[Noisebridge-discuss] Buying quality helium (Spacebridge folks?)

Sean Cusack sean.p.cusack at gmail.com
Sat Dec 4 03:52:33 UTC 2010


Airgas in South San Francisco may have what you need. And they do sell pure
as in 99.999% pure helium. Prepare to pay for it though. We typically use it
in our labs for some fancy pants chemistry equipment.

http://www.airgas.com/customer_service/site_locator.aspx

Sean

On Fri, Dec 3, 2010 at 4:38 PM, Andy Isaacson <adi at hexapodia.org> wrote:

> On Fri, Dec 03, 2010 at 04:07:19PM -0800, Josh Myer wrote:
> > Comrade Kennedy,
> >
> > Any welding supply store should have what you need:
> > http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&q=welding+supply+near+noisebridge
> >
> > The standard tank is ~270cuft of helium, which costs about $100.
> >
> > Don't forget to rent a regulator!  The 1500psi in the tank is...
> difficult
> > to use as-is.  And you can't get the regulator at Home Depot.  If you
> look
> > trustworthy enough, you  may be able to put a deposit down at a party
> supply
> > store and borrow one, but don't count on it.
>
> Indeed.  If you only need 35 cubic feet, the smaller tank will work
> fine.  I bought a small tank (rather than renting) at Airgas, in the
> Bayview, a few years ago; including the regulator and the fill, my bill
> came to under $200.
>
> Of course, then you've got a helium tank.  In retrospect, renting would
> have been more sensible.
>
> Note that for "pure helium" (90% helium 10% argon, according to the
> internet) you want to go to a welding supply store, not a party store;
> I'm told that party store tanks are filled with "balloon gas", which is
> a mix of helium and standard atmosphere to reduce the cost.  (Kids'
> balloons still float just fine.)  Less float in there.
>
> Here's a helpful reference:
>
>
> http://www.airproducts.com/NR/rdonlyres/7CCE748B-35BA-45B2-93D4-48AE3D3EEDF3/0/reference_cylinder_information.pdf
>
> The "standard tank" jbm references above is a "high pressure A"; the
> smaller tank I bought is, I think, either D or 4X (I'll check this
> weekend).
>
> -andy
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