pizzaman

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telemaster

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The wheels in my head are spinning!



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On Deck: Altbier, Simcoe IPA
Primary: Trippel Trubble, Apfelwein 2.0, Octane IPA
Secondary:
Bottle Conditioning:
Drinking: Roggenbier, Sierra Nevada PA Clone, Power Pack Porter, Apfelwein, Raspberry Wheat

pizzaman

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I was outbid on my co2 bike pump at the last minute. I did get the psi regulator for $10, which really was the hard thing to find for a decent price. If nothing else there's a bike shop down the road from me that sells okay pumps for $10, and good pumps for $15-20.

I have been wondering something recently....since I have a psi regulator and the CO2 will not really need to go through a pump, is there a way I can just build a valve to screw directly onto the co2 tank? I'm sure there has to be a simple way to do this...

pizzaman

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From the looks of this photo, I would assume I could just buy a screw-on valve for the co2 tank, and attach it to the input of my psi regulator. If I were to do this, I would probably want to have some sort of on/off switch in between the tank and the regulator. This tank is $19 for 9oz(roughly one 5 gallon keg), $22 for 12oz(1.5 kegs?), and $37 for 24oz(about three 5 gallon kegs).


Anyone have any thoughts on this? Has anyone found or made a cheap valve for co2 tanks? Is there a standard size for these tanks?




[NOTE]These are labeled as refillable tanks[/NOTE]

pizzaman

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....I answered my own questions here: co2 info

Now, rather than looking for prices on a bike pump, I'm looking for prices on large(~24oz), refillable co2 tanks, and prices on a CGA320 valve.

pizzaman

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Decided to test-fit the bottle in one of my other coolers:


It fits perfectly! Lid closes and everything.

Waiting for the regulator gauge I ordered to get here, I'm a bit concerned that it won't work for this project...got it on ebay for $10 so if it does work it'll be a steal. I'm not sure why it wouldn't work, the seller said it's new and works from 10-150 psi..I guess I just don't know enough about regulators to make a fair assessment. As soon as it arrives its off to lowes to buy fittings for it. I've found a 12oz co2 tank on craigslist for $5, also one on ebay for $10 w/shipping...hopefully one of those will pan out before the regulator arrives so I can buy the fittings for everything all at once.

Here's a pic of the regulator, anyone think this will/won't work for regulating psi of co2 as long as I get the valves hooked up properly?

pizzaman

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Somehow I found these two sites which walk you through connecting a paintball co2 tank to a keg using a Universal Fill Adapter.
Portable Paintball CO2 Rig- Lustreking Brewing
Schwedhelm.net - Illustrated Brewing - Big Gasser

The Universal Fill Adapter(ufa) hooks up to any standard co2 paintball tank and has a twist on/off valve. gas outlet is 1/8" fpt, I've found one for $7.99 w/free shipping. Total price tag keeps going up and up....still worth it though

pizzaman

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For anyone who's still keeping track...after doing some more research, I'm very glad that I was outbid on the co2 bike pump. Each 12gram refill would've cost me $2, which is about the same price it costs to refill a 9-12oz tank. 9oz = ~255grams, therefore you would have to buy 21 : 12 gram cartridges to equal the volume of one 9oz tank. Even if you buy these in bulk to save money, you're still looking at a good $10+, compared to the $2 refill.

pizzaman

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Whoo Hoo!!! I just won a 9oz co2 tank on eBay for $4, and a UFA adaptor for $7. Goth both items togehter with shipping for less than a co2 bike pump with 12gram co2.

pizzaman

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I have just confirmed as many before me have, that a 5 gallon water bottle will not hold suitable pressure for use as a keg. The lid had no seal at all, after wrapping the threads in threading tape it was able to hold a seal, however the bottom of the bottle began to bulge out as the psi reached a mere 5. Not sure how denny was able to do it, maybe he had a different water bottle. Either way, I have ditched that idea, and am rethinking the design. I've got about a week before the co2 parts I ordered arrive, so plenty of time to come up with some sort of cockameemee plan. I'm thinking I'll probably end up ordering some 6 liter PET bottles at $10 a pop, as this is the all around cheapest solution. That and the 6 liter bottles for the tap-a-draft system have a proven track record for use in kegging.

I am still considering using 3 liter bottles, with some sort of daisy chain setup:


Two 3 liters would give you about 1.5 gallons, and Six 3 liters or Nine 2 liters would give you about 5 gallons: