how much psi of co2 in a full 5lb cylinder

I got my first 5lb cylinder filled with co2. but it only shows 800psi on the gauge which is in the "order gas" red zone. Did i get underfilled or is this just a regulator for a wide range of cylinders?

Sounds normal to me. Check out this cool graph...


Cheers!

800psi sounds like a proper fill to me. What regulator do you have that lists 800psi as the 'order gas' zone?? Normally, that's when it's below 300psi on the high pressure side.

Co2 is sold by weight, not volume. If you stick the cylinder in the fridge, it might show 500 psi. If you take it out, it might show 800 psi. So, that gauge is meaningless. It'll show "order co2" until the tank is more than 90% empty, and then go immediately to "empty" as co2 is a liquid, but is dispensed as a gas.

I've joked about this before, but the best way to deal with with that gauge is to cover it with duct tape.

Most bottles will have the tare weight stamped into them. This is how much it weighs empty. Throw it on a scale and it should be 5lbs heavier than the tare weight when full. I find this to be the most reliable "gauge" to determine how much is left.

Depends on the temperature.

middle of the page...
co2 info

this is it here. I guess the red zone starts at 600psi, not 800 like i thought. In the fridge its at about 350 on my first keg. Kind of a useless scale i guess. Would be nice if it showed a max pressure at 1000 or 1500. Its designed for beer kegs, i can't see how anyone would have a bottle in an area over 80 degrees

The gauge is useless until all the liquid CO2 is gone anyway. A binary full/empty indicator is just as useful or probably even better because it's not as misleading.

If you want to know how much C02 is left in your cylinder as Yooper and Bobby_M stated gauges are useless.

Disconnect your cylinder and weigh it. Now look on the side of the cylinder for "TW" stamped on the shoulder with some numbers flowing the "TW" stamp . Now subtract the TW number for the total weight and you have your remaining Co2 weight.

^^^^ what bad67z said. TW stands for tare weight, fyi.

how much psi of co2 in a full 5lb cylinder

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the same PSI as a tank that is nearly empty...

at 10psi output, is it safe to say i can get three 1/6th barrel kegs out of a 5lb bottle? I will just get it topped up after every 2 or 3 or whatever # is safe, as the stuff is so cheap anyways.

I've heard that a 5lb bottle will last anywhere between 4 and 10 kegs of that size. 3 should be easy. It mostly depends on how much you use up by purging kegs before filling, whether you force carb or prime (using CO2 to carb and serve, or just serve), etc. Since you say "1/6th barrel" keg, are these commercial kegs that are already carbed, that you'll be serving at 10psi? If so, I wouldn't be too surprised if you get close to 10 kegs out of it.

EDIT: and I just saw this http://www.micromatic.com/beer-questions/how-many-beer-kegs-dispensed-out-co2-tank-aid-89.html in the other CO2 bottle thread, which indicates you can even more than that. I don't know from experience, since I haven't yet run out on my first CO2 bottle after a few kegs.

scottland said:

^^^^ what bad67z said. TW stands for tare weight, fyi.

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Thanks Scottland, I've been in the industry so long sometime I forget to include the important details.