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Changing To Pressurized CO2, Advice/Help Needed, Budget £150

Glad to hear you fixed your problem, and thanks for explaining about the tank pressure.

I hope my setup goes smoothly, and just to clarify will the FE I linked work, so pretty much any UK CO2 FE works? or are there ones to be avoided.
 
Yes the FE will work fine, though having the kitemark means nothing as far as you are concerned. Contact local FE supplier, get phone number off an FE at work, library, B&Q etc they might be cheaper than eBay. Also local FE place might sell you 2nd hand or containing less than 2kg (leaked or partial let off) or even with only year or two left before expiry date for much less. Not suitable to be used in as an replacement FE in a building, but fine for you usage. Someone here got couple of old FE for £15 once.

My FEs have been new, test date Jan 2013, old, test date Dec 2003, slightly below 2kg (someone maybe set it off) and all are within test, 10 years, so perfectly safe and legal, but only £10 a go. In fact not illegal after 10years, just illegal to refill (without retest) after expiry date.

If you do get older ones, ie from say company replacement after 5 years that are perfectly ok but you will have to dispose, check your local council tip as not all will take old FEs. My local tip does, I checked, as I was going down the eBay route before finding my local supplier.
 
Cheers Ian for explaining all that, I will order that one from ebay just to get me started, then I will defiantly take a look for a local supplier, but hopefully I get a decent amount of months from my first FE, 3-4 at least.

Thanks again for helping.
 
Just a quick update I purchased the CO2 Regulator and the CO2 FE.

I also want to say I phoned a local FE supplier, and when I said do you sell CO2 FE to the public he kind of laughed and said yes we do, then I said how much is the price for one, he said £54 and that's refurbished with new hose etc, I said what that's a 2KG Fire extinguisher he said yes it is, I said do you not have nothing cheaper for me like any thing about to expire etc, he goes what building is this for, I said my house he goes ohhh right, and can I ask what you need it for, I said CO2 for my aquarium, he goes ohhhh your thinking about this all wrong, you don't want a CO2 extinguisher the pressure is colossal, you need to contact a aquarium specialist shop right away as I know what it is you want to do, but this is not the way at all, so I just said oh right ok I understand, bye.

So after the phone call I just went ahead and made a purchase from ebay and that experience kind of put me of ringing other places now.

My gf is also worried about me doing all this, so best if I don't tell her about that call, he sounded like I was about to be put in hospital lol.
 
Jafooli said:
I also want to say I phoned a local FE supplier, and when I said do you sell CO2 FE to the public he kind of laughed and said yes we do, then I said how much is the price for one, he said £54 and that's refurbished with new hose etc, I said what that's a 2KG Fire extinguisher he said yes it is, I said do you not have nothing cheaper for me like any thing about to expire etc, he goes what building is this for, I said my house he goes ohhh right, and can I ask what you need it for, I said CO2 for my aquarium, he goes ohhhh your thinking about this all wrong, you don't want a CO2 extinguisher the pressure is colossal, you need to contact a aquarium specialist shop right away as I know what it is you want to do, but this is not the way at all, so I just said oh right ok I understand, bye.
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That is a shame. Try someone else, took a couple of calls before I hit £10 a go gold!!!

The tanks for aquarium use are just the same (ok stop cock valve), same pressure, 55bar, built and certified to same British Standard, same 10year test life, same ability to cause serious damage if abused, even probably filled at same CO2 filling stations as fire extinguishers, except they cost many many times more. My local fish shop wanted £100 odd for 2Kg cylinder and £20 a go to refill.
 
Cheers Ian I might do some more calls, but just worried encase more people advise against it lol, I am already worried enough about connecting it all up, I just told my gf its safe to keep her happy, but my face will probably say it all lol.

I'm just shocked at the cost people sell some things, I found DIY yeast so easy and once I realized it was to hard to keep the bps consistent, and changing the yeast all the time got a bit of a hassle, I wanted to go pressurized and all the kits out there, fluval in particular was selling 88g canisters at £10 and people on youtube, forums, were saying they was lucky get 2 weeks at 1bps, so I just hope I've chose the correct way, and everyone here seems very helpful so I feel confident I have made the right choice.

I will give an update once I get it all up and running as-well. :D
 
Other CO2 routes are:

Beer/pub gas. Easily available but start at 6.3Kg size. Some people have bought these cylinders for say £50 and cost £15 to fill. Will take a "standard" aquarium regulator. May even deliver & collect from your door.

There's always the Sodastream bottle CO2 route. About £10 for 420gr, but available from Argos, John Lewis etc. People sell adapters so you can refill them yourself from say 5Kg pub CO2 cylinders Refill Your CO2-tank | Refill DIY Gas Cylinder but if you are having poopy panties about a nice & safe fire extinguisher this will be underwear changer for you :D. Needs an adaptor to fit a "standard" aquarium regulator.

Also welding gas. £15 for 600g from Machine Mart. Needs an adaptor to fit a "standard" aquarium regulator.
 
lol, I will just stick to the FE route, + I've now made my purchase and spent hours revising this route, and also have read some good threads on here, and it seems very cheap and easy, I guess its just a natural feeling to be a little worried, I'm not worried for my safety just my family's house having a nice big hole on the side, but I know what I'm doing, so as someone said only a idiot or misuse will cause harm :facepalm: . Am more exited now and just want it all to come so I can get it all set it up and not worry about yeast mixtures no more :wideyed:
 
Lol that looks fun, maybe next time I phone a local supplier il say its for my wheelchair lol and see there reaction.
 
Jafooli said:
lol, I will just stick to the FE route, + I've now made my purchase and spent hours revising this route, and also have read some good threads on here, and it seems very cheap and easy, I guess its just a natural feeling to be a little worried, I'm not worried for my safety just my family's house having a nice big hole on the side, but I know what I'm doing, so as someone said only a idiot or misuse will cause harm :facepalm: . Am more exited now and just want it all to come so I can get it all set it up and not worry about yeast mixtures no more :wideyed:
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Shame, Im selling a JBL proper setup CHEAPER than chips. :eek:
 
Sorry Nathaniel, have spent my cash now, am sure your have no problem selling it! :cool:

Lol Big Clown, derby sounds fun, i'll leave you to organize it and send out the invites, maybe let ukaps sponsors know then we can stick some vinyls on the side to advertise. :lol:
I could ring back my local fire extinguisher department and let them know I now plan to use there colossal pressure to race my soap box lol, as the aquarium specialists he told me to contact recommended me there ridiculous priced co2 setup so I've changed hobby.. :eek:
 
Just a update and need some more advice please.

My co2 fire extinguisher arrived yesterday with out the hose connected which is a +, all looks good, but I have a few questions which may be daft but just want to make sure I understand.

CO2 Supermarket told me I should have the setup connected to the mains and the needle valve open a bit for the first time I fire it up, which goes against everything I've learned here, and not only from ian_m's great help its also in the other threads and the official FE thread, so not sure why they told me this when I emailed to clarify.

Also my FE if I were to close the handle down it does have another hole for the pin to go in but not dual holes like Ian mentioned, so I presume I will need to use tape on my handles.

Also it came with a metal bracket type thing with 4 holes to screw to the wall then a little metal round hook, surely it don't expect the weight of this thing to hang on a wall with one hook? I could take a pic to show.... I'm trying think the best way for me to secure this with out rope or something going around my tank cabinet.

I also presume my regulator will come with washers etc? like the one's on the FE hose... and I see mikster warned me about not stripping the thread, so how common is that, I need to make sure I tighten it well, so opinions on this would be great.

Regulator still in post which is annoying, as I really want to get it all set up now, but will keep updated till all is up and running.
 
Cheers Big Clown, that helps a lot I will do the above.

So the correct procedure is to fire the extinguisher outside, then check for leaks etc, then connect it all up?

Just annoying how CO2Supermarket told me otherwise, all I did was just email them to clarify, as I don't want to bust the regulator or solenoid, then they say fire it all up with the solenoid on and needle valve open a little bit.

Also are there any washers/orings that should come with my regulator? I read some people have to replace there orings or something due to leaks, so I'm still not familiar with that side of things.
 
Jafooli said:
Also my FE if I were to close the handle down it does have another hole for the pin to go in but not dual holes like Ian mentioned, so I presume I will need to use tape on my handles.
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I used a cable tie to hold mine handle closed. When finished either slide off and reuse or cut and replace.

Jafooli said:
So the correct procedure is to fire the extinguisher outside, then check for leaks etc, then connect it all up?
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No point wasting CO2 unless you want to scare yourself and neighbours. First time I assembled mine in garage, where I had all my tools and bucket of water + Fairy liquid to check for leaks.

Later ones I re-assembled by the fish tank, so as to not disturb the CO2 piping, which we all know is prone to leaking when fiddled with. Easy to check for "gross" leaks at FE valve (when next to fish tank) as if nut is not tight
  • You can hear gas escaping
  • If you squeeze the handle to with solenoid off, main tank gauge goes to 500psi (approx.), release handle, pressure should stay at 500psi. Leave to a while, cup of tea etc or even over night and pressure should still be 500psi. If not you have a leak.
 
Cheers guys for helping me out there with my questions...

Ian when you set yours up in your garage etc, when you fired the extinguisher for the first time, was your solenoid plugged in? as that's where I'm now confused, you made it sound like I could do it either ways? I want to do it so I don't risk damaging the regulator.

Also as you mentioned the CO2 piping, I don't want to go off topic, but I will probably just use normal air tubing for now, but what's the best tubing out there, I did some research a bit and a lot of people said polyurethane tubing so I was thinking buying some of that from ebay.

Thanks again.
 
Jafooli said:
Ian when you set yours up in your garage etc, when you fired the extinguisher for the first time, was your solenoid plugged in?
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No mains not plugged in, as don't want gas flowing when you press the handle.

Once handle locked down, fiddled with short pieces of tubing and bubble counter, closed needle valve, plugged in solenoid and fiddled with needle valve and bubbles just to get an idea of what to expect in needle valve and bubble count setting. Of course all different when connected to tank, but at least you know what to expect.

Jafooli said:
Also as you mentioned the CO2 piping, I don't want to go off topic, but I will probably just use normal air tubing for now, but what's the best tubing out there, I did some research a bit and a lot of people said polyurethane tubing so I was thinking buying some of that from ebay.
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You need proper CO2 proof tubing as CO2 will dissolve in silicone & rubber air tubing, hardening it. Takes a while but does go hard. This is why the FE sealing washer is PTFE rather than rubber, if you use rubber, at 500psi, the CO2 will dissolve it allowing it to deform and gas escape.

My tubing is something like this
http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/neutro-co2-tubing-per-metre-p-2095.html

One other thing, try too keep lengths of tubing as short as possible, but obviously long enough to be able to move things for maintenance. When I first set mine up, with UP inline diffuser, I connected suitable lengths FE -> stop valve to bubble counter, but as I had metres of tubing left I used this to connect bubble counter to diffuser. The thought here was if move diffuser to other side of tank, pipe is already long enough. Actually a silly thought as can't easily move pump :banghead: Anyway I had great difficulty setting a reliable bubble count, appeared to be OK, then diffuser would like "burp" gas, bubble count would go really fast, slow down to one or two per sec, then diffuser would like "burp" gas and cycle just repeat. It is due to the intervening length of tube pressurising slowly, then depressurising causing the cycling. Reducing the tube length to "correct" length and bubble count much more controllable, set to 2 bps ages ago and still 2bps.
 
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