Fire Extinguishers

[zig]

What a great Idea I've been looking to inject Co2 for a little while but not to sure how to approach it. I can't belive this idea, I've worked in the fire industry for a while and have at least 30 co2s in my garage. Well 28 now, to are coming into the house.

Just one thing to everybody who is going to do this be very careful when you remove the horn If the pin is still in the co2 handle then thats okay but whatever you do. DO NOT PRESS THE HANDLE WITH THE HORN REMOVED the pressure inside will knock your arm back so hard and thats if you can hold onto it as well as throwing the co2 cylinder 25yards backwards. They are very dangerous so be careful. Still a fantastic Idea.

Excellent advice cybortech, i wouldn't even attempt to do anything to the cylinder until the regulator is in position and secured tightly, only then would i remove the safety pin and secure the handle in the open position, this is a pressurised cylinder so should be treated with due respect, always make sure the regulator is attached to the cylinder first of all, once you take this precaution it is as safe as using a normal CO2 cylinder.

@ mantis147.......no, that regulator will not work, its the wrong type, yours has a male thread, you need the opposite, a female thread is whats needed as pictured below.

This is my regulator which has a female thread, this is the type of fitting you want

This one here below is very similar to your own, this is off a beer keg regulator, but unfortunatly it will not work, as its a male thread as well.

The regulators in the 2 links that i gave in my reply to RYO will both work, there are others available that will also work but they are a lot more expensive, and tbh i dont see the point in spending big bucks on a regulator, the cheaper ones will do the same job and it will more than likely be hidden from view anyway.

 

[mantis147]

Ok Thanks Zig!!

 

[RYO]

Im sure you can get an adaptor to fit .

 

[jkc]

A few people may be interested in these links?? Quite good prices!

http/www.welduk.com/Details.asp?ProductID=82

If you order the regulator let the guy know what its for, he gave me the adapter for the tube as well, he may do the same for you if you ask nicely!!

You will also need a needle valve - ask this company

http/www.westgroup.co.uk/

A clippard MNV-2 valve & adapter is what your after!

Hope this is of use to someone!?

 

[Lilt Man]

Great idea Zig.....

Connected up my CO2 system last week using your recommendation and everything worked a treat.

Juwel Rio 400

Components:

Fire Extinguisher
Deltec Regulator
Solenoid
Power head (Ehiem Aquaball) intake (Diffuser)

Set my intake pressure to 1 bar.

Followed your instructions all working fine.

Just bought the Arcadia I-Bar with T5 Plant Pro bulbs will be connecting it up tommorow. Hopefully this upgrade will improve the plant growth.

I will post pictures later if anyone is interested?

 

[chrismr]

How easy is it to get to get these refilled? Also, where would one generally go to get them refilled?

How long might a a bottle about 2Kg last when used on a 70 gallon tank? (just a rough estimate)

Sorry if any questions sound stupid, but I know nothing about pressurised systems....

EDIT: am also nervous about the prospect of using pressurised system as worry about something going BANG - what are the odds?

 

[Jen]

I'm glad to see that it worked with an actual fire extinguisher. My tank, essentially is a fire ectinguisher, minus the nozzle... they are the same tank.

 

[zig]

@Lilt Man.......thats great Lilt Man, glad it worked out for you, like i say if i knew this a year or so ago i would have had a much better setup a lot sooner and had a lot less algae problems in the meantime, thats the beauty of it, fire extinguishers are relatively widely available and it works great for our purposes. Always interested in pictures, would love to see them.

@Chrismr, its easy to get them refilled, just look up the yellow pages for fire equipment supply places, either they will refill them for you or they will act as middleman and get the extinguisher refilled for you.

How long will a 2kg last on a 70 gallon>>>> thats depends if you use a solenoid or not, i would say without a solenoid running it 24/7, you might get 2-3 months out of it, with a solenoid you might get double that, but thats only a guesstimate.

The chances of it going bang are slim, if you do your research first of all and are careful you shouldn't have any problems, but with anything like this it should be treated with respect, if you have a regulator on the cylinder (any cylinder, fire extinguisher or regular industrial CO2 cylinder) and you set the pressure to high, there is a release valve built in which automatically triggers and will empty the cylinder, if you happen to be in the room when this happens it will frighten the S*** out of you, but the cylinder will not blow up or anything like that, very high pressure or heat will cause problems but just be cautious and use common sense and this won't be an issue.

If using a fire extinguisher for CO2, always have the regulator on the cylinder before you remove the safety pin to open the handle, if you do that you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[simonbrown403]

The chances of it going bang are slim, if you do your research first of all and are careful you shouldn't have any problems, but with anything like this it should be treated with respect, if you have a regulator on the cylinder (any cylinder, fire extinguisher or regular industrial CO2 cylinder) and you set the pressure to high, there is a release valve built in which automatically triggers and will empty the cylinder, if you happen to be in the room when this happens it will frighten the S*** out of you, but the cylinder will not blow up or anything like that, very high pressure or heat will cause problems but just be cautious and use common sense and this won't be an issue.

Like said excessive heat will do it but where talking fire here, the working pressure is usually about 1 to 5 bar depending on the temp of the room, the actual bottles are tested to a much greater pressure, around the 200bar mark.

My wife stood mine next to a radiator, over night without a problem.

 

[chrismr]

Would this work?

And what about this as a srouce of CO2?

Actually instead o fhijacking this thread and making it messy, will start a new one looking into the possibility of using disposable welding co2 bottles and regulators...

 

[Lilt Man]

Hi Zig

Here are some pictures of my setup

 

[Lilt Man]

Hi Zig

Here are some pictures of my setup

Regulator & Bottle

Solenoid, bubble counter, timer, other fish stuff

Cupboard housing everything - CO2 tubing and electrics are fed to the tank via trunking

Another angle

Powerhead used to diffuse CO2

The last picture shows how i have set up my CO2 diffuser using a powerhead - works a treat.... I did away with my Hagen Ladders and used the power head in the tank that was already in use

Hi chrismr

I got my bottle from a company based in Essex (UK) they delivered to my home. They said it would cost £25 to refill either the 2KG or 5KG container, so i bought the 5KG as the running cost would be less and work out cheaper than the 2KG in thelong run. They come to your house to refill as well

The 3KG grey bottle (new) you can see in the pictures i bought from the LFS i was quoted £49 to refill it.... the bottle is going on Ebay later this W/E.

The 2KG extinguisher was a freebee from a friend (he has lots of them....), i'll use that when my 5KG needs refilling as a gap filler.

Hope this may helps some of you out there....

I'll post some pictures of the tank when i get some proper pictures taken tommorow, as you can see i'm not the best photographer in the world.

 

[ulster exile]

Hi, I'm looking to get a CO2 fire extinguisher off ebay - is there anything in particular I should be looking for ie what's the difference between the black bottles and the red ones? Are there different fittings etc?

Cheers!

 

[RYO]

New regs say all fire extinguishers now have to be red bodied. The black ones are just older models. nothing wrong with them just makes them easier for us to get out grubby mits on

 

[ulster exile]

New regs say all fire extinguishers now have to be red bodied. The black ones are just older models. nothing wrong with them just makes them easier for us to get out grubby mits on

Nice one. They seem cheapish enough but I was just worried that I'd be stung by buying something that I couldn't fit a standard regulator to, or get refilled!