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Co2 usage

john arnold

Member
Joined
28 Jun 2018
Messages
363
Location
Somerset
Hi

I used up 2L of co2 on 270 L tank In18 days and indicator only went diff shade of blue, 3-4 bubbles a second using a reactor and so see no bubbles In tank could this mean the co2 art regulator maybe leaking, has anyone had this happen
 
Hello,
by 2L do you mean an entire 2kg pressurized CO2 tank ? If yes, CO2 is likely going somewhere else. How is the degassing on the tank... heavy airstones can 'remove' a lot of CO2.

You can check for leaks using a concentrated soap solution or gas-leak checker spray (from the auto dept. for example). Leaks are possible form all the parts of the CO2 injection system so better to check all the connections from CO2 tank-regulator to hose-reactor.
 
Hello,
by 2L do you mean an entire 2kg pressurized CO2 tank ? If yes, CO2 is likely going somewhere else. How is the degassing on the tank... heavy airstones can 'remove' a lot of CO2.

You can check for leaks using a concentrated soap solution or gas-leak checker spray (from the auto dept. for example). Leaks are possible form all the parts of the CO2 injection system so better to check all the connections from CO2 tank-regulator to hose-reactor.
Oops sorry 1L (.85kg) no air stones just straight into reactor, I see bubbles going onto the reactor, iveswitched to diff regulator and trying in tank twinstar diffuser now
 
It seems a bit fast, have you tightened the regulator well enough so no co2 is leaking there?
 
Oops sorry 1L (.85kg) no air stones just straight into reactor, I see bubbles going onto the reactor, iveswitched to diff regulator and trying in tank twinstar diffuser now
If I understood you correctly, you have used 0.85 Kg out of the 2 Kg in 18 days with an injection 3-4 bubbles per second. The size of the bubbles is quite variable and is not a good indicator, but is virtually impossible to inject 0.85 Kg of CO2 at that rate in such an amount of time. You will likely have a leak. Put soapy water in all CO2 pipe fittings as well as in the reactor (can be cracked). You can also close the needle valve and raise the working pressure and then check for leaks in the regulator.
 
Last edited:
If I understood you correctly, you have used 0.85 Kg out of the 2 Kg in 18 days with an injection 3-4 bubbles per second. The size of the bubbles is quite variable and is not a good indicator, but is virtually impossible to inject 0.85 Kg of CO2 at that rate in such an amount of time. You will likely have a leak. Put soapy water in all CO2 pipe fittings as well as in the reactor (can be cracked). You can also close the needle valve and raise the working pressure and then check for leaks in the regulator.
No it was just a1L bottle but yeah, if reactor was cracked then water would come out but yeah it might just be the regulator, I’ll check it when i next change bottles, cheers
 
No it was just a1L bottle but yeah, if reactor was cracked then water would come out but yeah it might just be the regulator,
My bad... I actually wanted to say to check for cracks on the bubble counter, but wrote reactor instead - but the issue is likely one of the CO2 pipe fitting/connection or the regulator (also check the O-ring between the cylinder valve and regulator).

Still confused about the units you are using :) The amount of CO2 in a cylinder is usually measured in weight (Kg) and not in volume (Litres). If you want to estimate CO2 usage then you weigh the cylinder. The volume of the gas depends on several variables, such as pressure and temperature (e.g. 1 Litre of CO2 in gaseous form at 20C and sea level pressure weighs ~1.96 gr).
 
My bad... I actually wanted to say to check for cracks on the bubble counter, but wrote reactor instead - but the issue is likely one of the CO2 pipe fitting/connection or the regulator (also check the O-ring between the cylinder valve and regulator).

Still confused about the units you are using :) The amount of CO2 in a cylinder is usually measured in weight (Kg) and not in volume (Litres). If you want to estimate CO2 usage then you weigh the cylinder. The volume of the gas depends on several variables, such as pressure and temperature (e.g. 1 Litre of CO2 in gaseous form at 20C and sea level pressure weighs ~1.96 gr).
Yeah I know it says both on bottle 1L, 0.85kg
 
Yeah I know it says both on bottle 1L, 0.85kg
The bottle can have a volume of 1 Litre but that does not mean you will have a volume of 1 Litre of CO2 in the bottle. What you are interested in measuring is the weight of CO2 in the bottle (the 0.85 Kg). The volume of the gas depends on its pressure and temperature and should not be used when discussing CO2 usage to avoid unnecessary confusion.
 
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