Ceramic/Glass Diffuser noise

[fort384]

I have been using ceramic/glass diffusers for years to inject CO2 into planted tanks. They always have a tendency to make a little bit of noise, but generally not so much that you notice it unless you are right next to it and listening for it.

I setup a tank recently, and the diffuser is making an awful whistling noise. You can hear it from the other room it is so loud. I have tried adjusting the flow of the CO2 a bit, but can't adjust it too much one way or the other if I want to inject CO2 at the level I want in the tank. Anyone come across this before or have any idea on a fix? It is driving me nuts.

I attached a couple of pictures - 1 is of the diffuser in question, if that matters. The second shows the system. It is an ADA 74-YA Ver2 with an ADA El Valve solenoid. I don't think it has anything to do with the system itself. The noise is eminating from the diffuser itself as far as I can tell. And, I have used the system before with no awful noise.

 

[mfdrookie516]

I wonder if it's too small for your application? It worked well in the 5, but you're injecting more co2 now (since it's over twice the volume of water), right? Just a thought.

 

[fort384]

Hmm, valid point. I do have some larger ones somewhere. I suppose I could swap it out. Too bad though, I really like this tiny do!Aqua 1. Maybe it is time to bite the bullet and build an inline.

Gonna hold out though in case someone has an idea for a simple fix (not that there is much that can be done).

 

[mrbee2828]

Did you ever fix this? I have the same DIY setup I have had since day 1 in the same volume of water and this past month it sounds like I have birds in my office. The chirping sound is driving me nuts.

 

[meegosh]

Don't know how I missed this thread before. I had similar problems with my 30g with my eBay diffuser, once it got dirty it would clog up and make god awful noises. I eventually grew tired of hearing it and went with a powered reactor instead (red sea 500). I could clean it up and get it to make the noise less and less but never completely silent. Within a few days it would be back to screaming.

 

[mrbee2828]

I've tried cleaning it before but it doesn't seem to help. Oh well.

 

[fort384]

I just swapped to a larger one as rookie suggested and that took care of it. I never had an issue with it on my cube gardens, but I was pushing half the volume of co2 through it.

 

[meegosh]

That's interesting. I had a 2" diffuser on a 30g long running ~2bps. That thing screamed like there was no tomorrow. I'm now wondering if it would have been silent with a 3" diffuser. Good to know.