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Ebay Regulators

Egmel

Egmel

Member
Joined
28 Mar 2008
Messages
728
Location
Guildford, Surrey, UK
Ok, from what I can see there are 3 cheapish options.

Option 1
50a1_1.JPG
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Release-D...39:1|66:2|65:15|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
aquahk8 £52.99

Option 2
b3_1.JPG
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CO2-Regulator...photoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1713.m153.l1262
aquaticmagic £63.94

Option 3
8fed_1.JPG
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=130182583787
onlineshopstm £45.99
or
co2_druckminderer_230.jpg

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CO2-Doppelman...hZ004QQcategoryZ33077QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem
aquarianerversand (Lunapet) ~£45 (it's in Euros and there's no postage noted)
+
co2_nachtabschaltung2_230.jpg

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=140268683476
aquarianerversand (Lunapet) £21.32
Total £67.31

So has anyone tried option 1?

Is the solenoid in option 2 as bad as people say it is?

Is the solenoid in option 3 as good as the blurb?

Any views or opinions welcome.
 
Hi Egmel,

I have option 2 and I have no problems with the solenoid (knocks on head). You'll have to buy an electrical adapter though because it comes as a US plug only. All of these regulators will have more or less similar performance. The gauges won't be super accurate and often suffer hysteresis. As the cylinder empties you have to fiddle with the needle valve to maintain original bubble rates. These are just minor annoyances if you don't want to pay 2X or 3X for higher quality regulators.

Cheers,
 
I have option 3 and so far all is working fine, been running for about 5 months without any problems. First on the bottle I purchased with the kit and now on an FE.
 
Seems it might be pot luck with the solenoid in option 2. Means I'm tempted by option 3 if only because I have some come back if it's noisy or runs too hot.

LD - that's cool to hear, I forgot to ask if anyone knew if it was suitable to use with an FE so I'm glad you've done the trial run for me! How noisy is the solenoid (it's going in my bedroom and as a student this also doubles up as my living/study quarters!).

Ceg - not concerned about changing a plug... might as well use my Elec Eng degree for something now and then 😉 Thanks for the heads up about fine tuning as the cylinder empties, now when it happens I wont wonder if I've broken the whole thing!
 
I have 2 of the last regulator you have pictured, I probably have both of them running for about 2 years or longer, no problems to report.

If you have a ready source of CO2 you can easily do without a solenoid IMHO.
 
Another one for option 2 ere'. It's Been running without problems since I bought it, the only noise I hear from the solenoid is when it switches on and off. It was 20 quid cheaper when I bought it as well.
 
Egmel said:
LD - that's cool to hear, I forgot to ask if anyone knew if it was suitable to use with an FE so I'm glad you've done the trial run for me! How noisy is the solenoid (it's going in my bedroom and as a student this also doubles up as my living/study quarters!).
Click to expand...
I have never noticed the selonoid on, and I sit no far away from the tank when I am in the living room, I can do a test if you like by turnning everything off and leaving just the selonoid on, but I would say very quiet since I have never noticed it running.
 
i've just got the lunapet kit, with bottle... p&p was £15.00. it might be less without the bottle. Haven't noticed an increase in noise from the solenoid, i do hear it come on but thats mostly the mechanical timer plug 'clunk'.

did have an issue with working pressure dropping but I seemed to have fixed that by redoing all the connections.

C
 
I've got the AquaticMagic reg with a splitter and two of the integral bubble counters and I love it! No problems with the reg and it runs two tanks brilliantly!
 
I have regulators by JBl (needle valve adjustment is too coarse for my liking), Aquaticmagic (the solenoid buzzes like a 132KV transformer) and Aquamas.

The Aquamas performs perfectly, but they have closed down their eBay shop, unfortunately.

dave.
 
aaronnorth said:
you will lose warranty if you cut the plug off, just buy a shaver adapter
Click to expand...
Good point!
Dave Spencer said:
Aquaticmagic (the solenoid buzzes like a 132KV transformer)
Click to expand...
Ouch. That's Loud!
Dave Spencer said:
The Aquamas performs perfectly, but they have closed down their eBay shop, unfortunately.
Click to expand...
I take it they aren't just operating under a different name now *looks hopeful*.
 
I have option 2. Touch wood no problems with solenoid yet. Only gripe is the lack of sensitivity on the regulator. It goes from 1 bubble every 3 seconds to two bubbles a second in about 1mm of turn. I end up tapping the adjuster to try to move a tiny amount.
Do any of these options have finer adjustment sensitivity?

Also note that the orientation of the cylinder connection is different from pictured on e-bay. At least on mine anyway but it isn't an issue.

p6200008cu2.jpg


B4M
 
I have No2 & No3.

No2 as said above is very sensitive when trying to do fine adjustments. As for the solenoid I have had no problems. The only problem I had was a bit of evaporation from the bubble counter (being mounted on the solenoid, it gets a bit of warmth).

No3 had a leak from the solenoid caused by bad design where a lock nut was too wide and stopped a seal mating correctly, I removed the lock nut and replaced it with one of my own and everything has been fine since then. The contraols on the regulator and excellent for making fine adjustments.

But that said I am happy with both. On another pointm they both came with foreign plugs and I do have a single adaptor. Once I determined that they worked OK, I snipped the plugged off and rewired it using a normal UK 3 pin plug.

Al T
 
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