I don't understand why my bubble rate is changing

[tomh]

I have to admit that I have lost a lot of diffusion from it before and running a hose cleaner / pipe cleaner through it did resolve that. They go gunk up in the same way as the hoses do, so you may be correct

 

[Aqua Hero]

I have to admit that I have lost a lot of diffusion from it before and running a hose cleaner / pipe cleaner through it did resolve that. They go gunk up in the same way as the hoses do, so you may be correct

Yeah I need to clean the hoses again.

Though wouldn't using a hose cleaner in a diffuser damage the ceramic?

In fact how do clean these inlines where you can't remove the disk

 

[G H Nelson]

Indeed.....obviously the regulat

ive got the same inline diffuser and top quality co2 art regs, 2 things with mine:

- it fills with water when the co2 is off, then pushes the water out as soon as the co2 comes on, not a problem
- if i put a 2kg fire extinguisher on it i get a poor bubble count, but if i put a 3kg proper cylinder on it i get a good bubble count...

Insert a check valve just before the diffuser this will stop most of the water returning into the chamber!
Cheers hoggie

 

[stu_]

http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/how-to-clean-a-closed-inline-co2-atomizer.38456/

For starters

 

[Ludford]

I'm having a similar issue with my new FE setup. I can't seem to set the bubble rate to 1b/s.

It can hold 2b/s fine, but when I reduce to 1b/s after a few seconds the bubble rate gets slower and slower till it stops all together.

I'm using an in tank diffuser and I never had this issue with my DIY citric acid and baking soda setup.

 

[EdwinK]

Hard to say what is the reason of this but I would blame the needle valve first for not being accurate enough.

 

[ian_m]

How long are you interconnecting CO2 lines ?

When I first set my CO2 system up I connected FE/regulator to bubble counter with "correct length" of CO2 tube, then output of bubble counter to one way valve with a short length and one way valve to inline diffuser with all the left over of 3m of CO2 tube.

I was unable to set a reliable CO2 bubble rate. Either too fast or just stopped or was completely variable over time period of a couple of minutes.

The cause is the super long length of CO2 tube. It pressurises slowly, limited via needle valve, then diffuser seems to suddenly let it depressurise in a burst of CO2 mist, followed by pressurisation cycle again.

Cutting the CO2 line to "correct lengths" ie no too much access and suddenly bubble count is now 100% controllable from 0.1bps to well far to fast to count and completely repeatable when CO2 come on every day.