# FEs and regulators



## stevet (8 Nov 2007)

Take your standard 2Kg CO2 FE. Take your standard D-D regulator. Looking at the FEs at work, how on earth does the regulator body clear the 'shoulder' of the CO2 tank when screwing into the thread at the side of the handle? Obviously not a problem on the 600gm bottles as the regulator is top mounted. Has anyone encountered this problem?

Looking at it i just dont think my regulator would screw in to the side mounted thread without some part of the regulator (most likely the guage) touching the shoulder of the FE.


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## Dan Crawford (8 Nov 2007)

I'm taking a guess here since i've not used or seen the DD stuff.
Can you not screw the reg to the FE and leave the gauges facing skyward ie. you can only view the guages from above?
Is the thread on the FE and reg the same? i know AE do a converter from DD to FE http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.p ... cts_id=803
HTH


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## stevet (8 Nov 2007)

To be honest i think the whole reg will catch on the shoulder of the cylinder. Its quite a long reg. The reg is detailed here:

http://www.deltecaquariumsolutions.com/ ... ns_001.pdf

Undernaeth valve E is where the unit screws onto the co2 cylinder - as you can see there is a lot of regulator going out lengthways from this culminating in the fine adjustment valve.

Its quite long and when twisting it on to the FE thread i cant see how it will get past the shoulder of the co2 cylinder without catching - with or without the guage? I have bought a thread converter.


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## lawrencezarb (8 Nov 2007)

I too have a D&D regulator and was planning to use a FE. What most people may not understand is that there is NO nut on the regulator. the screw thread is tapped directly into the regulator body. Even when using the adaptor to convert from disposible to refillable bottle, it will still require the whole regulator to be turned in order to screw the regulator to the FE.

I hope this all makes sense.


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## stevet (9 Nov 2007)

Makes sense to me (obviously) - my opinion is still that these d-d regs wont fit on a standard co2 FE unless someone with one on an FE tells me differently. I dont want to buy an FE only to find the reg wont screw into it....

Instead I have bought some 600gm cannisters from machine mart....


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## lawrencezarb (9 Nov 2007)

Stevet,

I am in exactly the same position as you, currently running on Machine Mart 600g  cylinders, looking to move to FE.

Hope someone can help!!


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## stevet (9 Nov 2007)

I think we can infer from the dearth of replies that not many people on this forum use the d-d regs with FEs.

I am reluctant to fork out and find it doesnt fit on! 

One other option is the beverage co2 cannisters mentioned in another post as these have upward facing threads at the top of the cylinder. So far i have only seen these as refillable items that you pay a deposit for?


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## ceg4048 (9 Nov 2007)

stevet,
            Can you post some pictures or point us to a web page? I'm having a difficult time wrapping my head around the possible interference issue. The DD regulator can't be that radically different than other regulators and many people use  fire extinguisher bottles purchased from ebay shops with their regulators. If the D&D uses a standard CO2 connector (7/8 inch nut?) then it should have a protruding neck on which the nut can slide to give clearance and engage the threads of the bottle no? I don't use this combination so I'm just guessing.

Cheers,


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## stevet (9 Nov 2007)

link to the pdf is in the previous post...


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## ceg4048 (9 Nov 2007)

OK, gosh sorry about that, it was right under my nose   Yes , right.. That regulator won't work straight out of the box. It is for disposable bottles which have a different fitting. You can see the various types of bottles that it will fit on this page: http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.p ... th=194_247

The fourth item down on that page is the D&D threaded converter which adds the nut for connection to refillable bottles and I believe, to  fire extinguishers. Somewhere in the Tutorial forum is an article on using the FE. http://www.ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=266

BigDanne and I purchased this one from Malaysia: http://cgi.ebay.com/CO2-Regulator-Elect ... dZViewItem
Mixed results so far I think. Mine has been trouble free (knock on wood) but I think Dan has had a noisy solenoid.

Cheers,


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