Weapon Of Mass Destruction

[Angry_Platy]

After waiting FOREVER for my regulator to arrive it came yesterday, too late though to get the CO2 then. Today I went and got my CO2 cylinder

I dunno why the pic hasn't rotated properly. I rotated it in photobucket but its still wrong. Anyways, the ruler next to it is 40cm long to give an indication of size...its seriously HUGE!!!!

I have seriously scared the crap out of myself. First, I accidentally bump the open/close valve when I got it inside and it makes a horrid gas noise. I quickly close it off then breathe for a bit. Then I attach the regulator to what I think is as tight as it will go....WRONG....again I get horrible gas noise. So I get out the BFs super dooper wrench and tighten it with that to the point that my hands are now hurting. YAY....progress I test it, yup, I can control the gas coming out with the flow control knob and the fine control knob (aka. built in needle valve)....I haven't got it going to the tank yet as I need to get it into a rather small space and its kinda hard to manouevere, BF can do that later But from what I tested just then I seem to have good control using the fine flow adjuster knob (yeah, technical I know...NOT!!!!).....

When I picked it up I am asking all these questions about safety stuff. The guy was looking at me as if to say "you are such a girl" and says "It's not going to explode, the worse that can happen is a gas leak, and even that won't kill you".....I can just see them now at the shop laughing at that crazy girl in her blue work uniform seeming over paranoid Then I was asking about tying it to something and I swear, he was trying his best not to laugh saying "its only 6kg of gas. its not going to damage anything"

 

[Mr Miagi]

Thats it, im calloing the terrosism hotline..... *runs to find fridge magnet*

 

[@ombomb]

Looks like the same size as mine. My girlfriend thought I was taking up scuba diving when she first saw it!

 

[Aussie_Star]

yea nice chook thats the size down fomr mine that i run on my 180 gal, get it from boc?

 

[zig]

AP your such a wimp

Congrats on the co2...........no stopping you now girl

 

[George Farmer]

Good stuff AP. That'll last you ages. Are you using a solenoid or 24/7?

 

[SkiFletch]

Thats cool

Dont worry about the cylinder, you'll be ok. CO2 is one of the safest gasses there is to store since its at a relatively low pressure, its non-flamable, and in the concentrations even that whole bottle could leak its not toxic for you. Did your BF know you were going to bring this home for him to move

 

[Walt]

I attach the regulator to what I think is as tight as it will go....WRONG....again I get horrible gas noise.

Keep in mind... there is a plastic washer thats supposed to go between the tank and the regulator...without it, you WILL have a slow leak....

Being a brewer, i see people leak all the gas outta their tanks all the time when they first get one cause they didnt put that washer in there.. B)

 

[SkiFletch]

good point

Best way to check for leaks is to mix up some dishsoap and water and sprinkle a little bit around any fitting parts... If any point bubbles, you've got a slow air leak there

G/L

 

[Angry_Platy]

Yeah, the plastic washer is there.

It is now attached to the tank and I am going to have to figure out what the ideal bubble rate is. I am not used to having so much control over my CO2 levels

Aussie Star....yeah, the cylinder came from BOC. Despite my paranoia questions they were quite good.

GF....no solenoid so 24/7 I guess. Of course this will be monitored and if need be I will turn it off myself at night. This isn't the plan at this stage since the pH change you get at night when turning off the CO2 can be worse for the fish anyways.

 

[littleimp]

I don't know if you've done this already but it's recommended you use plumbers ptfe tape on the threads before installing the regulator & any threaded joints afterwards too.