DIY Co2 Help Greatly Needed

[Leader-Of-The-Fish]

Hi. I am starting to become very frustrated as to why my diy co2 setup is not producing co2. I'll tell you exactly what I do, so that you may be able to find my flaw.

1. Get 1 liter gatorade bottle.

2. Fill up 3/4 with lukewarm water.

3. Add 1 cup of sugar.

4. Add 1/2 tsp of baking soda and shake bottle until sugar is mixed.

5. In a different container activate yeast by adding a little lukewarm water and 1/4 tsp of red star active dry yeast.

6. Stir/wait for 10 minutes.

7. Pour active yeast into sugar/water/baking soda mixture.

8. Attach to co2 diy.

After I attach it to the co2 there are no bubbles at all except some on the very bottom. Am I doing anything wrong? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[slyhog22056]

Why are you putting in baking soda??
the formula i use is
4 cup warm water
1/2 tsp yeast
4 cups raw sugar
I mix all of this into a old 5 gallon stainless steel fire extenguisher, cap it off shake for a few minute then let it sit overnight uncapped. Hook up the hoses and flow meter then let it go. This mixture last me about 5 to 6 weeks turning it off when the lights go out on timer.

Here is the one i found on another thread;

use the mixture of 2 cups sugar and 1/2 tsp of yeast. There are other mixtures and they have other affects. More yeast means the mixture will produce a lot of C02 but not last as long, as the yeast eats the sugar and a biproduct is the C02. So with this 1/2 a tsp it produces a constant C02 for a longer period of time, I would say for 3 weeks and the 1 tsp mixture lasts 2 weeks or less. Whatever you choose is fine, but I recommend the 2 cups and 1/2 tsp yeast.

Now take the bottle set the funnel in the top and get ready to pour in some sugar and yeast (you could use a piece of paper for a funnel if you dont have one, but i fortunately found one around the house). Now add the 2 cups of sugar, and the 1/2 tsp of yeast. Then its time to add the water. To get a good start of C02 production we want to use luke warm water, dont use hot water because this will kill the yeast. Fill the bottle with water up to the brim were it starts to curve into the top. Im not sure how to explain this that well, but just leave a 3" gap between the water level and the top.

Now you have the 2 cups of sugar, 1/2 tsp of yeast, and the water in the bottle. Find a cap and shake up the mixture well and then let hook it up to your sealed cap which should be hooked up the tank in your diffusion method that you chose. Dont leave the undrilled cap on the mixture and forget it, you will come back to a huge mess, remember this produces C02 and if its not left a point to exit it will turn into a bomb. Now that its hooked up it should take and hour or two to start producing. It may take a day depending on the temperature of water you used and if the yeast is active. Also remember to shake it up everyfew days to keep the unit producing C02.