helium prices

[scuba steve]

went to BOC yesterday to get oxygen , priced helium and it was 377 plus vat . filled to 200 bar

were is everyone else getting it ?

[baza]

It's alot cheaper with air products in the north. Alot of guys get it there. Watch out with BOC, I've got a few clyinders from them with 170bar instead of the 200bar!! It's a big loss at the prices they are charging.

[LiamM]

When you but helium from the likes of air products do you just but the  and then return it for a refilled one - a bit like getting propane etc - or is there ongoing rental costs associated with the J's?

[Stephen McElhone]

As far as I know Air Products don't supply Helium up here any more, BOC is our only source for it.

When you buy from BOC you buy the gas, pay for the delivery and then you rent the cylinder from them. Delivery is in the region of £50 (they don't allow you to collect it) Rental is about £9per month.

Hope this helps,

[patto_chan]

And according to this article the prices of Helium are artificially low...
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2010/07/science-policy-gone-bad-may-mean-the-end-of-earths-helium.ars

Need to cut down on wasteful use i.e. all you OC guys, take a hike...  :-)

[scuba steve]

all us oc guys keep it popular and keep the demand rate in check 

the rental rate is close to 100 quid a year  but its based on ho long you have it . same as a j cylinder of o2 . was talkin to the guy in BOC ballymun and he will allow collection of any cylinder . was up there getting a j of o2 for club blending and a small cylinder of o2 for the boat .

[Andy]

be very careful with BOC.

if you hold the cylinder more than a week they will charge you a years rental and then you really have to fight to get it back out of them. 

[Alan Price.]

First i have heard of that Andy!!!

[emmbee]

Going on a tangent here, not a He diver myself, but I was actually talking about this with my uncle, who worked in cryogenics in France. Dealed with all the big unis, CERN, the military, you name it. Met Charpak. Getting helium to fill balloons never was a problem

Anyway.

- Helium pricing is very much what they care to charge for it (esp here with apparently only one supplier). Maybe you could save by pooling.
- Uni dive clubs, if they can, use the boil off from the cryo labs. Cryo labs have the kit to recompress it, med ones (they also use helium) don't. Any of these in Ireland?

And, irrelevant to the discussion at hand...

- Spectrography is the only way to reliably measure helium content.
- DIY filters. Use coconut charcoal.

Cheers,

Matthieu

[Andy]

First i have heard of that Andy!!!

Was about two years ago.  Ordered a J-cylinder through the club and there were a few problems.  Maybe it was a once-off problem?  As a club, we seem to run through a lot of gas with oxygen, etc.  I don't get my helium through the club anymore so perhaps things have changed. 

Go with some more up to date info perhaps.

Still find helium here bloody expensive.

[scuba steve]

yeah its firce expensive here .

boc have a weekly , monthly , quaterly and yearly price for renting cylinders . and u only get charged for the time u have them

[Peter McCamley]

I was getting my helium from Air Products up until 2008, when they advised that the minimum order would be 12 cylinders in a cage. At that time they were slightly cheaper than BOC.
Since 2008, I have been getting my gas from BOC in Belfast. The present charge is £122.60 + Vat for a J, 200 bar cylinder of Helium. The mainland delivery charge is £40.00 + Vat. The cylinder rental is £6.60 + Vat per month. I have only ever been charged by the month, with the minimum charge being a month. Helium is never stocked in Belfast and is only manufactured and shipped upon an order being placed. This can take between two and three weeks. Recently there was an equipment failure at the plant in the UK and deliveries were taking up to six weeks. This issue has now being resolved. Two weeks ago, I ordered six bottles.  Last Thursday I was told they had arrived. When I went to collect them yesterday, four had gone out.
Just got the remaining two. Point being, if you order gas, collect it as soon as its in! This time of year, it goes quick.
O2, from memory is £36 + Vat for a J,with 230 bar. 
Peter

[slimtiger]

I paid £28 for a 7 lt 180 bar fill
I could have got a bleedin' j for the same
Wont get another fill in that shop

[Ken Hawk]

Thats not my Peter, Dave.

I will sort this gas crap out by the end of the week

[ardtec]

Slimtiger what mix was the 7 ltr ?