DIY CO2 system - is this do-able?

Greetings,
I'm planning a homemade CO2 system - I'm after a well regulated bubble rate.
At first I thought maybe I'd put a pressure regulator with just the 2 liter
pop bottle setup, but I assume backpressure could make the bottle explode.
So what I'm looking to do now is to get a pressure cooker with automatic
pressure release valve and integrated pressure guage (so far the "all
american" brand looks good - no rubber seal, built in gauge and pressure
release features.) Then on the lid I'd fit maybe an extra manual blow off
valve, solenoid and pressure regulator. (after that the regular diffusing
type stuff) I believe these types of cookers release at 15psi.

So I have two questions:
1. Would a solenoid be needed at all? My intent was to have it on the same
timer as the lights such that CO2 wasn't trickling at night. Should a guy
do this? If CO2 should enter constantly then the solenoid wouldn't be
needed at all and I could save a few bucks. (or maybe I should use it
without a timer for power failures anyways???)
2. How would the yeast/sugar reaction behave in a pressurized environment?
Will the yeast continue respiration under such conditions? (please say yes
:P)

Or am I completely on crack here? My hypothesis was that a bigger
yeast/sugar mix could be used, used more efficiently, and could increase the
time between yeast mixings... high pressure without the CO2 tank refills.

TIA




Andy

http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/

hit up that msg board one of the best out there they have all the infoo ,
hope this helps !!

"Andy" wrote in message
...
Greetings,
I'm planning a homemade CO2 system - I'm after a well regulated bubble
rate.
At first I thought maybe I'd put a pressure regulator with just the 2
liter
pop bottle setup, but I assume backpressure could make the bottle explode.
So what I'm looking to do now is to get a pressure cooker with automatic
pressure release valve and integrated pressure guage (so far the "all
american" brand looks good - no rubber seal, built in gauge and pressure
release features.) Then on the lid I'd fit maybe an extra manual blow off
valve, solenoid and pressure regulator. (after that the regular diffusing
type stuff) I believe these types of cookers release at 15psi.

So I have two questions:
1. Would a solenoid be needed at all? My intent was to have it on the
same
timer as the lights such that CO2 wasn't trickling at night. Should a guy
do this? If CO2 should enter constantly then the solenoid wouldn't be
needed at all and I could save a few bucks. (or maybe I should use it
without a timer for power failures anyways???)
2. How would the yeast/sugar reaction behave in a pressurized environment?
Will the yeast continue respiration under such conditions? (please say
yes
:P)

Or am I completely on crack here? My hypothesis was that a bigger
yeast/sugar mix could be used, used more efficiently, and could increase
the
time between yeast mixings... high pressure without the CO2 tank refills.

TIA




Andy

"Andy" wrote in message
...
Greetings,
I'm planning a homemade CO2 system - I'm after a well regulated bubble
rate.
At first I thought maybe I'd put a pressure regulator with just the 2
liter
pop bottle setup, but I assume backpressure could make the bottle explode.
So what I'm looking to do now is to get a pressure cooker with automatic
pressure release valve and integrated pressure guage (so far the "all
american" brand looks good - no rubber seal, built in gauge and pressure
release features.) Then on the lid I'd fit maybe an extra manual blow off
valve, solenoid and pressure regulator. (after that the regular diffusing
type stuff) I believe these types of cookers release at 15psi.

So I have two questions:
1. Would a solenoid be needed at all? My intent was to have it on the
same
timer as the lights such that CO2 wasn't trickling at night. Should a guy
do this? If CO2 should enter constantly then the solenoid wouldn't be
needed at all and I could save a few bucks. (or maybe I should use it
without a timer for power failures anyways???)
2. How would the yeast/sugar reaction behave in a pressurized environment?
Will the yeast continue respiration under such conditions? (please say
yes
:P)

Or am I completely on crack here? My hypothesis was that a bigger
yeast/sugar mix could be used, used more efficiently, and could increase
the
time between yeast mixings... high pressure without the CO2 tank refills.

TIA




Andy

Have you seen this?
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/H...7/DIY_CO2.html

I know nothing about this stuff, but when I ran accross this page, I
remembered seeing your question here.
Good Luck!!
-Jen

On Sat, 4 Sep 2004 00:37:34 -0600, Andy wrote:

Or am I completely on crack here? My hypothesis was that a bigger
yeast/sugar mix could be used, used more efficiently, and could increase the
time between yeast mixings... high pressure without the CO2 tank refills.

I don't really understand the intention - it seems to combine all teh
equipment and paraphanalia of a gas cylinder fed system, with all teh
aggro and slopping around of a home-brewing system, but without the
reliability of teh gas cylinder system.

If you want to do fewer CO2 tank refils, buy a bigger tank - I went to
a welding supplies shop and got a cylinder that lasts my 5'x2'x2' tank
a little over a year between refills. It's also very, very cheap in
that quantity - probably cheaper than the sugar you'll be feeding the
yeast. The only downside is the cylinder is too bulky to go inside
the tank stand and not very pretty, so I put it in teh room adjacent
to teh room teh tank's in and ran teh feed pipe through a little hole
in teh wall.

Also, I've never bothered with a shut-off valve for teh CO2 - it
runs 24 hours a day and neither fish nor plants have ever objected

regards, Ian SMith
--
|\ /| no .sig
|o o|
|/ \|

"Andy" wrote in message ...
Greetings,
I'm planning a homemade CO2 system - I'm after a well regulated bubble rate.
At first I thought maybe I'd put a pressure regulator with just the 2 liter
pop bottle setup, but I assume backpressure could make the bottle explode.

Don't worry too much about back-pressure exploding the bottle. In
middle school I was made a pressurized water gun - a 2L bottle with
the valve stem of an old inner tube. It held pressure to 80 psi
without exploding, but I usually kept it back down at less than 40
psi.

If this is a diy bottle then you do not need any of the extra
equipment. I will leave it @ that.



On Sat, 4 Sep 2004 00:37:34 -0600, "Andy"
wrote:

Greetings,
I'm planning a homemade CO2 system - I'm after a well regulated bubble rate.
At first I thought maybe I'd put a pressure regulator with just the 2 liter
pop bottle setup, but I assume backpressure could make the bottle explode.
So what I'm looking to do now is to get a pressure cooker with automatic
pressure release valve and integrated pressure guage (so far the "all
american" brand looks good - no rubber seal, built in gauge and pressureWant to win a FREE new co2 system or a lighting system check out our forum for our newest contest coming up

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release features.) Then on the lid I'd fit maybe an extra manual blow off
valve, solenoid and pressure regulator. (after that the regular diffusing
type stuff) I believe these types of cookers release at 15psi.

So I have two questions:
1. Would a solenoid be needed at all? My intent was to have it on the same
timer as the lights such that CO2 wasn't trickling at night. Should a guy
do this? If CO2 should enter constantly then the solenoid wouldn't be
needed at all and I could save a few bucks. (or maybe I should use it
without a timer for power failures anyways???)
2. How would the yeast/sugar reaction behave in a pressurized environment?
Will the yeast continue respiration under such conditions? (please say yes
:P)

Or am I completely on crack here? My hypothesis was that a bigger
yeast/sugar mix could be used, used more efficiently, and could increase the
time between yeast mixings... high pressure without the CO2 tank refills.

TIA




Andy

I don't absolutely accept the ambition - it seems to amalgamate all the equipment and paraphanalia of a gas butt fed system, with all teh aggro and slopping about of a home-brewing system, but after the reliability of the gas butt system.