Re: [AGA Member] CO2 regulator question or -- Irregular regulation

["S. Hieber" <shieber@yahoo.com>]

Some diaphragms are made of metal (some stainless steel)
and some use rubber, which is more likely to develop a
leak. If a diaphragm is leaking, your regulator should have
a hard time maintaining steady pressure. Also if the valve
seats are imperfect (grit or whatever) the same thing can
happen. In each of those cases you would either be sending
the CO2 to the atmosphere or to the aquarium.

The gauges use, essentially, long curved brass balloons --
when the pressure is greater, the balloons tend to
straighten, which pushes the lever that moves the needle. A
balloon could leak, which is why I suggested checking the
valves.

Pure supposition, compared to the rock hard empiricism so
far ;-): A fine crack in a diaphragm or balloon could allow
gas to escape or flow too fast only for a short while-- as
the metal moves it opens and closes the crack. But if
enough is escaping into the aquarium to quickly empty the
CO2 tnak, I don't see why it wouldn't raise the CO2 level
inthe aquarium.

A stumper. Hmmmmph!

sh




--- david <hipchack@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I have almost just covered the co2 regulator in soapy
> water but found no leaks at this time. Most likely
> there was a leak before, but it isn't there now. My
> regulator and fittings are not glued together so at
> times they can become loose. It was an experiment of
> mine put together a dual stage regulator with two
> swagelok metering valves. I plan to take apart the
> apparatus in the future. However, I am a little
> concerned with the regulator making the hissing noise
> WITHIN the body of the regulator. Could it be one of
> the stages are bad? I will apply soapy water around
> the gauges to see if there is a leak in the casing or
> anything. Thanks for the reply scott,
> 
> david lim
> 
> 
> --- "S. Hieber" <shieber@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > If your CO2 tank is emptying much too quickly and
> > your
> > Aquarium CO2 levels are running exceptionally higher
> > than
> > normal, then you must have a leak.
> > 
> > Did you check the gauges for leaks?
> > 
> > sh
> > --- david <hipchack@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > > Hey all,
> > > My co2 regulator is making a hissing noise and i
> > was
> > > wondering if it was normal? The hissing noise is
> > > coming from within the regulator. Also when I
> > decrease
> > > the co2 regulator knob the noise will go away and
> > once
> > > the output reaches 10 psi the needle on the gauge
> > will
> > > pop back to 20 psi but fall straight back to 10.
> > It is
> > > a veriflo dual stage regulator. I checked for co2
> > > leaks but could not find any. The reason I ask is
> > > because this regulator went through a 5 lb co2
> > tank
> > > within a week, which sometimes occurs because a
> > > fitting is loose. However, I replaced the tank and
> > > checked the fittings and there are no leaks. I
> > have
> > > another co2 regualtor built by scott cerrata which
> > > makes no noise whatsoever. thanks for the help,
> > > 
> > > david
> > > 
> > > __________________________________
> > > Do you Yahoo!?
> > > New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing.
> > > http://photos.yahoo.com/
> > >  ------------------
> > >  To unsubscribe from this list, please send mail
> > to
> > > majordomo@thekrib.com
> > >  with "Unsubscribe aga-member" in the body of the
> > > message.  Archives of
> > >  this list can be found at
> > > http://lists.thekrib.com/aga-member/
> > > 
> > 
> > 
> > =====
> > S. Hieber
> > 
> > __________________________________
> > Do you Yahoo!?
> > New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing.
> > http://photos.yahoo.com/
> >  ------------------
> >  To unsubscribe from this list, please send mail to
> > majordomo@thekrib.com
> >  with "Unsubscribe aga-member" in the body of the
> > message.  Archives of
> >  this list can be found at
> > http://lists.thekrib.com/aga-member/
> > 
> 
> 
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing.
> http://photos.yahoo.com/
>  ------------------
>  To unsubscribe from this list, please send mail to
> majordomo@thekrib.com
>  with "Unsubscribe aga-member" in the body of the
> message.  Archives of
>  this list can be found at
> http://lists.thekrib.com/aga-member/
> 


=====
S. Hieber

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing.
http://photos.yahoo.com/
 ------------------
 To unsubscribe from this list, please send mail to majordomo@thekrib.com
 with "Unsubscribe aga-member" in the body of the message.  Archives of
 this list can be found at http://lists.thekrib.com/aga-member/