# Wave CO2 Regulator & Solenoid help?



## andyh (5 Sep 2010)

Hello UKAPS  

Anybody know how to adjust the working pressure on a Wave Regulator?

I know how to do it on my JBL ones (with an allen Key), but the answer is not jumping out on me on this particular reg.

Under the Wave logo is a large hex nut with a screw in the middle of the nut, which if you loosen the large hex nut allows you to unscrew the screw. I haven't attempted to adjust this incase its not the right thing and i damage my reg.

No instructions came with the reg so any advice would be muchos appreciated!

Picture of the reg:







Thanks 

Andyh


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## ceg4048 (5 Sep 2010)

Andy,
        Isn't that chrome thingy a needle valve just to the right of the solenoid? If not you need to get a needle valve mate. That's the most important part of the regulator...

Cheers,


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## andyh (5 Sep 2010)

ceg4048 said:
			
		

> Andy,
> Isn't that chrome thingy a needle valve just to the right of the solenoid? If not you need to get a needle valve mate. That's the most important part of the regulator...
> 
> Cheers,




Clive

Dont panic! There is a needle valve! just hidden behind the table leg on the previous picture, see below for reassurance!  





This is the nut i suspect to be used for the adjustment of the working pressure, but got no instructions. Any ideas?


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## ceg4048 (5 Sep 2010)

OK, I must be confused in that case. The working pressure is defined as the pressure being sent to the tank. Therefore the needle valve controls the working pressure by use of the knurled knob 1 BAR, 2 BAR and so forth. The cylinder outlet pressure is the only other pressure of concern. Normally, when the regulator is installed on an industrial cylinder then the cylinder itself has a rotary valve that you open. You don't need to mess with anything else on the regulator. In the case of a Fire Extinguisher, the handle is the cylinder valve so once you tape it in the full open position you get all the pressure that the FE has to offer. According to Sams tutorial this should be around 50 BAR or so (for that sized FE) which is about 725 PSI or just over 50 Kg/cm**2, which it looks like you have.

I must have missed the point mate, sorry. Could you clarify what the problem is?

Cheers,


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## andyh (6 Sep 2010)

ceg4048 said:
			
		

> I must have missed the point mate, sorry. Could you clarify what the problem is?
> 
> Cheers,



I use the UP Atomizer (inline CO2 diffuser) it requires a minimum of 1.6bar working pressure to force the CO2 through the ceramic tube in the diffuser. (i have experience with this on my other tanks). I want to increase the working pressure to 1.7 bar to make sure the CO2 diffuser is working well.

Andyh


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## ceg4048 (6 Sep 2010)

Hmm, normally turning knurled knob on the needle valve counterclockwise is enough to raise the pressure. If that doesn't happen when the solenoid is in the open position then there is a blockage in the line, either in the solenoid or the regulator. Are you only getting  less than 1.6 Bar with the needle valve turned all the way open? I've always been able to get higher pressures just by opening the needle valve some more. Maybe you do have to play with that hex nut. Sorry for the confusion mate.

Cheers,


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## JAS (6 Sep 2010)

ceg4048 said:
			
		

> Hmm, normally turning knurled knob on the needle valve counterclockwise is enough to raise the pressure.



I think a needle valve adjusts the flow rate at a given pressure, not the pressure itself. The UP atomiser requires higher pressure to force the gas through the ceramic; higher flow makes no difference because without enough pressure the gas still can't go anywhere. Andy's talking about being able to adjust the working pressure direct from the reg, like you can do with the large black knob on the D-D/Lunapet reg or the hex key on the JBL reg.

Andy, I'm not familiar with the Wave regulator. Regs are pretty much regs, regardless of how pretty they are. They have inlet and outlet connections, maybe gauge connections, a relief valve in case of excess pressure, and maybe a way to adjust the working pressure. Unless you have a relief valve somewhere else that's probably what you're looking at... and that means the reg is fixed pressure with no way to change it.


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## gollum456 (6 Sep 2010)

i sent this reg back as i had this problem. it would only operate at 1.5 bar for me. i even dismantled the whole thing seeing if i could get it to move. no luck. i was lucky in that the reg became faulty after a short while so i sent it back for a refund and bought this instead:- http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CO2-Regulator-Dua ... 4aa222ac41

this is actually shipped from the uk and took about three days to arrive. it works at a steady 2 bar.

hope this helps


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## Jase (8 Sep 2010)

Just to add to what others have said, the needle valve alters the output of the CO2. The operating pressure comes from the FE.

Incidently, I changed my FE over last night and couldn't get the gas to come out of the UP Atomizer even though the valve was still open as much as before. 
I remembered I had a similar issue when I originally set this up and the way i got around this was to open the needle valve fully, increasing the output and allowing more gas out. This did then lead to a flooding of my tank with CO2, so i then adjusted the needle valve back to where it was before, which took a while to reduce as the pressure dissipated. 

It seems that there is a need to initially use high output in order to bypass the Atomizer, then reduce as necessary.


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## dsandson (20 Jun 2011)

Hi, if it helps I've had a wave reg for over 2 years now. Been using an UP inline diffuser for about a year, with no problems at all. Recently bought another filter and UP diffuser, so now have the 2 diffusers running from the same bottle with no problems.

The right hand hand dial shows virtually the same reading as yours, at about a reading of 2, in the green section.

To be honest I'm so happy with it that I've bought another wave reg on ebay to change from a welding setup to a FE set up on my second tank.


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## dsandson (21 Jun 2011)

skeletonw00t said:
			
		

> For some reason mine has a reading of about 1.4 :/ so i guess mine won't work



Thats a bit odd. What type of bottle are you using? Is it a 1kg or 500g?


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## gollum456 (27 Jun 2011)

i would not bother. as i posted i had 1.5 bar and it would not work with up atomiser. i completely dismantled the reg trying to raise the working pressure. no such luck i'm afraid!


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## dsandson (25 Jul 2011)

I wanted to bring this up again as I wasnt able to help the poster earlier in the thread.

Ive just received another wave co2 reg and solenoid combo through the post... only took the ebay seller over a month to bother posting it, but oh well! Anyway, connected it up to my FE on the 180l tank, which is incidentally supplying 2x up aqua in-line diffusors. The original reg I have works fantastically even with both diffusors.

I connected the new one up and nothing. To see if it was a dud, i hooked it up to my 60l tank upstairs which uses a Boyu in-line diffusor, and hey presto! It worked first time.

Now the newer reg showed the same working pressure as the old one, which is about 30 psi. There is no production dates stamped on either unit, but I have to say that I'd tend to be of the opinion this this is a newer unit (although not actually new). So perhaps the newer wave regs are worth steering clear of if you want to use this in-line diffusor. 

This might provide a little solace to those with wave regs and who cant fathom why they wont work with their lovely new up aqua diffusor.

Regards
Dave


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## tovtm (25 Jul 2011)

have this problem with the wave reg... does anyone know if the working pressure on these can be adjusted? if so how? mine sits about 2.1 when solenoid is off but when it comes on goes down to 1.6-1.8 :s 

theres a nut on the bottom of the reg with a screw through it does this adjust the pressure? I'm ideally looking for 2.2-2.5 psi when on


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## tovtm (26 Aug 2011)

To everones problems with low pressure I have the solution (may want to add this as a sticky as it seem alot of people have this problem with non adjustable regs)

I have the wave regulator and had a low working pressure. with the up atomizer needing around 1.7bar pressure I took this regulator to one of my good welding friends to see if he knew how to adjust it. Ok so he then told me it was a static, non adjustable regulator but told me a little way around it.

So here it goes-

-Take the regulator off the pressurized bottle.
-unscrew the front big nut where it has the wave sticker (on different models it is still usually on front directly infront of the co2 bottle exit)
- you will see inside the nut you have just taken off a washer with a rubber around it take this out
- find yourself a washer as close to the maximum diameter to fit under the washer you just taken out (not too small as you want it to cover a maximum area to be stable)
- I used a very thin washer and sanded a bit off to make it even thinner as I didt know how thick the washer would impact the working pressure so basically start off thinnest you can go and put it all back together on on co2 bottle to see what your new working pressure is. mine went from 1.5 working pressure to 1.9 on first try.

make sure you do the nut back up tight as you don't want it flying off if you only hand tighten it. basically all the fixed regulators are different to the adjustable ones are you have a screw you can turn on the big nut which make the internal hole smaller equaling a higher pressure.what we are doing is creating the same but internally adjusting it rather than externally.

PLEASE DO THIS OUTSIDE AND AT YOUR OWN RISK.  I say this just as the folks do in the DIY FE co2 set up sticky as I don't want people blaming me for anything going wrong. Although I don't see any problem in risk doing this as I have done so myself I will not take any responsibility for any damage or injury if something was to go wrong.

I done mine about two months ago now and still everything is fine I wanted to see how mine was before passing this how to on to you.
Tom,


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