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D-D regulator replacement - options?

nry

Member
Joined
23 Oct 2007
Messages
1,225
Location
Cumbria, UK
Hi all,

After posting a while back about the seal inside my D-D regulator splitting, then using (as suggested by someone here) some rubber o-rings to seal it again, it's turning out to be very unreliable. I went to change the bottle today and I just could not get the seal to hold, so basically it is seemingly useless.

D-D said they'd never been asked for the seal before and did not have any to sell either.

I'm going to have one more try to 'make' a new seal from some spare filter tubing - the original seal is a rather solid plasticy-rubber and certainly not a soft rubber like the o-rings.

If this all goes pear-shaped, can anyone suggest the cheapest method to get it all up and running again? At the moment I'm dosing EasyCarbo until I can get the CO2 back in again. I'll admit to wondering if I would be as well to stick with EasyCarbo and ditch the CO2 to see what happens? I have the solenoid and pressure gauge from the D-D kit so I'd not need these, just the bit that connects to the CO2 bottle itself.

Chris
 
Nope, using spare filter tubing doesn't work...
 
hi chris,
could you take a photo of the old one,with ruler or tape measure,so we can see it.
thanks
neil
 
Should be able to though it'll be tomorrow before I get a chance.
 
I've sent an e-mail to the company in the link, the washer is a slight conical shape but this might just be from compression within the regulator connection.

I think I've probably been over-tightening the cannister into the regulator which over time has damaged the seal.
 
Even if you were all it should have done was press down evenly. To crack it like you describe it would have to have been forced outward which means it didn't really fit well in the first place.
 
I think that when the cannister starts to tighten too much against the original seal it will start to pull the washer surface around when the cannister is turned - this will damage the washer surface and over time shred it a bit ending up with a knackered washer.
 
I binned my D&D regulator in the end, it always leaked and I could never get a consistent bubble rate. I'd recommend the aquaticmagic or lunapet regs again and again if you're on a budget. Jbl's is good too but I didn't think it was any superior to the lunapet reg which is a third of the price.
 
Garuf said:
I binned my D&D regulator in the end, it always leaked and I could never get a consistent bubble rate. I'd recommend the aquaticmagic or lunapet regs again and again if you're on a budget. Jbl's is good too but I didn't think it was any superior to the lunapet reg which is a third of the price.

Sorry to hear you had no joy in the end....its always good to hear peoples recomendations though
 
Garuf said:
I binned my D&D regulator in the end, it always leaked and I could never get a consistent bubble rate. I'd recommend the aquaticmagic or lunapet regs again and again if you're on a budget. Jbl's is good too but I didn't think it was any superior to the lunapet reg which is a third of the price.

As in AquaticMagic on eBay or a different shop? Any links?
 
Yeah the one on Ebay, they're good, reliable, if a little bit difficult to adjust on the needle valve but that's a minor annoyance.
 
Cheers, I've used them for things in the past :)
 
What is the difference between the two they sell?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Co2-regulator-for ... .m14.l1262

And:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CO2-Solenoid-Live ... .m14.l1262

I have a solenoid on the D-D regulator, so could I use this with the cheaper one (first link)? I also have the low pressure gauge from the D-D kit aswell, would this make the cheaper one a suitable option for me?

I think they fit on fire extinguishers rather than disposable bottles, though I do wonder if this would be workable if my wife is OK with the size :)
 
I'd look at the lunapet one also on ebay, I'm pretty sure that's less than £70.
 
So can I use any of my existing D-D parts or do I really need a whole new regulator etc? Can I use the D-D solenoid with any other kit or just D-D?
 
As far as I know the ones that Lunapet (aquarianeversand) sell are exactly the same as the D&D ones. They look it if you compare to the DD one on AE anyway. So I'd have to say everything will fit. You should be able to fit your solenoid 'inline' anyway if it doesn't.
 
Cheers - does the Lunapet one accept fire extinguishers or the 600gm disposable bottles?
 
nry said:
Cheers - does the Lunapet one accept fire extinguishers or the 600gm disposable bottles?
Takes FE's, thats how I have been using mine for the past year or so.
 
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