Poorman's Pressurized CO2 System (Bandwidth warning)

[PsiPro]

What is required along with the prices i got them for:
--Paintball CO2 tank (or any tank really) (Free, brothers old paintball tak, new $9 at walmat for the 9oz, or $30 for the 20oz. I am using a 20oz)
---Regulator to fit the tank you picked. ($10 or so, I didn't get this either but I was told it was less then $15)
EDIT: Please note this is not a regulator for playing paintball, those run around $35, and I dont know if they work. This is just an On/Off switch i'm using as a regulator. When I get home I will see if i can get a more fine tuned regulator to enable a constant flow of CO2
---Some plastic object to hold the CO2 in the tank.
EDIT: I'm including this as $0 becasue you can proably find somthing in your house. Tube of raquetballs at wal-mart is cheap.
---Enough airline tubing to span the height of your tank x4 + 10 feet or so. You can get 25ft at wal-mart for less then $10.

Total price: $34-54

Ok so I started by just wanting to make a normal pressurized CO2 system with a paintball tank, I obtained the tubing, a fine airstone, and a regulator for the tank. And I got this...



The red thing is a one way valve to protect the tank.

I soon relized that i could adjust the tank to release the exact ammount of CO2 i needed, but I could not get it to stay there, the regulator was ment for the on/off position.

So I moved on and I decided on, then I need to just hold the CO2 under water until it disolved, so next I decided to make a reactor, but relized I couldn't hold in suspended in the water collum with what I have in my dorm room.

So next I built this...


The tube on top is comming from the CO2 tank. The tube on the bottom I will get to in a minute. My "plastic object" is an old raquet ball tube, I poked alot of holes in the end of it with a scredriver and I worked hard to get all the glue off of it. The holes are to increase circulation.

The rocks in the bottom of tube are to hold it down, and the white stuff on the sides is filter floss to allow circulation but lock alot of the CO2.

After a day with that in my tank I decided that it did not have the ammount of water flow I needed. So I upgraded again. I added the second tube you see above, on the bottom. I took the other end of it, created a siphon and attached it....



Right there. That creates a small siphon which increases the flow through my reactor.

I have no idea how effective it will be, but I'm proud of it none the less.

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[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Regulators for paintball markers are between 50 and 100$. Gas through grips are 10$.. (yes there is a difference)

[PsiPro]

Originally Posted by Wizzard~Of~Ozz

Regulators for paintball markers are between 50 and 100$. Gas through grips are 10$.. (yes there is a difference)

Your right, there are $35 regulators on ebay, but I guess i used the other thing.

[czcz]

At what rate is gas outputing from the CO2 cylinder? Or do you just open the valve to fill up the reactor when it runs low? Apologies for my confusion.

[PsiPro]

I just open it, the valve i have on it wont stay in one position exept on and off.

The buble of CO2 i try to create is mabey.... 6cm accross and 0.5 cm deep. so its 14ml give or take. That dissolves to the size of a pennie in 5 or 6 hrs. So I dont konw how fast its going, i need to start taking readings.

Where is the calculator for that?

[czcz]

Here you go:
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_aquacalc.htm

Good to test KH and pH of tap water thats been sitting for 24 hours to get a baseline CO2 reading. If you get ~3ppm CO2, the CO2 chart and calc above should be very useful. If not, you can infer CO2 levels from pH drop and algae/plant health. Interested in your results.

So CO2 is dissolving faster than the cylinder is outputting over an extended period, or is that after 5-6 hours with the valve off? Do you think it will eventually be possible to balance the output and diffusion rates so you won't have to touch the cylinder until its time to refill, without need for a regulator? Very appealing project

[PsiPro]

After observing the results overnght, the buble of CO2 did not completly disperse. I will assumethat is because as it get smaller 1) the surface area goes down and 2) it gets farther from the artifical waterflow.

Mabey twice a day I tap the regulator to reful the CO2 tank, in my tank. Then I check back every now and they to add more if neede .

Do you think it will eventually be possible to balance the output and diffusion rates so you won't have to touch the cylinder until its time to refill, without need for a regulator?

Proably not with this cheap regulator. The pressure from the nozzel is high enough to force the pin back out and therefor close the regulaotr again, this is not a true regulator as was pointed out by Wizzard~of~Oz. I can ask exactly what it was.

I will try to get some results up here ASAP, but today will be a very busy day for me.

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Psi, if it screws onto the bottle then chances are it's a On/Off (asa).. for one that turns on and off you are still looking at 25-30$, if it is not an on/off then it would be a standard asa (typically duckbill design) and require you to tighen it onto the bottle.

[PsiPro]

I took a reading from the tank today, KH of 6 pHoof 7.6 wich gives only 5 ppm CO2

I am however going to keep testing and makeing sure the bottle is filled with CO2 all the time.

Dont I have to compare this to my tap water? if so how do i do that?

[czcz]

Just leave out a glass of water for a day before testing.