Ok, so I have a problem. I was given 4 tanks from my uncle who got them from my grandfather who passed away 4 years ago. There tanks are as follows:
80 cf (with name on the neck)
125 cf (smooth neck)
200 cf (with name on the neck)
200 cf (with name on the neck)
Now here is my issue. All four of these tanks were outdated on their testing, the most recent one was tested in 1993. The others were dated back to the 70's. So three of these tanks have been out of commission for 35 years or more. All 3 of the company names on the tanks have gone out of business many many years ago (verified on google). I tried to look up if anyone bought out these companies and it does not appear so. I called around to at least half a dozen distributors and none of them have heard of the companies. I had all 4 of these tanks retested and they all passed. Nobody so far will fill them as they say they are "lease" tanks. I asked how they know this, and they said because nobody sells tanks over 125 cf. So here is my main issue. My grandfather has been welding since probably the 1930s. He is a stand up man and I know he would never own stolen property. He often would buy 2nd hand used stuff so I would not be surprised if he picked these tanks up possibly from even one of the owners of one of these now out of business companies.
Here is where it gets more irritating... so the supply companies tell me that nobody will touch a 200 because it is owned by someone hence the name on the neck. I explained the 80 cf also has a name on the neck and they said that doesn't matter and they will refill that one regardless. So then I said, ok, so if my grandfather could have legitimately purchased a 80 cf with a name on the neck, how can you say that a 200 cf with a name on the neck can't be owned by him? They are contradicting their logic in this alone. I have read many stories online about these companies attempting to keep a monopoly on larger tanks so they can make more money renting it out to people rather than selling them. I feel like these guys are blowing smoke up my butt. I am just curious if anyone has ran across something similar like this, and how you went about handling it?
80 cf (with name on the neck)
125 cf (smooth neck)
200 cf (with name on the neck)
200 cf (with name on the neck)
Now here is my issue. All four of these tanks were outdated on their testing, the most recent one was tested in 1993. The others were dated back to the 70's. So three of these tanks have been out of commission for 35 years or more. All 3 of the company names on the tanks have gone out of business many many years ago (verified on google). I tried to look up if anyone bought out these companies and it does not appear so. I called around to at least half a dozen distributors and none of them have heard of the companies. I had all 4 of these tanks retested and they all passed. Nobody so far will fill them as they say they are "lease" tanks. I asked how they know this, and they said because nobody sells tanks over 125 cf. So here is my main issue. My grandfather has been welding since probably the 1930s. He is a stand up man and I know he would never own stolen property. He often would buy 2nd hand used stuff so I would not be surprised if he picked these tanks up possibly from even one of the owners of one of these now out of business companies.
Here is where it gets more irritating... so the supply companies tell me that nobody will touch a 200 because it is owned by someone hence the name on the neck. I explained the 80 cf also has a name on the neck and they said that doesn't matter and they will refill that one regardless. So then I said, ok, so if my grandfather could have legitimately purchased a 80 cf with a name on the neck, how can you say that a 200 cf with a name on the neck can't be owned by him? They are contradicting their logic in this alone. I have read many stories online about these companies attempting to keep a monopoly on larger tanks so they can make more money renting it out to people rather than selling them. I feel like these guys are blowing smoke up my butt. I am just curious if anyone has ran across something similar like this, and how you went about handling it?
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