Are all CO2 tanks food safe?

[Gravity]

I've had an old CO2 tank from Coca-Cola (20#) that lasted about forever; maybe 4 or 5 years and then finally yesterday it emptied. I went down to the local welder and asked if he could refill or exchange it and after the obligatory skeptical look at the Coke Co2 container he said he couldn't refill it just then and to come back tomorrow.

I did and he had a new tank waiting for me and said that although he really didn't care where the tank came from, he would rather I buy one from him(new) as he's heard stories of older CO2 tanks blowing up on refilling.

I read this two ways. 1. he is genuinely concerned as he's seems like an honest guy as i've had him do small jobs before. 2. He sees the chance to make a quick buck on something that may or may not be legitimate.

I asked if it was food safe, and he assured me it was and that all CO2 is the same. I told him I would do a little research and get back to him.

My question is, is welding CO2 food safe and is all CO2 the same? Is what comes in the CO2 from Coke the same that comes in the welding tank?

You figure that if people go down to the local welder as i've read on previous posts, that i should be fine. Just wanted to double check. A similar pic of the tank is attached. For an initial 70$ and less than 10$ a refill, i'm cool with an upgrade of sorts.

Thoughts?

 

[cegan09]

Tanks have to be hydro-tested every some odd number of years (i forget the number). I'm betting yours is now old, and he didn't want to fill an out of date tank (I think it's also illegal).

This has been covered many times over. yes welding tanks/gas are perfectly fine. Welding and food CO2 are the same. Tons of us just go to a welding shop and swap out tanks for one they have filled. You will be fine.

 

[TheMadKing]

Tanks have to be hydro-tested every some odd number of years (i forget the number). I'm betting yours is now old, and he didn't want to fill an out of date tank (I think it's also illegal).

This has been covered many times over. yes welding tanks/gas are perfectly fine. Welding and food CO2 are the same. Tons of us just go to a welding shop and swap out tanks for one they have filled. You will be fine.

+1 to the CO2 being fine, but if you're bringing in a tank to exchange you absolutely should not have to buy a new tank. I've even taken in out of date tanks and they exchange them for just the cost of the CO2 at my local welding supply store. A 5# tank exchange is $18 there, so I guess your 20# tank would be roughly $80 per swap if the cost scales. And that would be $80 for every swap, unless he will refill it for you (and most won't)

 

[dyqik]

There have been reports here of contaminated CO2 or secondhand tanks occasionally being supplied, and giving off flavors to beer carbonated with it. But I don't know if that is actually more likely from a welding shop or a regular gas supply company. Secondhand tanks would probably be required for it to happen.

Possibly it's more likely when swapping home kegerator tanks that might have had beer get into them due to misuse, but possibly old soda dispensing tanks might have been misused as well. That depends on how much you trust your tank's supplier.

 

[Gravity]

Tanks have to be hydro-tested every some odd number of years (i forget the number). I'm betting yours is now old, and he didn't want to fill an out of date tank (I think it's also illegal).

This has been covered many times over. yes welding tanks/gas are perfectly fine. Welding and food CO2 are the same. Tons of us just go to a welding shop and swap out tanks for one they have filled. You will be fine.

Cool, thanks, good to know. I've read some of the other posts about CO2 and only double checking.

I think you're spot on, he gave the tank a quick check and nodded his head no when he spotted the date, and seem like he didn't want to do it.

 

[Gravity]

+1 to the CO2 being fine, but if you're bringing in a tank to exchange you absolutely should not have to buy a new tank. I've even taken in out of date tanks and they exchange them for just the cost of the CO2 at my local welding supply store. A 5# tank exchange is $18 there, so I guess your 20# tank would be roughly $80 per swap if the cost scales. And that would be $80 for every swap, unless he will refill it for you (and most won't)

It seems like he wants nothing to do with my old tank, not even an exchange as he told me to keep it. A new tank from him is 70$ (Which i think is super cheap) and he offered less than 15$ per refill.

If its all food safe, I'm fine with it all

 

[mredge73]

Look at the stamp on the top of the tank. It will tell you when it was last pressure tested; I think they are good for 5 years form this date before you have to test again.
If it is good then you don't need a new tank and he should fill the one you have as it is certified. Also, if he sells you a new one keep in mind that most places do exchanges nowadays.
FYI, certification stamps are less than $20. These shops usually take a few days to test

Beverage C02 is not exactly the same. The process of filling the tank is different for sure; they have to purge the tank for some amount of time before filling with beverage C02.
Beverage C02 is dried out (oils removed) so it will have less impurities.

 

[stonebrewer]

A 5# tank exchange is $18 there, so I guess your 20# tank would be roughly $80 per swap if the cost scales.

Cost does not scale in my area. I originally had a 5# and after a few refills asked the guy at the local gas place what it cost for 10# or 20# refills. It was a buck or two more for 20# so I swapped the tank! YMMV...

 

[BBBF]

Cost does not scale in my area. I originally had a 5# and after a few refills asked the guy at the local gas place what it cost for 10# or 20# refills. It was a buck or two more for 20# so I swapped the tank! YMMV...

You're mostly playing for the labor to fill the tank, not how much goes into the tank. It takes about the same amount of effort to fill 5# tank as it does 20#.

 

[indolent]

Cost does not scale in my area. I originally had a 5# and after a few refills asked the guy at the local gas place what it cost for 10# or 20# refills. It was a buck or two more for 20# so I swapped the tank! YMMV...

Yup, most of the cost for them is labor, the actual co2 is cheap. If the 20# is even double the cost of the 5#, he's paying too much.