Woo-hoo! Refilled my two 5# CO2 tanks!

[Jon]

Went to one of the LHBSes (ooh, options!)...there are two that are 6.6 and 6.8 miles away, but with traffic and the funky Houston Freeways, the one that's 6.8 miles away is a little bit faster to get to, so I went there!

They refill rather than swapping, so I had to chill down my tanks before I went in (tossed 'em in the kegerator's freezer for a few hours--next time I'll do it overnight), then put 'em in a cooler and took 'em with me.

I also picked up a few dry yeasts to play with (K-97 and both Danstar and Fermentis's versions of Abbey ale), and some WLP380--love that yeast! Going to do a hefe this weekend so I can keep the pipeline flowing strong. I might even do a 60/40 blend of Wheat and Munich for the Hefe, but it all depends what other grains I've got sitting around

If I keep brewing at this rate, I'll need to get in on a group buy here in Houston so I can restore my supplies!

[Beer-lord]

From what I've read it's rare for a LHBS to fill takes. Lucky you.
Just curious, what did they hit you for and what size tank do you have?

[Jon]

From what I've read it's rare for a LHBS to fill takes. Lucky you.
Just curious, what did they hit you for and what size tank do you have?

$16 for a 5# tank. They even told me to bring it in as cold as possible, so they could fill it properly!

[John Sand]

I just bought a used 5# spare, full. I'll look for a place to fill it when I need, or just swap it for a full one.

[Jon]

I just bought a used 5# spare, full. I'll look for a place to fill it when I need, or just swap it for a full one.

In New York and Pittsburgh, I would just swap them out. Here they fill them--the only drawback is that when the cert is up, I have to pay $50 for the swap/recertification vs it just being built into the price of swaps in both NYC and Pittsburgh.

Oh well, this place seems like a pretty good LHBS so far, and it's not an inconvenient drive, so it'll do.

[Inkleg]

Is it the LHBS that swaps them out too or someplace else?
When mine are past certification I swap them at NexAir. I'll swing by about 30 minutes before they close and never show up with less than a 4 pack of Home Brew in a cardboard carrier, discreetly inside a bag. 99% of the time my #5 costs me......well, 4-6 beers. YMMV

[Kealia]

That's a good price. I started off only wanting to do refills because I had aluminum tanks and didn't want to come home with dirty steel tanks but my closest LHBS and MoreBeer both do like-swaps if they have aluminim on-hand. When they don't, they catch me the next time around. Plus, I decided it's no big deal since the only time I see the tanks is when I swap them out.

I do have a commercial place nearby (20 miles) that does fill them as well, but it's not really cheaper than a swap because they are geared for commercial fills and do it as a courtesy. So when it's time to change, it's a matter of where I plan to be that determines where I go.

[Jon]

Is it the LHBS that swaps them out too or someplace else?
When mine are past certification I swap them at NexAir. I'll swing by about 30 minutes before they close and never show up with less than a 4 pack of Home Brew in a cardboard carrier, discreetly inside a bag. 99% of the time my #5 costs me......well, 4-6 beers. YMMV

The LHBS swaps them out too...buut I might want to look into your solution.

[Rebel_B]

I do have a commercial place nearby (20 miles) that does fill them as well, but it's not really cheaper than a swap because they are geared for commercial fills and do it as a courtesy. So when it's time to change, it's a matter of where I plan to be that determines where I go.

I get my tanks refilled at a commercial place that also services some of the local breweries near my work. They know their tanks & repaired one of mine that was leaking, no extra charge. They charge the same price for refills, as my LHBS does for swaps.

[bpgreen]

I used to get mine refilled while I waited, but I always had to call in advance and sometimes, I'd need to leave it and pick up the next day. Then I found out that one of my tanks was expired, so he was just underfilling it, which made me a bit uncomfortable.

The places that swap them out build in the cost of certification into the swap. When you consider how often a home brewer swaps compared with how often a bar or restaurant swaps, I think it's more cost effective to do the swap in the long run.