CO2 Flow Meter

[_dirty_]

Hey all does anyone use a flow meter when carbing? I’ve been using the following but have ended up with the same issue each time I replace it, liquid (beer) backfills into it and then in to lines when the pressure equalizes over time.

has anyone used one that has a check valve or doesn’t face this issue?

JIAWANSHUN Oxygen Air Flow Meter... JIAWANSHUN Oxygen Air Flow Meter 0.1-1.5LPM / Gas Flowmeter with Copper Connector for Oxygen Air Gas Conectrator: Amazon.com: Tools & Home Improvement

 

[day_trippr]

I have never read of anyone metering CO2 during carbonation, ever.

Why would one do that aside from curiosity?

Cheers!

 

[_dirty_]

Limiting the flow of the co going into the carb stone. Instead of 15 psi all going into the tank over say an hour or however long it takes to pressurize the vessel it prolongs the process and allows for the CO2 to absorb.

I’m not a chemist, another member suggested it and it’s worked so didn’t question it.

 

[day_trippr]

Interesting. Not sure what the point is though when there are some handy physics that will make the carbonation process simple and bulletproof.
Ie: take our favorite carbonation table, which shows what the volumes of CO2 vs temperature and pressure will eventually end up at given the fullness of time to reach equilibrium.

Now, note there's no hint of "rate" here. Simply input this pressure at that temperature and wait long enough et voila!
Perfect carbonation! It's like magic!
So, why complicate things with flow meters, solenoids, timers...whatevers?
Just set the pressure given the temperature and let it rip

Cheers!

 

[_dirty_]

Truth

 

[day_trippr]

Certainly, slowing the flow of CO2 into a vessel while intending to carbonate the contents therein is counterintuitive. Or at least diffrerent.

While there's a healthy population of folks that use the "set and forget" carbonation process here that might take a couple of weeks, there are many others looking for ways to force the required amount of CO2 into the beer as quickly as possible - thus the whole "burst carbonation" procedure, that can end up with nicely carbonated beer if done correctly, or result in an over-carbonated horror show best dealt with using this emergency process

But still, the idea of restricting the CO2 flow - aside from just dialing down the regulator pressure - or even just trying to measure the rate of CO2 flow - are not things I've seen discussed here to date...

Cheers!

 

[_dirty_]

From the thread I got it from

No problem, another great tool to have is a CO2 flow meter, a device the goes between your gas regulator and carb stone. It allows you to slow down the flow of gas, still at the same pressure, it just means instead of blasting through your carb stone at high flow, causing big bubbles which just go through the beer into the head space, it reduces the flow for a finer mist of bubbles, which get absorbed into the beer more readily. This will greatly speed up the process of carbonation.
By burst carbing with 30 psi the bubbles are big and fast, going straight through the beer and filling the headspace, with hardly any getting absorbed. Then you turn down the psi to serving pressure... Problem is, your headspace has more pressure than the CO2 coming into the Brite, so none will go in, untill that headspace worth of gas slowly absorbs into the beer, eventually ending up lower than the serving pressure, which then allows the CO2 to flow again. You never want the headspace to be at a higher pressure than your serving pressure. It has to be less in order for the beer to take on more co2. Having the carb stone eliminates the burst carbing that you may or may not of done with kegs.

 

[day_trippr]

Ah, ok. There was a rather important item missing from that quote - the "carb stone".
Also, the intention of actually "burst carbing" the beer.

fwiw, if I was going to use a carbonation lid (that comes with a separate length of tubing to an attached air stone) the more important thing would be to ramp the pressure in small increments. No need for a mechanical restrictor, just set the CO2 regulator for 1 psi to start, then increment by 1 psi over time until one hits the desired terminal pressure as dictated by a carbonation table or calculator, given the temperature of the beer.

Anything one connects to a submerged dip tube is going to be subject to back-flow unless there's a check valve to prevent same. That goes back to your original post. There are any number of viable check valves available in various markets - McMaster-Carr carries a metric crapton of them made from food-safe/GRAS materials...

https://www.mcmaster.com/check-valves/
Cheers!

 

[Golddiggie]

The corny keg carbonating lid I had came with instructions to start off at 3-4psi and then increase by 2psi each hour until you hit your target. Then let rest for 24 hours before testing to see if the beer was carbonated to where you wanted it to be. You release the keg pressure before you put the gas onto it's post so you don't get any backwash into the gas line.

Pretty simple process if you follow the instructions. No flow meter regulator needed either. Just your standard CO2 (psi) regulator.

I use pressure regulators for all CO2 uses. I had a flow meter regulator for oxygenating the wort (as it leaves the plate chiller). That's the only place in my brewing setup with a flow meter regulator.

 

[day_trippr]

[...]
I use pressure regulators for all CO2 uses. I had a flow meter regulator for oxygenating the wort (as it leaves the plate chiller). That's the only place in my brewing setup with a flow meter regulator.

I could say exactly the same...

Cheers!

 

[Muddbug]

Hey all does anyone use a flow meter when carbing? I’ve been using the following but have ended up with the same issue each time I replace it, liquid (beer) backfills into it and then in to lines when the pressure equalizes over time.

has anyone used one that has a check valve or doesn’t face this issue?

JIAWANSHUN Oxygen Air Flow Meter... JIAWANSHUN Oxygen Air Flow Meter 0.1-1.5LPM / Gas Flowmeter with Copper Connector for Oxygen Air Gas Conectrator: Amazon.com: Tools & Home Improvement

To answer your question, no I just set the pressure and it does its thing. But it's something to think about.

I just order this exact air flow meter but for a diffent reason. I now purge the keg with C02 from fermentation and will use the meter to measure the C02 flow rate from the fermenter because that's the type of stupid things I do. I just want to know the flow rate.