Which Pressurized Co2 System?

[cdb2]

1) Which brand of pressurized CO2 system do you guys recommend for use in the UK? Are some better than others or are they all much the same?

2) From what I have read on here, if I understand correctly, getting the cylinders filled can be a bit of an issue. Should one therefore find out what brand cylinder your local fish shop will refill and stick to that make for the whole CO2 system or are the cylinders generally interchangeable or can you get adaptors?

Any advice\experience gratefully received.

Thank you

 

[MoreCoffee]

1) Which brand of pressurized CO2 system do you guys recommend for use in the UK? Are some better than others or are they all much the same?

2) From what I have read on here, if I understand correctly, getting the cylinders filled can be a bit of an issue. Should one therefore find out what brand cylinder your local fish shop will refill and stick to that make for the whole CO2 system or are the cylinders generally interchangeable or can you get adaptors?

Any advice\experience gratefully received.

Thank you

cdb2,
Hi and welcome to the forum.

To answer your issue 1).
I've use both JBL & AquaMedic regulators and both work well, but I do prefer the build quality of the
Aquamedic one and the needle valve seems a bit easier to adjust, but that's just my opinion.
The JBL is fine and does a perfectly good job.

I think you'll find your main issue is the one you mention in 2).

Basically the easy of which you can get your CO2 cylinders refilled will play a large part in your choice of system. I've yet to find anywhere that will fill any 'non JBL' 500g cylinders.
Most Maidenhead Aquatics stores seem to fill JBL bottles .... but only JBL.

There are other options. Many people use pub CO2 bottles and others, including myself, use 2Kg CO2 fire extinguishers. Others go for disposable CO2 bottles.

As for the regulators. I have JBL and Aquamedic regulators and both work on JBL 500g bottles and 2KG fire extinguishers. I do find that a bit of PTFE tape (available in B&Q or Focus etc) around the thread can help ensure a good seal. From other posts it seems there are problems with some of the older JBL regulators fitting on extinguishers and requiring some filing down, but mine works fine.

Cheers
Al

 

[voo]

just to add to what Mr G said, some places (including my local maidenhead aquatics), don't actually refill your cylinder, they'll take your cylinder and replace it with a full one. That means your nice new JBL cylinder could be swapped for a battered one.

Definitely look around locally and see where you can get your CO2 refilled before buying one.

What lighting do you have, and what size tank?

 

[kamel_007]

1) Which brand of pressurized CO2 system do you guys recommend for use in the UK? Are some better than others or are they all much the same?

2) From what I have read on here, if I understand correctly, getting the cylinders filled can be a bit of an issue. Should one therefore find out what brand cylinder your local fish shop will refill and stick to that make for the whole CO2 system or are the cylinders generally interchangeable or can you get adaptors?

Any advice\experience gratefully received.

Thank you

I use a regulater from papilon, and my reactor was from papilon.. but after i found it not effective..

I made a DIY one..

 

[cdb2]

Voo - everything is in the planning stage at the moment, tank will hold around 350l.

So if you bought a non JBL system and wanted to refill at Maidenhead, you'd have to buy a JBL bottle (obviously at extra cost thus rendering your original bottle obsolete) or would a JBL bottle not fit a non JBL system anyway?

It seems if Maidenhead are you only real refill option that you may have to purchase a JBL system?

How long typically would a standard size bottle that you get last in a 350l tank assuming 25-30ppm? Just a ball park figure?

 

[MoreCoffee]

just to add to what Mr G said, some places (including my local maidenhead aquatics), don't actually refill your cylinder, they'll take your cylinder and replace it with a full one. That means your nice new JBL cylinder could be swapped for a battered one.

Definitely look around locally and see where you can get your CO2 refilled before buying one.

What lighting do you have, and what size tank?

Excellent point Voo ...... Mine do exactly the same, so far I've never been offered a really bad one.
That said, I got my bottles from Ebay, so they were always 'used'.

 

[vic]

I use a JBL and have had no difficulties with it whatsoever. Acquired on e-bay. Filling you cylinder should not be a problem. Go to a pop/soft drink supplier/distributor or a beer brewing or distribution store. They will likely have their own CO2 system to fill the cylinders for their fountain (pre and post mix) pop system and beer service systems. The cost this way will likely be substantially less, in my case it was half. If you have a question, PM me.
Cheers;

 

[MoreCoffee]

I use a JBL and have had no difficulties with it whatsoever. Acquired on e-bay. Filling you cylinder should not be a problem. Go to a pop/soft drink supplier/distributor or a beer brewing or distribution store. They will likely have their own CO2 system to fill the cylinders for their fountain (pre and post mix) pop system and beer service systems. The cost this way will likely be substantially less, in my case it was half. If you have a question, PM me.
Cheers;

Vic,

That may be the case in Alberta, but in the UK it's a different story.
The company I get my 2Kg fire extinguisher refills from will not touch the 500g bottles.
Most LFS's in the UK dont offer a refill service and those I've found that do will only do genuine JBL bottles.

Cheers
Al

 

[Spinal]

Al, I've had the same problem with refills in the UK. I found the cheapest refills to be paintball canisters (50p for a 1L bottle).

That said, I am currently experimenting with the Soda-Stream bottle you can buy in most sainsbury/tescos; they are very similar to JBL bottle in size... (just need to find a JBL regulator for cheap)...

Also, welding suppliers in the UK will (usually) refill most CO2 cylinders for you. You can get 5L cylinders used for No2 or Co2 from car tuning suppliers which most welding places will be happy to refill. (always make sure they are BS rated tho...)

Michele