ANSWERING YOUR Frequently Asked Questions

Hobbyweld is a division of Gas Direct Limited. Gas Direct is an established gas cylinder supplier in Great Britain; providing high quality industrial, drinks dispense and LPG gases.

We are the sister company to Hobbybrew – rent free beverage gas cylinders.

You need to be at least 18 years old to purchase a cylinder.

Unlike other industrial gas cylinder suppliers, we don’t charge monthly rental. Therefore you can keep the cylinder/s for however long you require them without reoccurring charges.

1. Select which gas cylinder/s you require and the size you desire.
2. Find your nearest stockist here.
3. Pay a cylinder deposit and gas fill per cylinder and you’re ready to weld!

Your stockist will issue you with a deposit form for each of the cylinders you pay a deposit for. Keep this safe – you will need it in the future!

In short, unfortunately not.

It is illegal for anyone to fill a cylinder which belongs to another gas company, as we have no record of cylinder tests, age or contents – these you must repatriate with the rightful owner.

Our ORIGINAL and PLUS cylinders have standard industrial gas valves – BOC and Air Products also use these standard valves. If you have been using an industrial gas cylinder previously, your regulators will fit. If you are currently using disposable cartridges, you will require an adaptor hose and a regulator.

The ULTRA cylinder has a built-in regulator. Instead, you attach your hoses directly to a quick action coupling – these are available to purchase from your local stockist.

Lastly, if you are using Oxygen and Acetylene – we strongly advise using a flash back arrestor as well as a regulator to connect to our cylinders.

The Hobbyweld ORIGINAL cylinder is equivalent to approximately 21 disposable gas cartridges.

Hobbyweld PLUS cylinder is equivalent to approximately 79 disposable gas cartridges.

The Hobbyweld ULTRA cylinder is equivalent to approximately 100 disposable gas cartridges.

You pay a cylinder deposit as a holding fee until you no longer require the cylinders.

Once you hand your cylinder/s back for good to us with your deposit form, you get your deposit back minus an administration fee.

We have two variations of gas cylinder, high pressure and dissolved acetylene – these are each available in 3 sizes (ORIGINAL, PLUS and ULTRA).

For high pressure cylinders, the following deposit charges apply:
Original – £70
Plus – £110
Ultra – £190

For our dissolved acetylene cylinders, the following deposit charges apply:
Original – £120
Plus – £160
Ultra – £255

We do not charge VAT on deposits.

We charge the administration fee against the cylinder deposit when you return your cylinders for good.

The one-off fee is £10 +VAT.

No. Cylinders always belong to Hobbyweld, this also means that we are responsible for the cylinder maintenance. However, there are no time restraints on how long you keep the Hobbyweld cylinder.

Unfortunately, you will be unable to receive a refund without your original deposit form as proof of purchase. The requirement of deposit forms for refund is an additional security measure to discourage theft of Hobbyweld cylinders in private households. PLEASE KEEP IT SAFE!

You will still be able to hand your cylinders over to your local stockist when you no longer require the cylinders and they will return them to ourselves.

No – you can visit one of our hundreds of outlets throughout Great Britain to exchange or return your cylinder/s. If exchanging, we advise ringing ahead to make sure they have your gas and cylinder size available.

The only exception is Acetylene – some stockists are unable to have this product on site for insurance purposes.

With the exception of Acetylene cylinders, you are able to exchange cylinders within the same size group for one another depending on the gas you require at the time.

Unfortunately, some of our stockists are unable to carry Acetylene as their building insurance does not permit it. We would advise calling your nearest stockist/s prior to pick up to make sure they have your chosen product in stock.

No, our system is designed that you can use any stockist which is most convenient; This is especially handy if you’re a mobile welder, you move to a new house or we allocate a new stockist closer to you.

Gas expands as temperature increases and vice versa. As the ambient temperature drops, it will result in a lower pressure reading. Hobbyweld cylinder pressure ratings are filled based on 15ºC.

Please note: We do not fill Carbon Dioxide and Acetylene cylinders by pressure – pressure readings should never be used to determine whether these cylinders are full.

Perform a check on your system for leaks, if a leak cannot be found it may be that you have your flow rate set too high. When you finish using the cylinder, make sure you turn the cylinder off by its valve, as even a small leak can empty your cylinder surprisingly quickly.

Your sales contract is with the stockist you purchased your gas fill from.

1. Take your cylinder back to the stockist as soon as possible.
2. We will issue the cylinder with a faulty label and reference code to ensure traceability.
3. The stockist will return the cylinder for testing.

If found faulty, a credit can be given to the stockist, it is then up to that stockist to issue a refund to you.

Please bear with us as this process can take some time to complete, though if a fault is found it will result in immediate action.

Cylinders usually require testing every 10 years. A ‘test ring’ is located around the cylinder valve which indicates when we should next text the cylinder.

Cylinders and the gases they contain are safe to use after the date passes, however we will not refill the cylinder once returned to us until after they have been retested.

We are responsible for the re-testing of our gas cylinders and you won’t have to pay a penny.