DIY CO2 recipe for 20oz bottles

[Bk718]

1- the temperature is 2 low, I would suggest placing the bottle with the solution into a water bath and adding a heater so the temperature stays at 80-90 degrees.
2- Check the yeast packets, they contain expiration date
3- you can either try soap test where you get a water bottle with some soap in it, place it on the spots like the caps of the bottles and see if you get any soap bubbles = leak
or you can just place the bottles under water and squeezing them lightly to see if theres bubbles like that..
4- since you are getting bubbles that means that the yeast might be working but as #1 said, the temp is 2 low

 

[James0816]

Temperature too low you say....hmmmm....well....On this weeks episode of...When DIY CO2 goes bad.

The only available heater I had at the moment was one of the older styles that doesn't have the temp settings on it. So...I put some warm water in a container, dropped in the reactor bottle and put the heater in. Wow...big difference. The bubbles were coming out now 1 per second. Was pushing through the air stone just fine. So I left it. Just went downstairs to start working on some things and thought I would check on it. No Bubbles! how could this be?? I looked at the reactor bottle at it was filled to the top. The seperator bottle was nearly full as well (3/4). Pulled the heater out....broken!! DOH! water was hot too. Must've been too hot. I did manage to take a picture of the bottles after I rinsed them out. Notice anything?

reactor bottle to the left, seperator bottle on the right

 

[Bk718]

lol you boiled them...

The heater has the turning knob on top?? whats the wattage of the heater?

Go for a 2L bottle and a small gas separator.

 

[James0816]

Man I am not having a very good go at the CO2 right now. My 20oz just hasn't done anything. On Tuesday I setup a 20L and as of this morning it too just isn't producing. Both bottles are sitting in a pan of water that is heated to about 84. I am using seperator bottles (20oz) on both. The best that I can tell at the moment is that I have no leaks but will fill the pan up completely this afternoon to submerge the bottles to verify. I checked the date on the yeast package and I'm good there. It was hydrated using warm water (used BK's) instructions. Strange. Are there any other factors I should look at? It sounds pretty straight forward to me.

 

[Squawkbert]

Did you treat the water foor the yeast? Maybe your tap water is high enough in Cl or chloramine to kill the yeast. At any rate, you'll get it - just be patient.

 

[Bk718]

hmm k lets start this from the beginning.

1- take a clean new 2L bottle
2- make a hole in the cap smaller than the diameter of the airline tubing
3- cut the airline tubing on one end at a 45degree angle (easier to fit it into the tiny hole) once you have part of the tubing through the cap use pliers to pull out about one or two inches out.
4- for the mix do the following:
--Add 5 cups of warm water (not hot or cold) to the bottle (can treat it with a dechlorinator as Squawk suggested)
--Add 1.5cups of sugar to the bottle with water and mix it completely
--Pour out some of the sugar/water mix into a shot glass and place in it 1/4 teaspoon of yeast (active dry will be good). Let this stand for 10min then mix, then another 5min, mix again and pour it back into the bottle. (if you have some yeast left in the shot glass pour back some of the sugar/water mix to get it out)
--Add 1teaspoon of baking soda.
-- Mix the whole thing up good!!!!!!!!!

5- Place the bottle in a warm place (80 degrees should be fine) and wait 4-12hrs for some bubbles.

 

[Sploke]

Whats the point of adding baking soda? Being a homebrewer, this is pretty counterintuitive.

 

[Bk718]

The whole idea behind baking soda is that it acts as a buffer/stabilizer. So that the mix does not give you a major burst of co2 one second and close to nothing the next. The mix becomes more stable.. hmm if i find the link i had on baking soda in a diy co2 setup ill post it here

 

[Sploke]

I would like to read that because it doesn't make much sense. You can accomplish the same thing by adding a smaller amount of yeast, and you won't be inhibiting the yeast's biological process.

 

[James0816]

Yep....done exactly as you advised with exception to the treating of the tap water. Running off a well so I have no nasties to get rid of (I hope). And I did not mix the final solution really, really well. Just kind of swished it around a bit. Maybe I should go and give it a good shaking up.