Oxygen bottles

[2nd Street Brewery]

Ok I'll start off by saying that I am obviously doing something wrong. For you guys that use the red oxy bottles to oxigenate your wort, do you leave the regulator on after use? I've gone through two bottles real fast so I know I have a leak some place. I don't know if the bottles reseal if you disconnect regulator or not. I leave mine attached.

 

[Chris_Dog]

I take mine off and haven't been through 1 in maybe 4 months.

 

[Buford]

I always remove mine after use. Those regulators aren't sealed worth a damn. You turn the knob on and can feel O2 leaking out around it. I don't trust it enough to leave it on the tank.

The tanks do reseal when the reg is unscrewed.

 

[boo boo]

I unscrew mine also after noticing it leaking after i used it.

 

[ajf]

And I leave mine connected, and don't lose any O2. Perhaps I've been lucky.

-a.

 

[Jim Karr]

Try leak testing it with some soapy suds. Make a sudsy solution in a cup of warm water, rub some around the connection, and watch to see if any bubbles appear.

Hey, this was post 500......I should have posted a "picture". (Nudge, nudge, say no more.)

 

[the_bird]

I disconnect; no reason I can think of to leave it attached.

I've had crappy luck with those regulators; one broke without me doing anything to it, the current one leaks like a sieve at times. Can't figure out why, nor does it seem to be serviceable.

 

[chase]

If you consider BYO's answer to the oxygen question, each container should hold enough oxygen for about 50 uses. That's assuming you deliver .8g per use, get 100% diffusion w/ 0 loss, and there is no leaking.

That is clearly an ideal situation, but I've heard many people say that they get about 20 uses out of it, when they open the valve for 30 seconds.

 

[Liquidicem]

Slightly off topic but does anyone know where to buy those cheap O2 regulators? I could probably get one from a home brew store but do any other stores sell them? I'd like to find somewhere local that it doesn't need to be shipped from.

 

[malkore]

And I leave mine connected, and don't lose any O2. Perhaps I've been lucky.

-a.

ditto. had mine since about thanksgiving and still using the same tank. I think it's hit or miss whether the regulator will push the valve down on the tank even when the knob is all the way off.

those O2 cylinders are pretty cheaply made, so the threading and valve pin height on cylinder might be half the problem, not the regulator.

so far mine's holding up (knock on wood)

 

[2nd Street Brewery]

Well I got one use out of the first bottle. Figured maybe I didn't shut it off tight enough. The second one lasted longer, maybe 10 batches but no more. so I guess I'll be taking the regulator off after each use from now on. I just never used them before and didn't know if there was some kind of membrane that was punctured when you inserted the regulator.