Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Simple Argon Source

BobD1001 - 28-11-2014 at 23:48

Hopefully some may find this useful, as getting a full tank of argon can be very cost prohibitive and I haven't seen any other mentions of this on the forum.

Here we have a small pressurized can of argon gas for a pretty decent price if you are just doing some small jobs such as ampouling some samples under an inert atmosphere. According to the label and MSDS it contains only argon.

http://www.amazon.com/Bloxygen-RBBlox-Finish-Preserver/dp/B0...

Cost effective? Not at all, but might be useful for some who dont need a large tank.

Mailinmypocket - 29-11-2014 at 05:31

If you live near a Lee Valley Tools you can also buy a similar product off the shelf (or order online)

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=30268&cat=1...

j_sum1 - 29-11-2014 at 05:40

Similar product but a different market.
http://www.winesave.com/
Cheapest I could find in Australia: https://www.danmurphys.com.au/product/DM_365521/winesave-som...

Tdep - 29-11-2014 at 14:48

Hey, that's a nice find j_sum1, any idea how much argon is actually in one of those bottles?

j_sum1 - 29-11-2014 at 15:34

Enough for some ampoules. Enough for me to make my own gas discharge tubes. I have questions about the nozzle, but there's only one way to find out.
I couldn't find a similar nitrogen product however. Seems like you have to go to welding suppliers and buy a large bottle.

careysub - 29-11-2014 at 17:15

Quote: Originally posted by Tdep  
Hey, that's a nice find j_sum1, any idea how much argon is actually in one of those bottles?


It contains 12 g of argon (6.7 L).

I bought one of these to preserve recently purchased lithium ($12.50 shipped). I have found it locally (Austin Hardwood) for $8.50.

I just sprung for $80 for a 20 ft^3 (550 L) argon cylinder from Harbor Freight, so that will be the only Bloxygen can I will ever buy.

unionised - 30-11-2014 at 01:42

There is a "half way house"
https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/argon-gas...
you need a regulator, but it's still less of a capital investment than a full size cylinder.
https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/bottle-re...

forgottenpassword - 30-11-2014 at 02:00

Very nice! Thanks for that.

MrHomeScientist - 2-12-2014 at 06:50

AirGas also sells argon cylinders - I have a local shop with a showroom that you can just walk into and buy whatever. I bought a 40 ft3 tank, a flowmeter regulator, and some fittings for just shy of $200. Not too bad considering it will last me practically forever. And if I do run out, all I need to do is exchange the cylinder for a full one for only $30.

I can also attest to the quality of the Bloxygen cans. I bought a few for lithium protection as well. My lithium has been stored in a tightly sealed screw cap bottle with gas-tight teflon tape for about 6 weeks, with no visible corrosion to the Li. (well, no more than was there initially)

CaptainPike - 3-12-2014 at 15:35

TY Bob – this is just the ticket for small scale stuff and backfilling reagent bottles. I wrote to the guy about purity, wondering if they, "cut", their product with anything. Here is his response:


Hi Phil,

We only use ultra pure argon. 5x9 is the spec…99.999% pure. I imagine that some air contaminates this mixture during manufacturing, but we buy the best Argon we can.

Steven


Steven Zawalick, Owner
IronWood Designs
P.O. Box 13838, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406
(888) 810-8311 phone and fax
Email IronWood.Designs@pobox.com
Wasting varnish, paint, or stain? Use Bloxygen and use all your finish, not just the first half. Protects leftovers during storage. See www.bloxygen.com for more.

Like us at facebook/Bloxygen

diddi - 3-12-2014 at 15:56

if you only need argon every now and then, befriend someone with a MIG or TIG welder. I stored some REEs and strontium the other day, and for interest I checked the bottle weight before and after. I used it on low flow (4 litres/minute for about 20 minutes). could not measure a difference in weight. so I guess a stubbie each at the end of the day squares it up :) his bottles are about 1.6M tall and he only pays AUD70 to fill them up.

another mate of mine has built a connector that allows 3 bottles to be joined together. the 3 blokes all put in to buy a refill in the "legit" bottle that the distributors know about, and then decant into the other 2 bottles. when the pressure evens out, each one has 1/3 of the gas. enough for home welder odd job use for a year. cheeeeep :D

think outside the box and save bucket loads