Home made carbonater help.

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Keibatsu

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I built a small carbonator pretty much exactly like the one in this video. I fill a liter or liter and a half bottle with as cold as possible water, leave about an inch or two of space at the top, squeeze out all of the air, then put on the bike valve cap and charge it, shake it, and repeat until it stays firm. Thing is it seems even charging it this way my seltzer does not get half as carbonated as the store bought stuff, and seems to go flat rather quickly, especially if I mix in some home made soda syrup... Can anyone give me some tips to help? What am I doing whrong? I know it has enough pressure, infact probably to much since the paintball regulator doesnt even have a mark for below 100psi.
 
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Im no expert in this area but I wonder if once the bottle was completely filed with CO2, f you let it sit for a little while if that wouldn't force more CO2 into the liquid. I only say that because with my experience with yeast carbonation the longer it sits, the more CO2 the yeast produces and the more it gets infused into the liquid. I would try it out. Fill one bottle and drink it right away then fill another and let it sit for.....maybe an hour and see if there is any difference.
 
yeah I am actually trying that right now, I did the charging technique and charged it one last time and now have it sitting in the minifridge.
 
Would it not be better to put the syrup in first then carbonate. Im looking into a similar system but i think alot of people recomend filling 2/3 full then putting it in the freezer first to get good and cold. Then of course squeeze out the air and shake the hell out of it while the gas is on. Then in the fridge for 24 hours.

alternately you could just leave the gas on for 24 hours and put the whole rig in the fridge. maybe use a 2L bottle.

Finally have you considered a leak? Maybe a plastic bottle cap just cant take 100psi?
 
I highly suspect the MM carbonating cap (as shown in the video) is leaking. Even a slow leak (not detected) will drop the carbonation level to what you're talking about. Also, as you pour from the bottle, you'll want/need to add more CO2 to it or you'll lose carbonation. Even when kept in the fridge, this will happen.

They make actual caps to go onto soda bottles that allows you to use a ball lock QD on them. Use an actual regulator (even one made to go onto paintball gun bottles) and you'll get a better result. If you burst/rapid force carbonate it, I'd be very careful. Keep in mind, soda is normally carbonated MUCH higher than beer. Using ~30psi for soda (serving) is pretty common.
 
Well i wouldn't imagine that it leaking would matter considering I am force carbonating it by charging it and shaking it, also i sealed around the valve stem. The other day I mixed together some water and soda stream root beer syrup (their syrup is terrible btw, used it just for testing) cooled it in the freezer then charged it and shook, repeated until it stayed firm, then set it in the minifridge, which I have set very cold, for about an hour and tried it out. It seemed satisfactory, still not quite as fizzy as storebought but definitely not flat. So maybe I should just mix it before hand, charge it, then let it sit.
 
Well i wouldn't imagine that it leaking would matter considering I am force carbonating it by charging it and shaking it, also i sealed around the valve stem. The other day I mixed together some water and soda stream root beer syrup (their syrup is terrible btw, used it just for testing) cooled it in the freezer then charged it and shook, repeated until it stayed firm, then set it in the minifridge, which I have set very cold, for about an hour and tried it out. It seemed satisfactory, still not quite as fizzy as storebought but definitely not flat. So maybe I should just mix it before hand, charge it, then let it sit.

How much CO2 pressure did you use??? 10-15psi will be seriously under carbonated for soda, but can be fine for beer.
 
oh also because the paintball regulator is not able to get the psi much lower than maybe 80, I dont think it would be able to simply leave it connected, with the valve stem and tire chuck set up I pretty much charge it by quickly pushing the ends together for a split second and then the bottle is solid, I shake it and repeat until the bottle remains solid.
 
Could you connect a co2 tank regulator? Then you could regulate it more appropriately. If you perfect this method I'll definitely be making this setup. I don't have enough room for a keg and tank.
 
honestly I have no idea if you could attach a CO2 tank regulator, I suppose it could be possible. The reason I have this setup is because it was incredibly inexpensive to put together, cost me around $40, where as just a CO2 tank regulator would cost at least that much. Unfortunately, I cannot get the psi coming out of the canister to be lower than about 100 and I have no idea what the psi is inside the actual bottle. I just go off of feel, just push the chuck to the tire valve real quick and check if the bottle is firm and shake and repeat.
 
I made a batch of non-alcoholic ginger beer the other day and I use a big Gatorade bottle with a tire stem through the cap. Charged it and moved it around. It's been in the refrigerator since yesterday and it hasn't seemed to loose any pressure. I'll let you know in a few days.
 
So from a bit of research I have found that you can indeed attatch a normal paintball CO2 tank to a full size regulator using this adaptor or I am sure there are similar things from other companies. However I cannot seem to find a normal regulator for less than $45, and then the adaptor is $7 on sale, it seems very expensive to build even using a paintball tank. Can anyone recommend an inexpensive regulator?
 
Your looking at around $80 for that set up. Might as well find a used keg and make some bigger batches. I might actually consider your idea though but incorporate a 5L mini keg. I just don't know how much PSi one can hold.
 
Ok, so because I am trying to save money (half to actually save money and half for the challenge) I decided on a new build for my small batch 2 liter carbonator, I am going to adapt the one I already have which I posted in the original post and basically just replace the regular chuck with a locking chuck that also has a build in psi gauge (if i can find one) and I will add a valve in the middle of the line to control the CO2 flow. This way I can still use the tire stem system which is cheap and easy, not waste too much CO2, and be able to control my charging more accurately and know the pressure inside the 2 liter. I will update with pictures if I can get this together successfully. The main reason I want the valve and the CO2 gauge is because I know the paintball regulator doesnt get the psi any lower than about 100 psi, which is way to high and could burst a 2 liter bottle. Hell, actually I could just replace my regular chuck at the end with something like this and get two in one.
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Success!! I adapted my kit to a tire inflating gun and now I can accurately charge my drinks and all for only about $50. The paintball regulator was only$13 here , The CO2 tank is a 12oz and was $15 from the same site, the tubing and hardware was around $5 at home depot, and the tire inflator gun was $17 at walmart but you can find cheaper online. I tested it on some refrigerator temperature water and charged it a few times at around 70-80 psi squeezing the air out the first time of course and shook it of course a few times and BOY was it fizzy.

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