Co2 Problems

[scottca]

Hi All,

My 500g Bottle of Co2 lasted approx 4 months on my 180litre, got the bottle filled about 3 weeks ago, but now the reg is showing the bottle as empty!, The Pressure is still at 2 bar and the bubbles keep coming out, I have not noticed this gradually coming down though, although, to be honest, I havnt looked that much at the guages, once its set its set and its only been 3 weeks so no reason too.

Before I took the system apart to check it, I used wasking up liquid and water to try and find any leaks... couldnt find any, took the reg off the bottle and back on, can get the pressure back up to 2 bar but still the other guage is showing the bottle as empty. if thats the case i should imagine it would run out anyday!

is it possible for that one guage to be broken? if its a 500g bottle, is that what it should weigh when its full, or what it should weigh in gas + the bottle weight?

When I got the bottle refilled, it definately registered as having gas in it, could it be possible they didnt fill it properly, but then I dont understand why it would give a full reading and then suddenly disapear?

Kind Regards,

Craig

 

[aaronnorth]

My 500g Bottle of Co2 lasted approx 4 months on my 180litre

are you sure you had it switched on lol, 3 weeks seems about right to me. With guages, they usually regiter, then drop to 0 VERY quickly!

 

[scottca]

Yeah it definately lasted about 3 months at least - running green on the drop checker - Im using a solenoid so its on 1 hour before the lights on up until 1 hour before the lights out.

At the min Im running just under 1 bubble per second and my drop checker is green (changed solution few days ago, using AE 4dkh solution)

Sounds silly, but can they be refilled to different levels, or is it done via a set pressure?

 

[scottca]

Im now sitting thinking about it, I did noticed that since my bottle run out and I cleaned the diffuser, it wasnt diffusing the bubbles as small as it used to, before, half used to get sucked into the filter and half didnt, but now, the bubbles are bigger and hit the surface more and sit on the top, so maybe im not diffusing as effienctly as I was before? Still cant see how its gone from at least 3 months potentially down to 1

its only going to be about a maximum of 10 bubbles per minute more though, so doesnt make sense how its been cut down by a 2/3rds.

 

[SuperColey1]

I run 600g bottles at 2-3bps and they last about the same as yours. Bear in mind that bubble counters are all different and your 1 bubble may be the same content as my 2-3!!!

the 500g should be the content. weigh an empty cylinder. I bet it comes out at over 1kg. Any reputable company isn't going to skimp on 'stealing' a small amount of CO2 like that. 600g costs £10 for 1 single bottle. They are probs paying a tiny fraction of that price for theirs, like 50p or less for the same quantity.

My guess is your cylinder pressure gauge has broken. If the bottle was nearly empty to the point the gauge was reading zero then the bubble rate would probably start to go mad.

As for the diffusor this will not change the amount that the regulator is releasing. It only effects its dispersal at entry into the tank not the amount it is receiving. There maybe a small chance that the needle valve you are using is being overpressured at 2bar. Most people run at about 1.5bar (I run just under 2) but even so the bubble rate will increase/decrease letting you know of any change. As you say there are no leaks then if the bubble rate is still the same then I can't see any problem there.

To count your bubble rate I would count for a minute rather than a second. much more accurate to count for longer and divide by 60 than to count fractions of a second etc (0.8bps. lol)

How are you cleaning your diffusor? After cleaning it weekly it should return to tiny bubbles and by the week be a little bigger. It is important with the glass/ceramic types to keep on top of the cleaning so weekly is basically a necessity.

I stick mine to a tile in the kitchen using its sucker and cover the disc in neat bleach. leave 5 minutes, rinse and bleach again, 5 minutes, rinse and sechlor for 10 minutes then back into the tank. You should then see when you turn the CO2 back on the output looks more like smoke for an hour or so before returning back to the usual bubble size.

AC