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Re: [GSAS-Member] CO2 Question
Kypros,
Paranoia had me place the bubble counter withe the check valves in the sump
along with the in port to the reactor. Is something did leak at least the
floor wold stay dry.
Is there a good site to but manifods, valves, and check valves? Rex in
Portland was great last I checked but that was some time ago.
-Paul
On Sun, 18 Oct 2009, Hostetter, Kypros wrote:
> 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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