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

L E lexein-esc at yahoo.com
Mon Dec 6 23:01:35 UTC 2010


Yep, those guys are good. They gave me a similar good deal on CO2 and  
compressed nitrogen a while back, and stayed open late for me to be able  to 
pick it up on a hectic Friday evening.  They get a big thumbs up for  helping 
out in a pinch. 


>
>From: Reed Kennedy <reed at notfine.com>
>To: Christie Dudley <longobord at gmail.com>
>Cc: NoiseBridge Discuss <Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net>; Andy 
>Isaacson <adi at hexapodia.org>
>Sent: Mon, December 6, 2010 2:25:19 PM
>Subject: Re: [Noisebridge-discuss] Buying quality helium (Spacebridge folks?)
>
>Awesome. Thanks everybody. 
>
>
>I called up Sal at Airgas in SF and we came to an arrangement. I am going to 
>give him a cash deposit of $150 per tank + regulator and pay for fills of 99.5% 
>pure helium. In exchange, he's agreed to not charge me for the tank rentals and 
>refund my full deposit when I'm done, so long as I bring them back nice and 
>early next week. This seems pretty awesome to me.
>
>
>Best,
>Reed
>
>
>On Sat, Dec 4, 2010 at 2:02 PM, Christie Dudley <longobord at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>When I set up the tank rental for Spacebridge, I went to Atlas welding supply in 
>Berkeley, not only because they're open on Saturday (although that was a 
>consideration), but because they had better prices and more helpful staff than 
>anywhere else around.  They're great at answering your questions.  We debated to 
>a fair extent renting vs. buying, and after some discussion about trading in and 
>commitment and damage to the tanks, it just made more sense renting vs. buying. 
> A full tank of helium was about $100, which is enough to fill about 1.5 
>balloons.  They do not offer any smaller tanks.
>>
>>
>>Christie
>>_______
>>"It is the time you have lost for your rose that makes your rose so 
important."
>>Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>On Fri, Dec 3, 2010 at 7:52 PM, Sean Cusack <sean.p.cusack at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>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
>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
>>>>Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>>>>https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>>>>
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
>>>Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>>>https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>>>
>>>
>>
>
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