Help With Fire Extinguisher Co2 System

[Ebbo]

Hi,

I now have all the necessary parts to complete a DIY pressurized Co2 system with a fire extinguisher - and I just wanted a little reassurance that I know what I am doing..

So, the order of the connection I believe goes a little something like this:

Fire Extinguisher - Co2 Only, 2Kg

Regulator - With needle valve

Strong tubing - supplied by Hydor with Solenoid valve for high pressure between regulator & solenoid

Solenoid Valve - Hydor

Co2 tubing

Non return valve - also supplied by Hydor

More Co2 tubing

Bubble Counter

More Co2 tubing

A further non-return valve

Transparent Co2 tubing - for inside the aquarium

And finally, the diffuser.

The Solenoid is rather heavy, and has securing holes on the valve block, however I have no-where to secure it to with it coming almost directly off the regulator. Would it be okay to have the solenoid 'hanging' on by the stiffness of the strong tubing to the regulator - or should I really look to get this secured on to something?

Any help or advice is very welcome.

Thanks,

 

[DrRob]

That all looks very much like what I use (cept I use an external reactor). It was slightly scary first squeezing the FE levers which was rewarded by only the slightest phut from the system. I did do it outside though.

I'd just make sure that it's set so that the solenoid can't kink the tube with it's weight.

Hope it all goes in well.

 

[ian]

looks fine to me.

just make sure you get the non return valves the right way round.

 

[Ebbo]

Thanks guys.

I am still a little concerned about the Solenoid Valve connection:

Will the pressure between the regulator & Solenoid valve not push them apart by the tubing? They fit very snuggly to the blue tubing, however I want to make sure this isn't going to pull apart while the valve is off over night due to the pressure?

Thanks,

 

[fleeing]

The chances of the solenoid pulling loose are minimal. The connecting hose is usually very firmly connected.

But, if you want to be really totally sure, just use some strips (do you still call them tie-rips?) to hold the solenoid in position. If you want to have a really smart system, you can get special bolts that will connect the solenoid directly to the regulator.German supplier. If you don't read German, google translate will try to help.

 

[DrRob]

Now that's a nice site with lots of little, and very useful, CO2 diy bits and pieces.

Shame they don't ship to the UK really.

 

[Ebbo]

I think I'll try it like this, the pressure will be minimal as you say and it is very tightly fitted.

I am going to put it all together tomorrow morning.

Cheers for the help, will let you know how I get on.

 

[micko]

Maybe use this as a guide for when I do mine.

 

[Ebbo]

i have fired the fe, but the reg says it is 4bar without the valve being open? The other gauge says 55 bar which is fine.

 

[Ebbo]

I have completed the setup, the pressure on the second gauge dropped when I set the needle valve to the correct amount.

I am going to myu local MA today to pick up a drop checker, until then I am just testing the setup with roughly 3bps and regular ph tests - this morning it registered absolute neutral, I am keen for this not to drop too much with the addition of the pressurized co2.

Here is the FE, securely strapped to the aquarium cabinet with a luggage strap which you can pick up from any DIY store - the bottle is also in a 'cubby hole' where it would be almost impossible to completely knock over:

I am going to sort the tubing & wires out eventually, so that it is all attached to the cabinet and doesn't look such a mess!

The gauges reading 1.5bar for the tank, and 55bar pressure in the cylinder - the solenoid is the black lump on the left:

The bubble counter (I wish it had a more secure method of sucking to the side of the tank) - currently just a few bubbles per second:

The diffuser is located directly below the outlet for the filter, the bubbles are pushed all the way around the tank by the flow of the water for maximum Co2 dispersion:

And the tank - I have plans for more exciting plants, being shared on another thread..

My only concern is that the solenoid seems to run very hot - I have read that some do and some don't - and that this is just normal, but are there any extra precautions I can take? I was thinking of adding a heat sink to the bottom of the valve as it has mounting holes? Any other suggestions?

Cheers,
Paul

 

[ian]

just be aware that the instructions in the drop checkers tell you to add tank water (the ones in MA are gonna be JBL ones). This isn't really best practice. It's best to use 4dkh water, as this won't contain anything that will effect to reading on the drop checker.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/268972-drop-checkers-how-they-work/

re the solenoids, as you say some do get a little hot. I wouldn't worry to much about it. Glad you got it set up and look forward to a journal appearing.

 

[Dan-CR4]

nice pic of the equipment, would be good if you could link to where you bought it and what you paid, so other members can get an idea on prices. I know there is a thread saying what you need and where to get it, but some of the links are dead now so this being done recently would be good for others.

A few people on ebay sell 4dkh water for your drop checker, also someone on this forum sells it as well, thats where I got mine, thats if you dont want to make it yourself.

 

[Ebbo]

Thanks for the warning Ian! I will follow that advice for sure.

I will post links to where I bought the equipment from later, good idea.

The solenoid LED should only be lit when the valve is open and working, but earlier the light turned off while the power was still on. Despite the light being off, co2 was still flowing and therefore I thought this may just be a soldering job on the LED. However, I unplugged the solenoid altogether and the co2 still flowed.

Now I am fairly sure this shouldn't happen, as when the timer effectively unplugs the power the valve should turn off thus stopping the flow of co2.

I have now removed the solenoid valve completely and am running the co2 directly in to the bubble counter.

Does anyone know what may have happened?

 

[DrRob]

Broken? A lot of solenoids have overpressure or overheat switches.

Wired backwards?

Some solenoids are set to normally open, and close under power, some are normally closed and open under power. Generally I've not seen the NO ones on sale for aquariums, but you can get them for pnuematics, so they do exist.

 

[Ebbo]

I checked and rechecked the instructions thoroughly, and think I did everything right. I will test it again tomorow.

For now I am happy with turning the supply on and off each night and morning. The ph remained stable at a pinch under 7 in the afternoon.

Is the best method to turn it off a couple of hours before lights out to allow the remaining gas to be absorbed?