Milwaukee All In One Regulator Question

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LindaC

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Jan 18, 2006
Messages
355
Location
Massachusetts
Does anyone have the instructions on how to hook up the regulator to the CO2 tank? My husband initially set this up for me when I first purchased it, but I had to dismantle the system to bring the tank in for refilling and when he went to set it back up, I think he may have messed it up completely and blown out the psi reader.

I want to do it myself because if I remember correctly, the directions were very user friendly and I was very sure I could set it up myself with no problems. He was adamant about setting it up for me, so I let him and now I'm regretting it big time. I cannot seem to find the directions anywhere. It's looking like I may have to purchase another one and believe me, if I do, I won't let him anywhere near it.

If anyone does have the directions and can email them to me, I would really appreciate it.


Thank you!
Linda
 
I might have it at home, and I could scan it in for you.

But the IMPORTANT thing is this - make sure the main adjustment knob on the regulator is screwed all the way out, counter-clockwise...it should spin freely and almost come completely off.

taht ensures the valve is closed inside. it MUST be closed when you open the valve on the CO2 cylinder first.

if it were open, the valve would flap violently at the sudden pressure, and it will damage the regulator.

Otherwise, you should replace the plastic washer each time, and teflon tape on the threads is un-necessary as well.
 
Yes, the plastic washers are stretched and I do need to replace them. Can I pick some of these up at Home Depot, would you know? I'm usually so prepared and well organized, I could have purchased some before I had it re-filled.

Okay, so the main adjustment knob that you are referring to, is that the black knob that's on the regulator, must be, there's only one if I'm remembering correctly, and that knob should be all the way open - I turn couter-clock-wise until it spins freely. The other knob is on the CO2 cyclinder.

I'm not sure what my husband did when he tried to turn it on but all I could here was a loud hissing sound, I'm hoping this was because of the washer being too loose but I have a funny feeling that he damaged my regulator.

If I can pick up washers at Home Depot, I will stop on the way home and pick some up, if not, do you have any suggestions on where I might be able to find them? I am leaving for a week's vacation on Saturday and I'd like to get the CO2 up and running before I leave, providing that I still have a functioning system.

Thank you!
Linda
 
You can usually get additional washers from your gas supplier.

I blew out my low range PSI guage the first time i hooked it up. The monkey wrench got out of control and hit the tank valve. Oh-well.. i called milwaukee and their response was "we have been trying to eliminate that component for some time, but we feel it would make our product less marketable. Most people just adjust the rate via the bubble counter"...

mine reads about 120 psi rightnow, which is obviously not right and i dont' use the thing.

If its blown, i know it hurts, but you can still use it just fine
 
I'm hoping that it will be useable, I don't read either one, the psi is usually always at one spot anyway, until it's empty. I'll know when I get home tonight, I'm going to try setting it up myself.
 
well its good to know its likely to only damage the low pressure gauge, although I know there is a way for it to blow the main valve and really damage it in an unusable way.

for the washers, yeah I get those at the welding shop where I get tank fills.

and take this with a grain of salt, but in over 2 years, and about 4-5 fills, I've never changed the washer on my downstairs setup, and never had a leak/prematurely run out.

Upstairs, the first tiem I ever set it up, I ran outta 10lbs of CO2 in 45 days. There was a leak. changed washers, no problems since.
 
Well there is a major problem, the pressure gauge is gone, so I cannot regulate that and what concerns me is stablizing it. It was running last night but the problem is when it goes on and off with the lights and there not being enough pressure to push it up to get it going in the mornng when the lights go on. I tried it this morning and I had to play with it to get it going, by turning up the bubble counter but I have my doubts on the pressure pushing it up on it's own.

When I get back from vacation, I'm seriously thinking of purchasing "The Best" regulator from Aquariumplants.com. Looks great, on sale for $119 and a 3 year warranty. I wasn't happy with the Milwaukee anyway, although it was working pretty good before I had to change tanks.
 
$119 is a lot for a regulator, and I like aquariumplants.com too.

I've had two milwaukee's, for over 2 years, and zero issues. The only 'quirk' about them is the main knob spring seems to relax a lot, so after swapping cylinders, you'll find that you turn the knob to say, 25psi, and the system runs fine. However the next day (or even just 4 hours later) the psi is down to zero and there's no Co2 flowing into the tank.

So the real 'trick' is to get to 25psi on a new cylinder, then give the knob another full twist or two. the needle valve can handle it.

(of course in your situation, no low pressure gauge to see your psi, so you just have to guess and crank the knob another full turn)

Your regulator is probably still functional, you just can't see the low gauge flow. its possible you could even replace that gauge fairly cheaply if you wanted to.

Heck I know Milwaukee has helped someone replace the main valve once too.
 
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