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UP CO2 Atomiser Problem

Greenview

Member
Joined
12 Jun 2011
Messages
196
I finally got my UP inline CO2 atomiser rigged up this morning but cannot get it to work. When first connected I get a good stream of bubbles in my bubble counter, but after a few minutes the bubbles stop (as the pressure builds up in the system. There are no kinks or other blockages that I can see and the bubble count returns briskly if I take the tube off the UP atomiser.

There were no instructions with the kit, but I thought it was as simple as attaching the filter and CO2 hoses, am I missing something, or have I got a faulty unit?
Thanks
 
This is a new set-up.
Yes, there are gauges at 56 bar and 1.4 bar. No leaks as far as bubble counter (cannot be beyond BC as it would be going crazy).
Any suggestions
 
Funnily enough i've just mine rigged up last night, again no instructions.
Unfortunately i've not got a bubble counter yet (awaiting arrival) so i connected mine without one. Fitted the atomizer in the cabinet and plumbed in to the filter outflow pipework. Ran it up for 30mins or so at various reg pressures and decided it definitely wasn't working.

Stripped it down and set up the atomizer in a bowl of water with just the CO2 connected. After a while a very very fine mist was rising from the unit. Refitted it and DC green this morning.

What i did find was that the unit took what seemed like an age to start misting, i put this down to the CO2 pressure building up and having to force all the water from within the unit and diffuser ceramic into the centre.

Not sure this helps?
 
check for a leak, use some very soapy water on the pipe joints and around the atomiser...see if you get bubbles.

Also I found mine only worked at 1.8 (bar?) try upping the working pressure.

Chris
 
Thanks for the advice. There are no leaks and if still does not work with the pressure cranked up. I am sending it back.
 
sounds exactly like mine, bubbles comming through counter then stopping. its to do with pressure as stated once i messed about with the reg an got it up to 2bar it works fine, but the bubble counter will only send a stream of bubbles through every now and again
 
chump54 said:
also I found my bubble counter started leaking once I upped the pressure. you could try without the bubble counter to reduce the number of parts in the system that could be causing a problem.
Chris

My bubble counter was fine but had leaks around the extra non return valve i added from paranoia so I just removed that. Works great at 40 psi but that's quite high pressure! There should be tiny bubbles coming out of the outlet. Much more likely to be a leak than the up atomiser being faulty - there's basically nothin to go wrong...


My 'see through' tank challenge http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15878
 
I had the same problem with the bubbles coming out through the counter & then stopping. Reg delivery pressure was above 1.7 bar,...it seems that we should open the main co2 cylinder tap valve quite a bit,...180 degrees turn . When I did this the problem was corrected. Worth a shot. If I remember it correctly ,...I think it is due to a pressure drop through the needle valve after some time. So when we turn the main co2 tap more,...the drop in pressure doesn't affect the co2 output.

Hope this makes sense.
 
Thanks for the replies. I was confident that there were no leaks in my set up and could not work out why the atomiser was not working. Just before I returned the atomiser to the seller I realised that my reg is fixed at 1.5 bar and will not supply the pressure needed for the atomiser.

I have therefore given up on the inline diffuser entirely and have a lovely stream of CO2 flowing round the tank from a simple in-tank diffuser.
 
Am I being impatient with mine? Setup the new Up atomiser on Monday evening, I left all the regulator settings as they were on the previous Boyu inline setup. Never thought much of it until last night when there were no CO2 bubbles/mist to be seen.

Reg is showing 50psi on the cylinder, just over 2bar on the needle valve side, I've got a full FE (changed just to be sure). Even if I open the needle valve 100% nothing happens, to the extent that it blew my bubble counter so that is now removed at present.

I'll give it a bit and see if it just needs to blow any water out of the ceramic centre, otherwise the Boyu is going back on!
 
There does seem to be some dud ones around as I had a similar experience with an in tank ceramic atomiser - I just couldn't get anything to come out of it & at around 2.7 bar my bubble counter exploded... made me jump to say the least!!
Anyway, at the time I started a thread pointing out my experience but I pretty much got shot down in flames by several members saying the devices work fine at 1.7bar,,, well that one did not!
 
It has finally started to bubble in the tank! I'm guessing the bubble counter was leaking enough, small as it may have been, to prevent the pressure getting high enough for the atomiser to pass any CO2.

I'm amazed how fine the bubbles are, I 'mist' them at first - need to go source a decent bubble counter now :)
 
My UP Atomiser arrived yesterday, took me 30 minutes to disconnect the pipework, cut the pipe and fit the atomiser, replace everything and switch it all on. I really ramped up the bubble count to activate the atomiser and a lovely wonderful mist of co2 started swirling round the tank. I then reduced the bubble count to 120 bubbles per minute as per usual. Since then no mist, no change in colour on the drop checker, and no change on the built in PH sensor and yet I can see and hear the bubbles going through the bubble counter? :? So where is all the co2 going? :?

Clues anyone.

Cheers,

Steve
 
I use this one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aquarium-CO2- ... 3f082ffbb2 & I dont use a non return valve because my cylinder is above water level.
2 bar does test all your connections, one way to test for leaks is by rubbing a little bit of washing up liquid around all the hose connectors but if it is possible, by submerging the the connections in a water filled glass.
 
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