ANSWERING YOUR Frequently Asked Questions

Hobbyweld is a brand of Gas Direct Limited. Gas Direct are a gas cylinder supplier based in Great Britain; offering high purity industrial, drinks dispense and LPG gas cylinders.

For drinks dispense rent free gas cylinders, visit our sister company Hobbybrew.

The minimum age to purchase a Hobbyweld cylinder is 18 years old.

Simple – you pay no rental on Hobbyweld cylinders. You pay a one off, semi refundable, deposit and can keep the cylinder for as long as you require without any additional charges.

1. Choose what gas type and size you require.
2. Find your local stockist here.
3. Pay your cylinder deposit and gas fill then you’re ready to weld!

You will receive a deposit form for each of the cylinders you pay a deposit for. Keep this safe – you will need it in the future!

Unfortunately, we will be unable to.

As we do not have a record of the cylinder tests, age or previous contents, it is dangerous as well as illegal for us to fill a cylinder belonging to another company.

You must return the cylinder to it’s rightful owner.

We construct our ORIGINAL and PLUS cylinders with British Standard (BS) valves therefore if you use gas cylinders from suppliers such as Air Products or BOC, your regulator will fit our cylinders. If you are currently using disposable canisters, you will require an adaptor hose and a regulator.

The ULTRA cylinder has a built in regulator as standard – therefore you do not require one. Simply, purchase a quick action coupling from your local stockist, attach your hose to the coupling and snap it to the cylinder and you are ready to weld.

When purchasing Oxygen and Acetylene, a flashback arrestor must be used alongside the regulator.

Our ORIGINAL cylinder is equivalent to approximately 21 disposable gas canisters.

The PLUS cylinder is equivalent to approximately 79 disposable gas canisters.

Our ULTRA cylinder is equivalent to approximately 100 disposable gas canisters.

The deposit charge is a holding fee until you return the cylinder to one of our stockists.

Depending on the size of the cylinder and gas you require, deposit charges vary. Please speak to your local stockist and they can advise you on total cost.

We will refund your deposit – minus a small administration charge – once you return your cylinder back to on of our official stockists.

We offer our cylinders in 3 sizes – ORIGINAL, PLUS and ULTRA – and the deposit charge for each gas within each size group is the same, with the exception of Acetylene.

For our Acetylene cylinders, the following deposit charges apply:
Original – £120/€137
Plus – £160/€182
Ultra – £255/€290

For the rest of our gas range, the following deposit charges apply:
Original – £70/€80
Plus – £110/€125
Ultra – £190/€217

We deduct an administration charge from your cylinder deposit when you no longer require Hobbyweld gas cylinders and return them to your local stockist.

The one-off charge is £10 +VAT.

No. Hobbyweld are the sole owner of the cylinders and we are responsible for the cylinder testing and maintenance. However, you can keep cylinder for as long as you require.

Without your deposit form, you will not receive a deposit refund as this is your proof of purchase. We require deposit forms when refunding as an additional security measure to discourage theft of cylinders from private households. PLEASE KEEP IT SAFE!

Your local stockist can still accept your cylinder return once you no longer require it without a deposit form.

You can return your cylinders with any of our stockists throughout Ireland.

You can only return Acetylene to certain stockists due to insurance. Please make sure your local stockist can accept Acetylene cylinders before visiting.

You can exchange cylinders within the same size group for one another allowing versatility for you during a project.

Acetylene is an exception to this due to the difference in deposit charge.

Due to some building insurance not allowing flammable gases on site, some of our stockist are unable to sell Acetylene. Please call your local stockists ahead of time to make sure they have your chosen product in stock.

Our system has been designed for you to exchange cylinders at whichever stockist is more convenient to you. We do advise ringing ahead to make sure they have your gas and cylinder size available.

When temperature increases, gas expands and vice versa for when it is cold. Hobbyweld cylinder pressure ratings are filled based on 15ºC.

Please note: We do not fill our Carbon Dioxide and Acetylene cylinders by pressure – we fill these cylinders by weight.

We recommend carrying out a leak test on your system and to check your flow rate to make sure it isn’t set too high.

When the cylinder isn’t in use, make sure the cylinder is turned off by it’s valve completely. Even a small leak can empty your cylinder surprisingly quickly.

A faulty cylinder primarily refers to an underfilled cylinder.

Your sales contract is with the stockist you purchase your cylinder 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.

Although cylinders do require regular testing – usually every 10 years – they are still safe to use after their retest date passes.

Once the cylinder is empty and has been returned to us, we will not refill the cylinder until we have carried out testing and maintenance.