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Re: [GSAS-Member] CO2 Question
Makes sense to me too Paul. Perhaps my plastic check valves were even
cheaper than yours, but one of mine ended up leaking a bunch of water over
the floor. Plastic ones are certainly cheaper than the brass ones that cost
about $10.00 online.
On Sun, Oct 18, 2009 at 11:23 PM, Paul M. Wallace <pwallace@u.washington.edu
> wrote:
> Yep,
>
> I second the "have just done the same dumb things for a long time." As
> nothing happens to the tanks unless I am setting up something new or
> simplifying maintenance in some incremental step.
>
> For example I only have 2 tanks on CO2 with the cheapest inline plastic
> valves you can find. Oh well. The trick is to maintain a 'high pressure'
> side after the regulator, before the needle so that changing the needle
> valve settings do not effect other tanks. I vote regulator, solenoid,
> needle valve, check valve, bubble counter, shortest run possible to the
> tank. This puts most of the components under low stress (5-10 psi?) and
> minimizes the impacts of leaks. Multiple solenoids would go after a
> splitter.
>
> If anyone finds a decent price on 4-6 way with metal needle valve I would
> like to hear more :)
>
> -Paul
>
>
> On Sat, 17 Oct 2009, Erik Olson wrote:
>
> > Kypros, do you have one solenoid for the entire rig, or do you run one
> per
> > needle valve? And if the latter, where do you place the solenoid in the
> > flow? (i.e. right at the needle valve, right near the tank, etc.)
> >
> > Also, where do you obtain your metal check valves?
> >
> > Remember that "super experienced" can also mean "have just done the same
> > dumb things for a long time." :)
> >
> > - Erik
> >
> > On Sat, 17 Oct 2009, Hostetter, Kypros wrote:
> >
> >> I agree you will have to have three needle valves. I have a Sumo
> regulator
> >> with a dual manifold and I have the solenoids. It felt better to me to
> give
> >> the co2 a break at, and they work fine for me, running about 25 feet for
> >> each line. But I know that many super experienced guys like Erik go
> without
> >> solenoids. Also it can kind of be annoying to run that many timers
> using
> >> the Solenoids. I got the swagelok needle valves, little cheaper than
> the
> >> Ideal valves, and they seem to work pretty well. Sumo could rig it all
> up
> >> for you, including the bubble counters-makes it easy, but not cheap.
> You'll
> >> love switching out from DIY, though. I too use the black drip line per
> >> Erik's suggestion, real cheap! If you dont like the black entering your
> >> tank, you can buy a small amount of flexible C02 line and just use it
> where
> >> it it visible, and connect it to your black cheap line via the check
> valve
> >> you will need anyway. By the way, get brass check valves. When I was
> doing
> >> DIY CO2 I got away with plastic check valves, but they quickly failed
> under
> >> the higher pressure CO2. As an alternative to the reactors you can use
> >> cheap glass ADA knockoff diffusers, they work pretty well too. *
> >> E.g., *
> >>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/Rhinox-5000-Glass-CO2-diffuser-Pollen-Aquarium-Beetle_W0QQitemZ250305228880QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3a475ab050
> >>
> >> Finally, if you do get the JBJ bubble counters, dont make the mistake I
> did
> >> and let them run after the water evaporates, I cracked both of mine when
> >> they were dry and had to replace them.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Sat, Oct 17, 2009 at 7:42 PM, Erik Olson <erik@thekrib.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Hi John,
> >>>
> >>> I think you'll need to have three needle valves for this to work. You
> >>> cannot split the line downstream of the needle valve to two separate
> >>> reactors, unless each has significant back-pressure (such as a glass
> >>> diffusor). What generally happens is that one of the tanks gets all
> the
> >>> bubbles, and the second at best gets none, and at worst, acts as a
> siphon
> >>> from the first tank.
> >>>
> >>> I run five tanks off the same CO2 regulator, but I recently purchased a
> >>> hexo-manifold (see attached photo) for about the same price as a single
> >>> ideal valve. It does a decent enough job so far and it's stylish
> chrome
> >>> matches the overkill regulator I bought at the same time.
> >>>
> >>> In terms of tubing, straight vinyl airline should do the trick just
> fine. I
> >>> use black vinyl from Home Depot (for drip irrigation lines). It's the
> same
> >>> size as airline.
> >>>
> >>> Do not use silicone tubing.
> >>>
> >>> I'm one of those folks that don't use solenoids & never have -- I
> received
> >>> one recently & considered trying it, but am concerned about the effect
> of
> >>> shutting one off upstream of the needle valves on very long runs to
> multiple
> >>> tanks. I may try it on a different regulator that only has a single
> output.
> >>>
> >>> I really like the aluminum tanks. They weigh significantly less than
> the
> >>> steel, and have a nice handle. Get a 20# if you can afford it --
> swap-out
> >>> cost is almost the same at Central, but it'll last longer (especially
> >>> feeding three aquariums!).
> >>>
> >>> Hope this helps!
> >>>
> >>> - Erik
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Sat, 17 Oct 2009, J Clouse wrote:
> >>>
> >>> I've been running three DIY CO2 setups for some time, and now I'm
> ready to
> >>>> step up to a pressurized system. My research to date has me leaning
> >>>> towards
> >>>> the following, but I wanted to check with the group before I make any
> >>>> investments.
> >>>>
> >>>> <http://sumoregulator.com/PremierLine.html>10 lb aluminum tank
> (Central
> >>>> Welding?)
> >>>> Sumo regulator <http://sumoregulator.com/PremierLine.html>
> >>>> (2) Ideal 52-1-12 metering valves
> >>>> (2) JBJ bubble counter
> >>>> (2) Red Sea CO2 500 reactor
> >>>> Flexible CO2 tubing (though I'm tempted to use something cheaper...)
> >>>>
> >>>> In looking at the options, it seems like running 24/7 without a
> solenoid
> >>>> and
> >>>> possibly running an airstone at night seems to be the simplest setup
> with
> >>>> the least risk to pH (just uses up more CO2).
> >>>>
> >>>> I would like to use this setup to run *three* tanks. Two tanks in the
> >>>> basement using the Red Sea reactors (running off of a the output of
> one of
> >>>> the metering valves. The third tank is on the floor directly above
> the
> >>>> basement setup. I would like to run the output of the second metering
> >>>> valve
> >>>> into a venturi on the intake of a Magnum 350 (currently doing this
> with
> >>>> (2)
> >>>> DIY bottles).
> >>>>
> >>>> Any mistakes you can help avoid? Any recommendations for a simpler
> setup?
> >>>>
> >>>> Cheers,
> >>>> John
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>> --
> >>> Erik Olson Sent
> from
> >>> my crusty old Linux box
> >>> erik at thekrib dot com
> >>> _______________________________________________
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> >>>
> >>>
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> >
> > --
> > Erik Olson Sent
> from my crusty old Linux box
> > erik at thekrib dot com
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
>
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