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Aren't needle valves supposed to close fully?

Tom

Member
Joined
8 Sep 2007
Messages
2,631
Location
Kawanabe, Kagoshima, Japan 鹿児島県南九州市川辺町
I bought a needle valve from a company on eBay, along with a y splitter. It looks like pretty decent equipment, but I can't get the valve to shut off. I split the line from the FE I use for the Mini M, and set the valve up on my Do!aqua with a glass/ceramic diffuser.

I completely shut the valve off as far as it would screw in, and opened up the regulator. I had 2bps originally through the Mini M, but when I split it I had nothing going through that, and a solid stream of gas into the Do!aqua. That's despite the new needle valve on the Do!aqua being closed.

It says it handles max 10 bar, but my reg doesn't show bar. It's saying 900psi in the bottle and 30psi on the other dial. Is that just too much for it or is it a crap valve?
 
I found those black ones were no good Tom. The metal ones from AE are alot better, but still dont offer a great deal of fine control. I've looked into 'proper' needle valves for hydraulic purposes from companies like Camozzi but havent found one suitable yet. I'd like to have an accurate low pressure gauge on the CO2 supply too, fitted after the needle valve so once you find the pressure that works for your tank you could always check the gauge to see that its OK.

Tony
 
I shut the valve off completely yesterday while it was still running at the normal rate, but this morning it didn't start up again. I opened up the valve and it started up again, although it's going slower than yesterday! So something in the valve is able to block the CO2 - just not control it.
 
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