• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

Weird behavior in CO2 system

LMuhlen

Member
Thread starter
Joined
23 Mar 2022
Messages
310
Location
Brazil
An acquaintance of mine asked me to help him with this issue he is having with his new CO2 system and I couldn't figure out what is happening.



At first, he installed one of those cheap metallic bubble counters with an inbuilt check valve and every time the solenoid would shut off the system, the hose between the cylinder valves and the bubble counter would collapse, as if there was suction building a vacuum inside of it. The water from the bubble counter would drain completely, sucked back to the hose.



He then opened the check valve and fiddled with the sprint and apparently fixed it. He also installed one of those cheap plastic check valves before the bubble counter, as a precaution.



Now the water almost doesn't go back, but the lenght of hose between the two check valves is still collapsed when the system shuts off, and the hose before the first check valve is looking normal! I don't get how there can be vacuum after a check valve and normal pressure before it, it's like the valve is installed backwards, but it's not. I also don't know where all this suction is coming from. Can anyone help me understand?



Thanks
 
Do you have a pic? I am not sure I fully visualize the issue. Is the bubble counter connected to the regulator/manifold by means of a tube?
I think there should not be a negative pressure/vaccum created when the solenoid shuts down. I am wondering if the regulator doesn't have an issue to start with where Co2 is drawn back for some reason.
 
Yes, his check valves are connected to the cylinder valves with tubes. In my setup they are screwed together, so I don't even know if there is vacuum or not...

Capturar.png

Capturar2.png
 
What kind of tubing is being used? It looks almost like airline tubing, which is no good for CO2. It should be pretty easy to tell them apart as CO2 tubing is quite rigid and hard to bend while airline tubing is quite flexible
 
What kind of tubing is being used? It looks almost like airline tubing, which is no good for CO2. It should be pretty easy to tell them apart as CO2 tubing is quite rigid and hard to bend while airline tubing is quite flexible
Regardless the tubing should not collapse like that.

Yes, his check valves are connected to the cylinder valves with tubes. In my setup they are screwed together, so I don't even know if there is vacuum or not...
Please take a pic of the full setup. Also that check valve seems upside down if CO2 is coming from the bottom.
 
He gave me a video and these images were taken from that, I couldn't find a better wider moment to screenshot. I'll ask him.

His tube is silicone.

For the red check valve, CO2 is flowing from the top to the bottom in the picture.

The cylinder is connected with an apparently not collapsed tube to the red valve, which is connected with a collapsed tube with the bottom of the metallic check valve, and then to the tank with non collapsed tube
 
Back
Top