DIY CO2 help!

[bry1105]

My diy co2 setup only produces co2 into my diffuser when I shake the bottle. then is see bubbles like crazy which lasts about 15 mins. but if i don't shake the bottle, no more bubbles. In a 1 liter bottle im using 1 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp yeast and 3 cups water. How can I get steady/constant bubles?

Ive also heard 2 things: Either one of them true?
1 - Hot water kills yeast. Therefore cool the sugar water mix before adding yeast.
2 - Boil the sugar water to break down the sugar into a form usable for the yeast.

[Bige]

You can't. You should use warm water to activate the yeast. This fresh mix is evenly distrubuted through out . As time passes and things settle this indicates mixes life is coming to an end. You can add a little sugar and yeast will go a little longer. You can shake the bottle for another two days before you need to make a new one. Mine use to last a week or so.

[Blueiz]

I use very warm water, comfortable to the touch just below the "ouch" to the touch temperature to activate my yeast.

To start with, I fill my bottle up to about an inch below the neck with hot water and then add my sugar and shake it to get the sugar to dissolve. I let the bottle sit until it cools down, around lukewarm. I then mix my yeast in a seperate container, stirring it quickly, then I add it to the bottle of sugar water.

Try this and see if it works. Also, on a side note, I only use 1/4 teaspoon of yeast, while it produces less co2 from the start, it lasts longer IME, with little difference in amount of output throughout.

[Bige]

you should leave more room at top for 02. Helped mine last longer. I did everything you did just left top half of bottle empty. The yeast dont need that much water. they live on 02 and sugar.

[Blueiz]

Even if you leave the bottle half empty, when the co2 produces, its going to push the o2 out of the bottle. Filling the bottle up 3/4 of the way allows the co2 to pressurize the bottle faster and takes away the dead space the co2 has to push through to make it from the bottle to the tank.

[Sicklid]

+1 on the LESS IS MORE yeast ratio of Bluiz. If you search under my threads, I always am a proponent of sterilization of ALL your equipment with boiling water... I pour it on my sugar- BAM! Instantly sterile sugar... I pour a little into a separate cup with a bit of sugar in there first, let that cool to the touch and BAM! Instant sterile spot to start the yeast foaming! I pour it through my funnel, I dip my stir-stick (toothpick) in it, basically everything that touches the mix gets sterilized every time I run a batch. Just remember to let it cool before adding the yeast or you kill the yeast along with the bacteria you are trying to keep out of the mixture..

Prioir to all of this, I use rubbing alcohol to sterilize the bottles, since the boiling water would just destroy the plastic...

I have never had a mix run less than three weeks, no shaking neccessary, nothing but sugar and cheap yeast in the mix!

[fort384]

+1 for filling the bottle up near the top (leaving some room for expansion and floccuated yeast). The process taking place inside the bottle is anaerobic, that is, without oxygen. A by product of the reaction is acid, so the less water, the more the pH is going to drop over the same amount of time. This eventually is what kills the yeast (not the lack of oxygen).

A couple of things that worked well when I was using a DIY system:

1. Add an 1/8 of a tsp of baking soda. This neutralizes some of the acid as it is formed, allowing the mix to last longer. I tracked all my mixes on a spreadsheet (I am a nerd) with different recipes and found the baking soda mixes lasted a few days longer than the non-soda mixes.

2. Get a bigger bottle. The bigger the bottle, the more solution, the less acid, the longer it will last.

3. Consider ordering some champagne yeast over the internet. It is only slightly more expensive than buying bakers yeast in the grocery store, and it lasts longer. The strain of yeast is produced to be resistant to acid, since sitting up in a wine bottle is pretty similar to our DIY reactors.

4. I think the biggest success in DIY CO2 generation comes from "activating" the yeast before you seal it in the bottle. My best/strongest/longest lasting mixes came when I put the yeast in a lukewarm cup of sugar water (85-105dF) and let it be for 10-20 minutes. Then I dumped it in with the rest of the sugar, water, and baking soda and sealed it up.

I have hard of the sterilization thing, but I never did it, and my reactors ran fine.