Needle Valve - Replacement already?

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tim_s

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Oct 17, 2012
Messages
93
Location
Canada, ON
For the first almost month the needle valve has been pretty consistent but I am finding between the morning and night the needle valve is changing the Co2 flow I.e. it is reducing flow.

I have tried taping it but even with the flex of the tape - a slight adjustment is occurring.

Time already for a needle valve replacement?

I have the needle valve from the red sea co2 pro kit
 
Unfortunately the needlevalve on that kit is somewhat notorious for not being very good. Good needlevalves are not cheap, unfortunately.

Is the tape working out for you?
 
I've been using the Red Sea pro kit continuously since early 2008 and every part is working like new including the needle valve. You should contact Red Sea about it. It's under warrantee and if it's already wonky it has to be a defect. Actually, I did have to change the hoses a couple of weeks ago but 4 1/2 years for hoses is pretty good.
 
I agree - Red Sea is a pretty good company. I think they will work with you on it.
 
Unfortunately the needlevalve on that kit is somewhat notorious for not being very good. Good needlevalves are not cheap, unfortunately.

Is the tape working out for you?

The tape appears to be working - I just need a temp solution.

I actually bought the Red Sea kit based on recommendations from my friends who said they have all switched from the Milwaukee brand. For this exact reason, the fluctuation will be minimal but the situation is not ideal.

I am very happy to invest in a superior needle valve if need be.
 
The needle valve on the Milwaukee isn't great either unfortunately. But we are always looking to balance cost with quality. Both regulator setups are fairly decent and economical.
 
The needle valve on the Milwaukee isn't great either unfortunately. But we are always looking to balance cost with quality. Both regulator setups are fairly decent and economical.

The Rea Sea Regulator is simple and came with a solenoid which was one of the reasons I chose 1 kit over the other.

The Needle Valve showed zero issues until now! I will called Red Sea and see what can be done.

The needle valve reduces in resistance the higher the flow and mine is set pretty high at around 7 - 11 bubbles per second.
 
tim_s said:
The Rea Sea Regulator is simple and came with a solenoid which was one of the reasons I chose 1 kit over the other.

The Needle Valve showed zero issues until now! I will called Red Sea and see what can be done.

The needle valve reduces in resistance the higher the flow and mine is set pretty high at around 7 - 11 bubbles per second.

Please let us know what Red Sea does about it.
 
I prepped the 4 dKH solution for the pH drop tester.

Not too much of a surprised it has shown that it is on the low side - between the overflows / sump / needle valve losing it's position I can see this is going to become more challenging to keep the Co2 high.
 
I wonder if I brought down the working pressure from 15 -> 10 psi if this might assist in resolving the problem.
 
It could help, but you might also start to see that cause fluctuations and problems as the cylinder runs empty. You have to keep the working pressure up a bit to keep it consistent.
 
Not sure it would help but worth a try. Would rather run it higher than lower. It might put some additional force on the valve and keep it from moving.
 
Not sure it would help but worth a try. Would rather run it higher than lower. It might put some additional force on the valve and keep it from moving.

I left it as is - my concern is the solenoid I need to see what operating pressure range would be.

I do have the Red Sea - Regulator / Solenoid / Needle Valve and the recommendation is 1 bar.

The room itself - temperature wise goes through heavy fluctuations I.e. people tend to open the windows etc because the humidity in the room builds up quickly.
 
OK this is getting more interesting.

I use self-laminating strips and sealed the needle valve so I know 100% this is unrelated to the needle valve.

@ Yesturday - Up'd the needle valve to around 10 BPS

@ 9 AM - The bubble counter was doing around 1 BPS, raised it back to 10 BPS

@ 11 AM - The bubble counter was reading around 5 BPS

@ 12 PM - The bubble counter was back to 1 BPS

I shaked all the lines and the bubbles which on it's own increased to around 7 BPS

@ 1 PM - The bubble counter read 1 BPS, I raised the lines as when picking up the needling valves and Co2 tubing - it increased to 5 BPS

@ 2 PM - The bubble counter read 1 BPS, Raised it back up to 7 BPS

Taking dish soap I sponged all the joints and tubing - I could not find a leak

@ 3:30 PM - The bubble counter read 2 BPS, Sponged it with dish soap again to determine if my first check missed a leak. Still found nothing and raised it to around 11 BPS

This is crazy - obviously I am missing something but I cannot tell what it is. I have checked everything several times.


I have a reactor - I could not imaging that the reactor could be creating such a back pressure that would cause all this!
 
What kind of a reactor are you using?

Red Sea Reactor that comes with the Red Sea co2 pro kit.

I just cleaned it just in-case!

Most people with my setup just place the output into the inlet of their return pump but I am running the sponges at the moment.

I might remove the reactor but it appears to do a decent job.
 
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