Thinking about running a nitrous filling station....
 

Well me and my friend are gonna invest into starting nitrous oxide filling. I found out what I need for equipment and i've filled bottles (it's easy as hell). I was going to buy a used complete filling station from a business I worked at. I did have first dibs on it but he sold it on me. (he dropped out of doing it cause he thinks it isn't profitable at all and that he can't buy anymore big bottles of nitrous due to he owes the gas company about $1500 in back bills) The guy who bought the fill station is doing nitrous fills for himself only (he drag races and goes through quiet a bit of it). Since I'm in a such a good area I think it would be a good investment. My friend was thinking of charging a flat fee during the day and then do fills and weird hours of the day for a good markup....any thoughts?

lol you should drive the stuff over to where the street racers meet before they go out to their secluded area and race...

im sure you could make some $$ there... especially if you were out there every night they were... it would be way convenient for them...

How much does the setup cost?

what's the liability and downside?

wouldn't you run into the liability of it not being legal to be ran on the streets?

Ya Mobile would be the best idea

Imprisonment.

Nitrous Oxide (NO2) is a controlled substance. Dentist's give you a snoot full to make you not mind your teeth getting yanked outta yer head. Kids also buy balloons filled with it at raves. Where do they get it? Stolen from Compressed Gas Distributors. I used to be one...years ago.

pretty large downside.

i have an aversion to prison, it's been a good motivator to NOT break laws.

Supossedly, the nitrous oxide they use in car injection will make you sick if you huff it. Mildly poisoned. The tanks I've seen all have a big warning on them not to huff them. And I believe there is a big difference between medical grade nitrous and car nitrous, otherwise we'd have to get prescriptions to buy nitrous.

I think if you stick to the car-only kind, it is not a controlled drug. However, I'm not a lawyer.

Remember you will need a place to store it, and safely. Check out the MSDS, talk to distributors , etc. Be serious about what you are planning on doing, storing and retailing a flammable gas carries responsibility.

A mobile idea would be neat, if you had a van. Weird hours would be a must... take it to race days too. Tons of fun!

Automotive-use nitrous is not a controlled substance like dentist-grade nitrous is. You will feel very sick if you try to huff it.

Yes currently there are two types of nitrous oxide out their. There is normal plain jain nitrous oxide (giggle gas) that dentists use and you have to have a medical licence to purchase. Then there is nitrous + which contains a little bit of sulphur in it, for two reasons, to help lube up the cylinders when used in a car, and so when you huff it you get sick as hell before you even remotely get high.

Also I worked with acetylene torch and I know how to store the tanks. It isn't too big of a problem. I have to double check all the laws....but I think I can do this easily without having to get a bunch of licences...

Hardest part might be getting a license from the city for the mobile setup if you tell them you intended audience. Especially if they are cracking down on street racing.

The mobile part is the only thing that might make it tough. The nice thing about doing at a central location is that customers bring you a bottle. That in itself removes all liability as far as you have to worry about. All you did was fill it, not your issue where they might use it.

I was considering a similar setup, as I run two stages and have to top off 2, 10 lbs bottles before I go. At $5 a lb this gets pretty damn expensive, but filling my own it would cost me about $1.50 a lb. Unfortunately where I live now there is no garage, but I may definitely invest down the line.

Jeez nitrous oxide at cost here is about $2.53 a pound via my local gas supplier.

You dont need a medical license to purchase pure nitrous oxide...anybody over 18 can buy a box of nitrous canisters for use in making whipped cream =P I used to do the stuff. I dont reccommend it.

The answer to your question

to do it on the up and up I would think that you would need to show some legal reason to be selling it; for example, head shops sell their bowls as tobacco "pipes," although it is an ingenious idea, I would assume that any bureaucratic types would frown on underground street racing and try to stop you any way they could, including licensing etc.

It would be illegal for them to discriminate agianst you in that fashion. I think going to the street races, not participating, but make a name for yourself but keep the buisness in a central location and have people come to you, It sounds like a good idea. If you have crunched the number and think you can pull it off, go for it.

where would a fella buy a filling station at? how would he go about getting one??

having a NO2 filling station is the easy idea, making it a worth while business and even mobile are harder. Not many business' sell just one product mainly cuse they wouldn't make enough money, your gonna have to sell other products. And the whole mobile aspect you have to look into local, state, and federal laws for the transportation and transfer (tank to tank, filling) of a oxidizer gas on public roads and highways.

right, i do have a store front that has been open for 3 years now, and i have been in business for over 5 years total selling auto parts & acc. we are located right on a busy state route highway. our biggest market is the stock parts, but there is no one else in our county that even sells nitrous. this is why i was thinking it would go good.

i have checked around and i have everything lined up but the mother tanks. i have not yet found a local supplier of the gas! ill keep looking.

Maybe call the closest NO2 filling station and find out where they get their NO2 from, if their not big enough to expand and far enough from you that you wouldn't be taking business they should mind you asking. Call other stations too to get an idea of common suppliers so you can price shop them. I'd try either that or the internet or even see if a welding supply shop knows where to buy em.

home whipped cream cartridges, sir. :)

Ok, since I didn't have the money to invest in the setup my roomate decided to go in on with it for me. He recently bought a filling station for about $660 shipped. I checked around and here are soe other fees:
Bottle leasing fee, $50 a year of $90 for 5 years.
Nitrous at cost $1.82 per lb
Price that the nearest refiller sells it for $4 a lb.
Hopefully next week I'll be filling bottles and then make a little bit of $$ to get me a nitrous kit for my mustang.