CO2 bottle in refrigerator - Page 3

TokyoRoad · 01-19-2012, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tophe

Heres my thoughts, and what the guy where i buy my CO2 bottles from said....Keep the CO2 outside of the fridge is better. It can go either way, but you will got alot more life out of the gas if it is kept warmer.....Dont worry about the gas exploding. Thats the least of my worries.........those things are designed to stand way more than what they put in them.....It simple science. The warmer the gas is, the more it will expand and you get more use out of it. The colder it is, the more dense it is , so you use it faster. I used to keep mine in the fridge before i knew this, and now i get twice as much use out of the gas than before...I would suggest keeping it outside the fridge,plus you get more room in the fridge then.

Interesting theory...but wrong.

The volume of the CO2 changes imperceptibly, the pressure is what changes when at room temp. vs fridge temp. Either you are not accurately remembering the time to go through a CO2 bottle or you fixed a small leak when you moved the bottle.

wandering · 01-19-2012, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TokyoRoad

the pressure is what changes when at room temp. vs fridge temp.

I would have to agree....

With the cylinder warmer, the pressure INSIDE the cylinder IS higher... which makes it sound like less CO2 is required and you get more kegs per cylinder.

But once the CO2 gets inside the cooled keg, the CO2 pressure drops back down. So in the end, you need to push more CO2 into the keg to bring the keg pressure back up.

So while the cylinder pressure reads higher, the dispense rate will be higher -- so no free lunch (keg).

wandering · 01-19-2012, 06:21 PM

One possible explanation for differences in usage MAY be that the warmer CO2 causes a rise in beer temperature which results in less carbonization (in the same amount of time).

But given sufficient time, the same VOLUME of CO2 should be required. (That's what you key in into the calculator after all.)

**mmccurdy** · 01-19-2012, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wandering

One possible explanation for differences in usage MAY be that the warmer CO2 causes a rise in beer temperature which results in less carbonization (in the same amount of time).

But given sufficient time, the same VOLUME of CO2 should be required. (That's what you key in into the calculator after all.)

When you release CO2 from the ~800psi tank to the ~10psi headspace in the keg, it expands and cools down significantly, so I doubt it is warming up the beer regardless of the temp of the tank.

The only credible differentiator that I've heard between inside and outside the fridge is the lifespan of the regulator, though I remain skeptical that a hunk of brass, a steel spring, and a (neoprene?) membrane will really care whether it's 38 degrees ambient or 120. With a desiccant in the fridge, it's probably also dryer (and thus more favorable) to your typical TX summer day to boot.

Sorry to beat this particular dead horse... I thought I saw him twitch...

**rperkins** · 01-20-2012, 02:46 AM

mmmmmmm

I am getting ready to build my Keezer over the next few weekends, I think I will keep my CO2 tank inside the keezer. One less hole to drill was the main reason!!!