# Two Stage Regulators for Disposable Bottles?



## JAS (4 Feb 2010)

I'm tired of my Dennerle disposable regulator (you have my permission to laugh), both because of the expense of buying Dennerle's refills and because it has a bad habit of wildly fluctuating gas flow. It's definitely not set-and-forget.

I've read about two stage regulators giving a much more precise flow, but I'm not sure where to get those from - especially for a disposable bottle. I was looking at the D-D disposable kits, and the instructions say "two stage regulation". But is that accurate? If it's really a two stage regulator the extra expense of the D-D kit would be worth it.


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## bazz (6 Feb 2010)

hi jas,
aquajardin at gloucester sell a dennerle adaptor for the nano regulator and while its expensive (15 or so quid) it allows you to attach the regulator straight to a fe. i had the same trouble in my nano until i did this (maybe the bigger bottles have a more stable working pressure, especially if a magnetic solenoid is employed) but i have now not touched it for 9 months and the adaptor has more than paid for itself already using this method!
cheers,
bazz!


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## Dolly Sprint 16v (6 Feb 2010)

What you could do is buy a 2kg FE or what ever size your want attached a twin gauge regulator like the attached http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AZOO-CO2-Pressure ... 414c7bb93b add to the reg your existing set up i.e diffuser or what ever you are using and away you go.

Initial out lay may be costly but over a period of time you will save.

Regards
Paul.


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## JAS (7 Feb 2010)

Thanks for the suggestions, Bazz and Paul. 

The Dennerle reg is a Comfort Line for 600g bottles that I've had for years, so there isn't an adaptor like the one for the Nano reg. For a number of reasons I'd really prefer to stick with disposable bottles rather than an FE, but the difficulty is finding good disposable regs to begin with. It's the fluctuating flow I want to avoid, but do I need a better reg for that or just a better needle valve?

I've been looking around, and I think the D-D disposable reg, as well as the D-D and Lunapet refillable regs, are just nickel-plated versions of the OxyTurbo/Sealey Mini and Mignon regs:

http://www.sealey.co.uk/Images/Products/REG-MMGT.jpg
http://www.oxyturbo.it/uk/dettaglio.php3?id=125
http://www.sealey.co.uk/Images/Products/REG-MT.jpg
http://www.oxyturbo.it/uk/dettaglio.php3?id=123

http://www.theaquariumsolution.com/file ... ator-2.jpg
http://www.theaquariumsolution.com/file ... ator_0.jpg
http://www.lunapet.net/bilder/co2_druck ... en_230.jpg

The Sealey/Oxyturbo plain brass version is cheaper, and I could splurge on a really good needle valve instead. But then I have to find a really good needle valve... and that doesn't seem to be very easy, either.


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## Dolly Sprint 16v (7 Feb 2010)

JAS said:
			
		

> Thanks for the suggestions, Bazz and Paul.
> 
> The Dennerle reg is a Comfort Line for 600g bottles that I've had for years, so there isn't an adaptor like the one for the Nano reg. For a number of reasons I'd really prefer to stick with disposable bottles rather than an FE, but the difficulty is finding good disposable regs to begin with. It's the fluctuating flow I want to avoid, but do I need a better reg for that or just a better needle valve?
> 
> ...


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## JAS (7 Feb 2010)

If I'm not misunderstanding what you mean, I do only want one regulator. When I said "disposable reg" I just meant a regulator for standard disposable bottles. 

It's annoying that adaptors are available to make regs for disposable bottles fit a refillable bottle, but not the other way around. Otherwise you could go for any regulator you want and adapt it to fit any kind of bottle you want.


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## Dolly Sprint 16v (7 Feb 2010)

Jaz

I am right in thinking that your bottles have an internal thread or external thread on top of the bottle. I assume that it has an external thread on the top of the bottle say 1/8" BSP (British Standard Pipe Thread).
like this:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/D-D-REPLACEMENT-C ... 2c51d5e443

Regards
Paul


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## JAS (8 Feb 2010)

At a glance Dennerle's bottles look just like any other disposable bottle with an external thread, but they have a non-standard thread size so only Dennerle's own bottles will fit on their regulators. It's a way to lock you into buying their products, which I don't want to do anymore - the bottles, like D-D's bottles, aren't cheap at about Â£20 each.

I think I'll just go for a standard disposable welding reg with a really good needle valve. I want to be able to use standard welding bottles that can be bought for a little over Â£10; and to have a flow rate that won't change every time I blink.

Thanks again for your help.


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## Steve Smith (8 Feb 2010)

It's something I'm considering myself at the moment.  I want a small bottle (500/600g) with either a disposable setup or refilable.  I'm not sure which route is cheapest for me, though I'm thinking the refilable might be, as I have a few standard regulators already, and wouldn't have to buy a disposable reg on top of gas.

Have you read this thread?

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=7696


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## AdAndrews (8 Feb 2010)

I run the machine mart 600g disposables, i brought a gauge-less reg from ebay, i will try and find some links..


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## AdAndrews (8 Feb 2010)

heres the one i have: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Draper-Regulator- ... 20af5e0884

just need to take the little connection out of the side, and either get a connection that works for co2 tubing, or stick a needle valve in there(which i did, with the one off my lunapet reg)

this is an alternative:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165727

at Â£5 cheaper, i'd go with it...


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## JAS (10 Feb 2010)

Thanks for the links and suggestions, everyone.

I'm not massively concerned about the cost of the reg, really; I just didn't want to spend Â£120 on the D-D kit when it comes with a lot of extras I don't need, and I can buy the same regulator from the OEM for a lot less. The running costs are the bigger problem, and any standard reg would solve that.

I'd prefer to have two pressure gauges, so the Sealey/Oxyturbo I linked to earlier - which is identical to the D-D/Lunapet except for the chrome plating - seems the way to go. I think I can get it for about Â£35.


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