Recommend options for a 30L Nano (Newbie)

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Here’s a picture of my gauges - they’re not as colourful as yours!

Cylinder pressure is on the left, 5-and a-bit megapascals on the outer scale. (Edit: Actually, now I look more closely, mine is more like 6, so similar to yours.)

Output pressure is on the right, around 40 psi on the inner scale.

I think the colour coding on your gauges is a bit misleading. I wouldn’t worry that they’re both in the yellow arc, because the numbers they’re showing are absolutely fine!

 

[dino21]

Hi,

It is a scary thing turning the FE on for the first time !

Hope its all settled now you have followed the above advice, our C02 pressures are similar even after 10 months use.

For your 20 bpm you will need to screw the bubble adjuster to fully closed then , as above, just turn it a fraction at a time and observe the bubble rate, you may have to go back and forth a few times get it right.

Also remember what I mentioned about the heat from the solenoid can affect the bubble rates after a hour or two as its coils heat seems to affect the bubble mechanism.
Many with bigger tanks and high bubble rates would hardy notice that effect, but for our small tanks and very low bubble rates its quiet noticable, at cold ours starts off at about 12bpm but after 2 hours is 38bpm and stable.

 

[kishan313]

[mention]Dr Mike Oxgreen [/mention] thank you so much for your advice, the steps were followed and it worked an absolute treat... mini panic over

Annoyingly the pin was only to keep the handle up, rather than to slot it down, but had a trusty sidekick and some gaffa tape to sort it out!

I really appreciate your follow up too to give me some tips, I’ll bear this in mind.

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[kishan313]

Hi,

It is a scary thing turning the FE on for the first time !

Hope its all settled now you have followed the above advice, our C02 pressures are similar even after 10 months use.

For your 20 bpm you will need to screw the bubble adjuster to fully closed then , as above, just turn it a fraction at a time and observe the bubble rate, you may have to go back and forth a few times get it right.

Also remember what I mentioned about the heat from the solenoid can affect the bubble rates after a hour or two as its coils heat seems to affect the bubble mechanism.
Many with bigger tanks and high bubble rates would hardy notice that effect, but for our small tanks and very low bubble rates its quiet noticable, at cold ours starts off at about 12bpm but after 2 hours is 38bpm and stable.

I was a bit nervous for sure! But luckily the solution was straightforward and it was definitely a case of user error


Thanks for the tips on the bpm I will certainly monitor a tweak as needed!

Hopefully all the great advice on this thread will help other hobbyists in the future too!


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[dino21]

Well that FE should last you a couple of years as your usage , like ours, is quiet low.

However, panic etc over, think you can see for the cost of it all , is only a little bit more than all the cheaper diy co2 methods, but so much more functional and needs little maintenance.

The catch with the single stage systems, is said to be when the FE gets near empty and the pressure goes low, it can 'dump' a lot of gas out into the tank and badly affect things.

To avoid any chance of that, put your bottle and regulator on some digital scales and weigh the whole assembly now and every few months, ours is about 6.6kg.

As the gas accounts of 2kg, then when it gets to 1/4 empty , 6.6k -1.5kg = 5.1kg, then we will replace the FE to ensure we avoid this 'dump' problem.

At around £27 for a new FE every couple of years its not worth the risk.

 

[kishan313]

Thank you, that’s a great idea.

I think you’re right, I will measure it every few months and keep an eye out for this.

£27 every year or two isn’t so bad for me, and I’m sure the investment will be worth it.


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[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

£27 every year or two isn’t so bad for me, and I’m sure the investment will be worth it.

And that’s assuming you replace the FE each time. You should be able to get it refilled for a lot less.

I’m keeping a full Sodastream cylinder (and an adapter to make it fit), so when the time comes to refill my FE I can swap to the Sodastream cylinder and get the FE refilled at my leisure - then swap back, and the Sodastream cylinder can go back on standby for the next time. My CO₂ won’t miss a beat!