap our your tanks and some time down the road you may get your new ones back.
fill all of your tanks at once because there is a hazmat fee for each visit, or combine your
visit with friends and split the hazmat fee. make sure you show your club card.

if you swap out tanks then praxair is responsible for maintenance and testing ,
so there is some advantage there.

orval

Thanks for money saving tip!

[kevputo]

The Drop Zone paintball store on 23rd will refill 5lb tanks while you wait. A little more expensive than praxair, but they are open until 6 most days. I used them awhile back when I came home from work to find an empty tank and a couple of kegs of flat beer.

[tombastian]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I think I may just have to suck it up and pass on my brand new tanks to Praxair. I have a 5 and 10 lb tank, their 10 lb tanks are pretty ancient looking which will make giving up the new one that much more difficult! It also seems like it's pretty difficult to find people to fill propane tanks around here too...so might be passing on my three brand new propane tanks too! At least praxair is on my way home from work and they have decent hours. Now I just need to get my membership card so they will give me the discount, have a lot of gas to purchase!!!

[Sláinte!]

You might try contacting some farmers co-ops in the area to see if they refill propane tanks. I personally have not done it around here but my father-in-law (who lives in Iowa) takes his propane tanks to his local co-op and they refill the tanks for him. This allows him to get them filled up to the full 20 pound capacity, rather than the reduced amounts that are otherwise widely offered.

[tombastian]

HazyKnight - Thanks for the Cintas tip. They actually do fill CO2 tanks and they do it while you wait. They charged me just under $20 to fill a 10lb tank. They said a 5 lb tank would cost around $15.

As far as propane goes, I found a Feed and Garden store in De Soto (right near my work) that fills them for just under $20. Can tell when I pick it up that they fill it more than the swap out tank places.

Thanks for all the tips everyone!

[Pentaquark]

What are the advantages to refilling instead of swapping, aside from getting the same bottle back? How many extra lbs do you get in a propane refill? I asked the praxair guy to refill my tank instead of swap once and he gave me the stink eye and told me some excuse why he couldn't that day.

[tombastian]

What are the advantages to refilling instead of swapping, aside from getting the same bottle back? How many extra lbs do you get in a propane refill? I asked the praxair guy to refill my tank instead of swap once and he gave me the stink eye and told me some excuse why he couldn't that day.

So I have never swapped out at Praxair but I know (at least in PA) those blue rhino swap out tanks are not filled as much as they are if you take them to someone who fills. I don't know exactly how many extra pounds you get but whenever I would get a tank filled it was noticeably heavier than if I did a blue rhino swap out. Plus in my case I had three brand new propane tanks so I figured if I could hold onto nice new shiny ones for now I would rather do that. I asked about filling at Praxair and got the same reaction. Said he will only fill if it's an "offsize" tank. Actually the guy was quite grumpy in general.

[toolman]

all propane tanks that are under 100# size must have an opd valve which stands
for overfill protection device. if i remember correctly, this valve limits the filling to
a maximum of 85% of tank rated capacity. so the most you should be getting in
a 20# tank is approx 17 lbs.

praxair charges us around $14 for a 20lb propane but there is a hazmat fee and taxes
that can raise that total cost up to about $20 unless you fill several bottles at once.
there is only one hazmat fee per visit so fill your propane, co2, beergas, everything at the
same time if possible. even with the fees for one bottle, its still less than blue rhino.

praxair has been generous in offering us a discount on our personal purchases, and
donates co2 to run all the kegs at brewfest. i dont see these other places stepping
up to offer LBG support. if you want to keep this relationship for the club at praxair,
you need to do business there.

[Sláinte!]

Ah, I was not aware of the OPD. So the tanks are really 20 lb nominal, 17 lb actual now.

What I was getting at though was how some companies are reducing the amount of propane in their cylinders (Blue Rhino fills to 15 lb according to their website) in order to keep the price similar. Having a tank refilled would be a good way to maximize the amount of propane you get per tank.

But I get what you're saying about supporting Praxair because they support the LBG. How much propane is in the tanks from Praxair? I haven't looked lately.