Regulator/solenoid reliability?

[Wekaeqr]

Hi all,


First post here. Have a low tech tank for a couple of years and recently decided to add co2 and more plants. A dual stage regulator kit is on its way. Never used co2 before, hopefully everything will go smoothly.
Now my question is how long do the regulators and solenoids last? Is it years? I suppose the solenoid would go first as its electrical and if one of them were to fail, how do you tell?
Thanks.

 

[xim]

This is what manufacturers say about how long they last:
http://www.scottecatalog.com/dsguid...dab60763c15a8267852568f2005ca6a0?OpenDocument

IME, my cheap Azoo regulator last 7 years before having to replace the seal-seat. I might have just replaced it with a new one but the shipping is too long. So I tried fixing it myself. It is still working now.
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/repairing-azoo-regulator.39549/

The stock solenoid (Jin Ben Sun) still works, it is about 8-year old now. I have read some failures about this solenoid but I kind of like it since it's very low wattage, no heat and hasn't failed on me yet. I'm aware it's just a matter of when, though. I set the timer for it to close 1 minute every hour of working. Don't know if that helps prolong its lifespan.

How to tell? It's simple. It's not working as it should.

 

[Something Fishy]

My cheap Asian one I wouldn't buy again tbh as it seems to lock sometimes for no apparent reason and has caused tubing to explode a few times now and I'm using the touch blue poly co2 tube and not the softer one. Lifetime I assume will be less on this one. Cheers!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[zozo]

Whit hobby grade regulators it's always hard to say.. Most are not even brands, but trade marks.. E.g JBL, Dennerle, Sera, Dupla etc. make deals with other manufacturers, buy a batch and put on their name tag. Some trade marks have a long history and a name to defend, these are usualy relatively good and consistant quality, but not always. Most are a one way ticket to the blues and if they fail ready for the trashbin.. If you want a regulator for a life time, you need to spend some cash and buy a professional one.. These are also always refurbishable.. So in many casses buying a used professional one is a better deal than buying new hobby grade equipment..

Solenoids are not so excitingly difficult constructed, there isn't much that can fail. In our case they work in relatively low pressure. I got a € 8,- pnuematic solenoid from Aliexpress still working after 2 years.. For that money you can easily buy 4 and always have a spare one at hand and the comming years provided.

 

[xim]

But after taking apart my regulator which is diaphragm based design (have no idea about other designs). I saw it's a very simple equipment. I had been wanting to have a professional two stages regulator such as Victor, Linde, etc. Now, after having added an air regulator to act as the second stage, the CO2 delivery is very consistent that the reason if I was to buy one of them is just spare parts are more available.