Hello all. I'm a new member to this group. I started CO2 injection in my planted tank but have seem to run into a problem with my Milwaukee CO2 regulator. The CO2 tank is a full 10lb canister. When I hook up the regulator, the left gauge stays at zero and the right gauge working pressure is cranked to 20 kg/cm, and needle valve is at 1 bps. The CO2 regulator is brand new out of the box too so it should be in tip top working order. Why is the tank capacity reading zero? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
CO2 regulator problem
- Thread starter mbraet
- Start date
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Yes the main valve is opened all the way and it is producing bubbles. Everything seems to be working except the right valve registers zero. Maybe I'm just being paranoid but I'm afraid something catastrophic will happen when I'm at work. I have two breeding discus in there with week old fry. It would kill me if something bad were to happen.
mfdrookie516
Aquarium Free - 2+ Years
Did you have the regulator turned on when you hooked it up? It's very possible to blow out the high side gauge if you have the regulator on when you turn on the cylinder.
I have another planted tank in my house with the same set up. I had plugged the regulator into the outlet BEFORE opening the CO2 valve and it is working just fine. It registers 50psi on the left side gauge and 20 kg/cm on the right side with bubbles coming out. I'm not sure why my other regulator is not working like it should. I've tried three different regulators on this tank and all three registers zero on the left side gauge and only one of the three produces bubbles.
mfdrookie516
Aquarium Free - 2+ Years
Yeah, a lot of people don't read the line that says to make sure that your regulator is turned off (not to be confused with the solenoid, which plugs in). It's pretty common to blow out a guage if you have it on when you turn the valve on the cylinder on.
EDIT: Just want to make sure we're on the same page. I'm not talking about the solenoid, which plugs in, I'm talking about the regulator. You need to turn the regulator completely off before turning the valve on the cylinder 'on'. Are you saying that the regulator works fine on another cylinder, but none work correctly on this one? I'm a bit confused by your last post.
EDIT: Just want to make sure we're on the same page. I'm not talking about the solenoid, which plugs in, I'm talking about the regulator. You need to turn the regulator completely off before turning the valve on the cylinder 'on'. Are you saying that the regulator works fine on another cylinder, but none work correctly on this one? I'm a bit confused by your last post.
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aqua_chem
Aquarium Advice Addict
Have the regulator opened when opening the co2 tank usually blows out the working pressure gauge, not the tank pressure gauge. You might call the Milwaukee people and see if you can get a replacement gauge sent to you. They don't cover damaged working pressure gauges, but the should cover the tank pressure one. Is the working pressure working right?
The tank pressure gauge is actually not particularly useful to us until you start to deplete the tank, which should be several months off if the setup is new. It sounds like just a gauge malfunction, so it shouldn't affect the tank.
EDIT: Could the tank be almost empty?
The tank pressure gauge is actually not particularly useful to us until you start to deplete the tank, which should be several months off if the setup is new. It sounds like just a gauge malfunction, so it shouldn't affect the tank.
EDIT: Could the tank be almost empty?
I guess I'm confused about what "turning off the regulator" means. I have the front knob turned all the way counterclockwise so there's no resistence before opening the tank valve otherwise the CO2 comes screeching out. The first diagram on this instruction manual shows a regulator identical to the one I have.
http://www.aquacave.com/Manuals/AquaticLifeCO2Manual.pdf
http://www.aquacave.com/Manuals/AquaticLifeCO2Manual.pdf
Brian_Nano12g
Aquarium Advice Addict
Hi mbraet... I'm new to the world of pressurized co2, but I had a similar situation when I first installed my Aquatek regulator. I would get bubbles but nothing was registering on the gauges. I discovered by just hand tightening my regulator on the tank, I wasn't getting a tight enough seal. Once I re-tightened the regulator with an adjustable wrench, the gauges all registered the psi. My rig is for a paintball, I'm assuming the larger regulators should operate under the same principle. Otherwise, like other have suggested, something might be defective or broken.
