Air-up

[sluggerdog]

Anyone hear of the following:

Air-Up Homebrew

My Local HBS has just brought it in, while I wan enquiring about keg systems he told me about it.
$281 UPFRONT for the gas bottle and then you own it for life, pay an extra $20 every time you need to re-fill and that is it.

Sounds ok to me.

Was going to rent howver I have air liquide a call on prices and they said it would cost me about $110 UPFRONT, then ADD an extra $40 for the bottle. SO about $150 per year to rent the bottle with gas.

Paid that off in 2 years with Air-Up..

Now I just got to find the $700 for the whole setup with gas bottle.

Cheers

 

[big d]

sounds good sluggerdog.
hopefully with companys like this it might wake up the major companies into giving us better deals.i hate having to pay rent on gas bottles that i dont own.


cheers
big d

 

[user 384]

It's absolutely fantastic that a supplier has come to the party and will now sell CO2 bottles AND has arranged for an extensive list of refillers across Australia.

BUT $276 is a bit steep, considering that guys out there are getting 2nd 5kg fire extinguishers for 1/2 the price, and they do exactly the same job.

A bit of competition in the market is needed to drive the price own.

As an example of how competition brings down prices, in the US you can buy the same sied bottle for US$60 or about AUS$85. Those lucky yanks!

Cheers
MAH

 

[kman]

id like to own my own bottle just for taking camping or parties and such.

On that note, i wonder if GMK has any of those cooler coils left, if so, i hope he pm's me

cheers

 

[sluggerdog]

I like the size of the bottle, pretty small and light weight.

I'm gonna get onto it as soon as I can.

$280 might be a bit but it's still a brand new bottle, designed specifically for homebrew

 

[big d]

and it will more than likely outlast you as well.good investment for future drinking pleasures i reckon


cheers
big d

 

[JasonY]

Great stuff I noticed that Chubb near me in WA are a refiller, sent em an email to see if they would be interested in the fire-extinguisher option if not I guess I will have to consider forking out for the cylinder.

 

[sluggerdog]

Just saw Goliath Brewing have a 1.5 kg C)2 Gas bottle they sell for $120.

http://www.brewgoliath.com.au/catalog/prod...products_id=144

This would be just as good... correct? A little smaller however it fits within my budget.

Cheers

 

[johnno]

This is a great idea.
But if they really want a lot of business they should really consider dropping the price.

cheers

 

[SteveSA]

$276 Ouch!! Can get a 5kg extinguisher + Goliath 1.5kg + change for that.

Still - it's good to see the market growing.

 

[user 384]

My understanding (please correct me if I'm wrong) is that there are no manufacturers of CO2 cylinders in Australia (fire extinguishers might be the exception to the rule). This raises the question of where do we get them from?

My guess is that CO2 bottles are a bit like regulators. As far as I can tell all the regulator bodies use a 1/4" thread. In Australia we then screw in the adapator for our CO2 head. Is this the same with CO2 bottles? Do the bodies all have the same sized thread, and then in Australia we screw in our own head? If so can you buy a CO2 cylinder from the US, and then seperately buy the Australian head?

From my research I think the US cylinders have 1.125 - 12 UNF thread. So you would need a head with this thread on one end that has a 7/8UNF thread on the other end for our regulators.

If you could do this I'm sure some of these new filling station would be willing to fill them. Why not they're filling private bottles through Air-Up?

Just some thoughts
MAH

 

[Doc]

Just had a call from a mate who tried to get his converted fire extingusher filled at Air-Ups reseller Mannell Motors in Thornleigh Sydney.
They wouldn't do it. They will only fill their bottles.
Anyone else had this problem with Air-Up ?
Anyone know of a reliable refiller that will do converted fire extingushers in Sydney ?

Doc

 

[SteveSA]

Anyone know of a reliable refiller that will do converted fire extingushers in Sydney ?

[post="45541"][/post]​

Hi Doc,

There's a thread on Grumpy's that talks about Quell doing refills. The bloke who posted it says he's from Sydney northern beaches. I don't know Sydney at all so I'm not sure how much help this is to you.

http://www.grumpys.com.au/read.php3?id=35891

The relevant info was posted on 17/2/05

Regards
Steve

 

[blotto]

I thought gas bottles had a life span before you had to get them tested?? Something like 5 years. Then not sure how much that would cost to get it checked.

 

[grunter]

quell northern or betta fire
brookvale
have contacted them and they seem cool with the whole thing

 

[Doc]

Thanks SteveSA and Grunter.
Have passed on the info to my mate.
Pity Air-up aren't as flexible :angry:

Beers,
Doc

Anyone know of a reliable refiller that will do converted fire extingushers in Sydney ?

[post="45541"][/post]​

Hi Doc,

There's a thread on Grumpy's that talks about Quell doing refills. The bloke who posted it says he's from Sydney northern beaches. I don't know Sydney at all so I'm not sure how much help this is to you.

http://www.grumpys.com.au/read.php3?id=35891

The relevant info was posted on 17/2/05

Regards
Steve

[post="45564"][/post]​

 

[Witchdoctor]

There are good reasons that Air-Up is not flexible with there fills. Brewers that are using fire extinguishers are risking contamination of their brew & all those that drink it. The reason is that the CO2 is not food grade. Air-Up fill stations are set up to fill the CO2 cylinders with the correct valve.
When purchasing a 1.5Kg (2nd hand) CO2 cylinder be informed that these are imported from the US they are not made to Australian standards & they are not covered by work cover. Also no repeatable company will risk filling these cylinders.
Air-Up cylinders are brand new & come full & have to be tested every 10 years. At the moment that will cost you about $45.00.
Privately owned cylinders are another problem for Air-Up refillers. There are brewers out there that have purchased old cylinders (acetylene) from the tip then paint them to match the CO2 colour. Would you like to be the person that is filling this cylinder when it explodes at 1000+ psi.
Regarding importing from the US. By the time you convert the US$ to AU$ and courier them in, as they can not be sent in mail as they are a dangerous good, no one will fill them as they are the wrong colour and have the wrong valve so your regulator will not fit. Companies like Air-Up are trying to supply quality goods to an industry that has been ignored by the big gas companies.
Air-Up is an Australian owned family business that consider safety a high Priority. The Fire services that will fill Air-Up cylinders are not food grade and are for the 4x4 industry utilizing the complete Air-Up System.

 

[Ross]

i thought the airup cylinders were approx $280? Witchdoctor, you're saying $45?? If only $45 a much better proposition...

edit...

Early morning sleep in my eyes - retesting $45...

 

[normell]

i thought the airup cylinders were approx $280? Witchdoctor, you're saying $45?? If only $45 a much better proposition...

edit...

Early morning sleep in my eyes - retesting $45...

[post="46149"][/post]​

Not bad prices tho, pity only 1 refiller for whole of Vic.
Hmmmmmmmmm
Might have to look into that.

Normell

 

[Doc]

There are good reasons that Air-Up is not flexible with there fills. Brewers that are using fire extinguishers are risking contamination of their brew & all those that drink it. The reason is that the CO2 is not food grade.

Interesting Witchdoctor.
There have been many discussions about this in the past on all Australian brewing groups, and the end result of all discussions was that the CO2 for both fire extingusher and food grade refils all came from the same cylinder at refil stations.

Would love to hear your reply.

Beers,
Doc