Need help w/ my new CO2 tank!

Hello,
I am just now making the jump to kegging into 5 gallon ball lock corny kegs. I just picked up a 5# CO2 tank and a Draught Tech 1000P regulator for a total of $60 (WHAT A STEAL!). Using 7.6 lbs as an estimated empty weight (taken from another thread), my tank has about 3 lbs of gas in it, which is a plus!

I am curious how much life to expect from 3lb of CO2, and I am unsure of how to tell whether my inspection is up to date. I have included pictures of the tank/regulator as well as the stickers. Really hoping somebody can either tell me how to read this information, or tell me how old my tank is/whether it has a valid inspection.

Thanks!

 

The last inspection date “should” be stamped into metal around the top.

 

The stickers are just generic stickers identifying what is in the tank. Your last certification date, as well as the empty weight will be stamped in the bottle.

You should be able to get 4-5 kegs out of a 5 lb bottle. Obviously that depends on how much you use it to purge, etc.

 

I've been doing significantly better than 4 or 5 kegs out of a 5-pound cylinder of CO2. I've never tried to count them, but I'm going to say that I will get 10-15 out of one cylinder, depending on how much I'm force carbing and purging kegs.

The limiting factor usually seems to be if you have a leak. Then you don't get very many kegs out of one cylinder.

 

I'm still on my first fill of a 5 lb, not sure where I heard that 4-5 number. I guess I'll be good to go for a while with the 20 lb tank that showed up today for the new build.

 

Thanks! I think I figured out that the tank's hydro-cert is expired, so I will probably just swap it out at Airgas when it is empty. Considering it has roughly 3lbs of gas in it, I will just leave it for now. I am a little bummed that I bought an expired tank off craigslist, but considering I got it and a Draught Tech regulator for $60, what is another $15 for the "re-cert" fee at Airgas.... assuming they even notice. Probably just going to play dumb and ask for a swap. I can't be blamed for what I don't know!

 

No issue with expired 5lbs. Any distributor will swap them for ~20 expired or not. If not expired and you have a place local to fill it, should be around 5-10$.