Oxygen Setup

jholen · Dec 30, 2011

Hey all you DIY'ers!

I suppose I could use your help - I'm trying to piece together an oxygen system for aerating my wort, and just want to make sure that the two pieces that I've found via HBT on ebay will work together. Figured this would be the best place for this type of question.

Regulator: Here

Tank: Here

Both state that they have CGA 540 fittings - so they should work, correct? The regulator also appears to have a barbed outlet, so assuming I'll just get the right diameter tubing to connect to my SS stone. Thinking I'll go with a .5 micron stone from MoreBeer - they got a pretty nifty threaded version now:

.5 Micron Stone: Here

Then just find a local welding supply store, and get my tank filled. I'm just not 100% confident in myself, and want to make sure I make the right purchase - I knew there had to be someone on here with much more knowledge and experience with this than myself.

Thanks for your help! :rockin:

outside92129 · Dec 30, 2011

Most home medical O2 regulators don't fit welding tank but if the item description says it fits.... In general I believe they have different connectors so people don't try to use welding gas for medical use, even though the source of the oxygen is often identical (handling may differ). Right now (dec 2012) there is a nice Victor Reg on ebay, and it's cheaper than your medical reg. Even cheaper is a Matheson for $7.

Don't bother with a shiny new O2 tank, get the cheapest one you can find. When you take your tank to a welding/gas store they don't fill them, it's done on a tank exchange. So nastier the better, as long as it's sound of course.

Stone- that should do. I opted for one with a wand so i can plunge it to the bottom of the wort.

B_Lines · Dec 30, 2011

yea it'll work, prob not the best. Thats a reg for a big supply tank similar to the ones we use on the ambulance, we get our supply tanks from places like airgas. But medical O2 comes in an aluminum tank and has to be filtered. Welding gas doesn't.

That being said Thats a pretty big tank it'll last a while. I have a pretty similar set up. To connect it I just used some O2 tubing. I just toss it in at 15 lpm for about a minute. Make sure the stone is one there tight and do a test with the reg turned all the way up. You dont want it popping the stone off into your wort. If you know some one who is an emt or paramedic or nurse they should be able to get you some.

tprokop · Dec 30, 2011

I use exactly that. Only difference is I use the stone on a rod from Williams Brewing so that I can hold it down at the bottom. I added my own MFL to it. I used 1/4" PVC tubing from the HBS to make the connection. Very difficult to get it on the barb, but I got it on there eventually. Works great now.

jholen · Dec 30, 2011

tprokop said:
i use exactly that. Only difference is i use the stone on a rod from williams brewing so that i can hold it down at the bottom. I added my own mfl to it. I used 1/4" pvc tubing from the hbs to make the connection. Very difficult to get it on the barb, but i got it on there eventually. Works great now.

mfl?

tprokop · Dec 30, 2011

mfl is male flare fitting. 1/4" MFL is the standard one used for CO2 and serving setups when modular setups are used. I used it on my O2 system too. It's not standard for O2.

Zamial · Dec 30, 2011

I just got the said Williams Brewing Aeration kit for x-mas. It does not really reason to need a large tank of O2 unless you are making a LOT of beer... I have read reports of the small O2 tanks lasting a long time. I think the small tanks to go with the kit are only like $10ish... Here is a link to it: WILLIAM'S OXYGEN AERATION SYSTEM @ Williams Brewing

I guess if you need a big tank or use it for welding then you are ahead but if not then why go so big???

GL

Hang Glider · Dec 30, 2011

Yeah, I gotta say I was thinking along the lines of the OP, but my little red tank from the big box store has lasted quite long! - I do one-minute flushes in the carboy.

jholen · Dec 30, 2011

I looked at the William's oxygen setup however there is no way to monitor how much oxygen you are delivering to your wort.

I'd like to be able to write down in my notebook for each recipe how much oxygen I delivered and for how long - ie, "1 LPM for 50 seconds"

Plus.. when you look at it price wise.

Williams kit: $54.90 + $6.90 shipping + $10 for a disposable tank from Home Depot/Lowes = $71.80

This route: $60 (tank) + $30 (reg) + $20 (fill) + $15 (stone) = $125

So ~$55 for the ability to measure exactly how much Oxygen you are delivering. Worth it to me.

Schnibbz · Dec 30, 2011

Hang Glider said:
Yeah, I gotta say I was thinking along the lines of the OP, but my little red tank from the big box store has lasted quite long! - I do one-minute flushes in the carboy.

I have to disagree. My little red tanks, 5 or 6 different ones, from Home Depot lasted for 3 or 4 batches of beer each. Recently upgraded to a Harbor Freight O2 regulator for $35 and bought a welding tank on craigslist for $10.

outside92129 · Dec 30, 2011

I have both the little red disposable o2 tanks from home depot / lowes and the welding tanks. The disposable tanks are $10 and i seem to get 1/2 dozen uses out of them. I could do better but the regulators for those small tanks are crap and it's hard to carefully measure out- it almost seems like it's either full blast or none at all. What you really want is a tiny stream so no bubbles hit the surface, the bubbles get absorbed on the way up.

A tank fill (exchange really) is $19 at my local gas shop, and every 5th tank is free. They hold waaay more gas.

jholen · Dec 30, 2011

Good idea for checking Craigslist!

iaefebs · Dec 30, 2011

Schnibbz said:
I have to disagree. My little red tanks, 5 or 6 different ones, from Home Depot lasted for 3 or 4 batches of beer each. Recently upgraded to a Harbor Freight O2 regulator for $35 and bought a welding tank on craigslist for $10.

I guess I'll disagree, I put a hash mark on the tank each time I use the red tank. I got over 20 batches.

jholen · Dec 30, 2011

Just got off the phone with the local welding supply.

They sell filled tanks for $85 and refill tanks (they actually just exchange tanks) for $14.50. Seems kind of weird to buy a "NEW" tank only to take it and exchange it, but whatever.

I'm a longterm investment kind of guy, so considering I can get a big tank refilled for $14.50 compared to $10 for the little disposable ones, that to me is a good deal.

Not to mention, the more important aspect of being able to dial in my amount of oxygen I'm delivering.

SirBC · Dec 30, 2011

To the OP, the pic of that regulator shows the scale in PSI but the description says it gauged in flow rate (lpm). Is it a regulator or a flow meter? IMO you want both. You really want a low flow rate, around 0.5 to 1 LPM, which a low flow meter will give. Something like this:

jholen · Dec 30, 2011

SirBC said:
To the OP, the pic of that regulator shows the scale in PSI but the description says it gauged in flow rate (lpm). Is it a regulator or a flow meter? IMO you want both. You really want a low flow rate, around 0.5 to 1 LPM, which a low flow meter will give. Something like this:

Yeah, I see what you mean.

I believe on the medical regulators the LPM (flow-rate) is on the end of the regulator. That black dial on the end - I believe it has the etched numbers on there, and you simply dial that in to determine flow-rate.

boo boo · Dec 30, 2011

Make sure the stone is one there tight and do a test with the reg turned all the way up. You dont want it popping the stone off into your wort. .[/QUOTE said:
I had that happen to me a few brews back. I had to rack again to remove the stone. But that didn't hurt. Just a little more O2 to the mix.

tprokop · Dec 31, 2011

jholen is correct, the knob on the side does read in LPM. I suspect it's not actually correct, as it seems that lots of variables (like size of holes in the stone, depth in liquid, length of tubing) would affect the flow rate. It does give me something repeatable at least. I've attached a picture of my system. You can see the MFL/FFL I have inserted into the middle of the supply tube, that's just so I can take it apart to sanitize the stone. and for storage.

Hang Glider · Jan 1, 2012

Schnibbz said:
I have to disagree. My little red tanks, 5 or 6 different ones, from Home Depot lasted for 3 or 4 batches of beer each....

that's just bizarre - do you have it on full blast for 5 minutes each time?
Zymurgy and other sources indicated one full minute at a volume that barely made the wort bubble was sufficient. (lots of bubbles, foaming is just wasting it - you want it in solution, not as foam.)

day_trippr · Jan 1, 2012

I think I'd trust Chris White on how long/how much, because he actually used a DO meter to determine the oxygen concentration: 60 seconds of pure O2 at 1 liter per minute through a .5 micron stone in a 5.3 gallon batch at 75°F achieved 9.2ppm, 120 seconds reached 14.08ppm.

fwiw, I run my O2 setup at .5 lpm through a .5 micron stone for double those durations while constantly spinning the wort with my aeration rod with the attached stone at the bottom of the 6.5g carboy. Even at that lower rate the bubbling at the surface is easily discernible...

Cheers!

SPLASTiK · Jan 1, 2012

I use the same 0-8 regulator/flow meter on a small CGA540 welding tank just like tprokop.

If you buy a tank and don't want to exchange it, try calling a scuba diving shop. Mine was able to fill mine.

Isometric · Jan 1, 2012

SPLASTiK said:
I use the same 0-8 regulator/flow meter on a small CGA540 welding tank just like tprokop.

If you buy a tank and don't want to exchange it, try calling a scuba diving shop. Mine was able to fill mine.

Why a scuba shop, they will only be able to fill with filtered air and or some nitrox mix which they get by adding oxygen from 100lb. medical O2 tanks.

SirBC · Jan 1, 2012

day_trippr said:
I think I'd trust Chris White on how long/how much, because he actually used a DO meter to determine the oxygen concentration: 60 seconds of pure O2 at 1 liter per minute through a .5 micron stone in a 5.3 gallon batch at 75°F achieved 9.2ppm, 120 seconds reached 14.08ppm.

fwiw, I run my O2 setup at .5 lpm through a .5 micron stone for double those durations while constantly spinning the wort with my aeration rod with the attached stone at the bottom of the 6.5g carboy. Even at that lower rate the bubbling at the surface is easily discernible...

Cheers!

I use a 2 micron stone/~10-12 gallons wort and checked with a DO meter for 4 batches, stopping every couple of minutes to take a sample. I find that at pitching temps I needed about 4-5 min of O2 at 1L/min to get to 9-12 ppm. So I now just let it rip at 1L/min for 5 min and call it good.

SPLASTiK · Jan 1, 2012

Isometric said:
Why a scuba shop, they will only be able to fill with filtered air and or some nitrox mix which they get by adding oxygen from 100lb. medical O2 tanks.

I was under the impression they were filling my tank from the medical 02 tanks... but maybe I should ask then. I went there since it was closer to my house and they quoted me a cheaper price than the welding supplier by a large amount... who I think only did exchanges too.

jholen · Jan 1, 2012

$14.50 aint bad for an exchange. $4.50 more compared to the small disposable tanks from Home Depot.

I'm planning on going this route, just haven't placed the orders yet.

Oxygen Setup

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