CO2 cylinder questions

V

vthokie

JW
Sep 29, 2005
44
0
6
South Carolina, USA
I'm thinking about setting up a pressurized CO2 system and have read lots of posts on the topic. I'm thinking of getting a 10lb cylinder, as that seems to be the largest that will fit under my stand.

Most posters suggest swapping cylinders at a welding supply shop. I've called about 7 shops in my area and none of them carry 10lb cylinders, and therefore do not swap.

So I'll need to buy a cylinder. My questions:

1) can a refill be done while I wait? does it take long?

2) i understand that cylinders need to be tested/recertified every 5 yrs or so. Is this something that most shops can do? how long does it take?

thanks!
 
welcome to the world of pressurized co2!

i can only answer question #1 - yes, 4 minutes -

but it depends on the shop, not all places can do refills on location and y ou have to swap out your tank (even if you bought your own brand new one you end up with a used one 10 minutes later). the Airgas location that i go to is only open M-F 8-4 so i actually ahve to take a day off from work to get my tank filled.

oh, and bring gloves....the tank will give you frostbite while carrying it to your car
 
I go to a welding supply for filling and it takes 6+ hours and costs $17.
Since I have a 10 lb brushed aluminum tank, I prefer not to swap it for
a repainted steel tank.
When I'm due for a pressure test I'll have to take it to a fire extinguisher business.
Good luck
Charles
 
The inpsections are a govt thing and most, if not all shops, send the cylanders out for the inspection. I was told it would take 2-3 weeks before my owned bottle would come back, I switched over to a swap system at that time- I gave them my bottle and the 20 odd dollar cost gfor the inspection and now no loger have to worry about it.

If you take co2 off a tank which uses it for 2-3 weeks, you are going to see problems with plants and algae you would rather not.
 
i have a 20lb cylinder that i got filled locally. i bought the cylinder online from http://co2-canisters.com/index1.html They ship the cylinder empty and its up to you to fill it.i had to call a couple places and one plce was a sawp place for immediate replacement of gas or you can wait for them to fiill your personal one when they do refills or the like the place i wound up going to that is a HUGE gas supply place and i was able to go, pay my 32 bux and wait about 30 mins while other people got their stuff filled and then got mine filled. All in all, i like this cause i get the same cylinder back that i paid for.
 
It certainly sounds like less hassle to just swap cylinders. Maybe I'll just go with a 5lb cylinder instead since those are readily available around here.

Thanks for the replies!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom