CO2 Injection Rip-off....Why?

[aquarob]

Why are pressurized CO2 systems so expensive? Really. Id like to know. It seems like a pretty simply thing, just to look at. You have the regulator, a couple of gauges,selenoid, and a bubble counter. Mainly all brass and glass and im guessing here, vulcanized rubber. Now I dont know where you guys live, but around here, you can buy a brass doorknob (70 % solid brass) for about 8 bucks. So, figuring high, lets say you would need 3 of those for enough brass to make the brass parts/valves. The rest is glass and cheap tin needles.

So....

$24.00 bucks in brass, estimated.
2-3 Tiny glass disks, no more then $10
A few rubber gaskets, $5
cheap gauge needles (tin) $5

So you are looking at about $45-50 bucks for materials, at DIY prices, assuming you knew how. Yet the cheapest system I can find is near $200. I just dont get it. Seems to me that with manufacturing plants cranking these things out, the cost would be a lot closer to actual production costs then they are. Why is the mark-up so high? Its not as though everyone and their sister has a need for a CO2 injection system. Aquaria is popular yes, but when compared to the dog/cat owners, we are a niche market. So it cant be supply and demand. Brass, glass, and rubber are all common materials. /shrug

Thoughts?

 

[new2tanks]

i think the charge is more expensive for complete sytems bcoz of the knowledge , time, and work it goes into building a lil DIY sytem for yourself...
someone who finds DIY systems hard to make or doesnt know much about it will just give up the goose , fork some dough over and get the readymade system.

 

[raymond_h2002]

The equipment used to make these products must be much more precise than that used to make a doorknob. No one cares if a doorknob is lopsided by a millimeter.. but a fraction of a millimeter could mean catastrophic failure in a system that is meant to contain products under a thousand pounds of pressure. It probably also takes a lot longer to turn out parts for a pressurized system than it takes to mold a doorknob.

You also mentioned that the market is much smaller for these products, which probably has a lot to do with the pricing. They have to charge more to recover their costs.

 

[jhj]

Make your own. Buy a beer regulator ($40-$45), remove the hose barb that comes with it, attach a 1/4" NPT to 1/8" NPT (<$2) adapter, buy a clippard needle vavle ($10.xx), screw that in your 1/8" port. Thats it. Buy a few feet of Polyurethance tubing (approx $0.50/foot) from HD and attach that to an airstone or another diffusion method. I would also buy some teflon tape (<$1) and use it on your fittings

Solenoid, check valve and bubble counter are not needed but are a good idea.


Not to mention that the Milwaukee and JBJ plus others chinese equipment has quality control issues. The Needle Valves are horrible as well.

 

[Walker_]

heres a little hint; EVERYTHING in the fish world add an 80% markup right off the bat... Its all economics people in the fish world are willing to pay that much for a system; so the market will yield whatever it can.....

NOW if you want to be sneaky go down to the local welding shop; with a bit of fiddling you should be able to get things done for under $50.... But if your not very handy or your time is worth more than $150 for the day or so its going to take to do the legwork and build it; then just order everything off the net;
Now I just ordered a Milwaukee reg, solenoid, bubble counter, and PH control unit and paid $165.96 before shipping; IM not too sure how well Milwaukee stacks up against the rest of the other options, but my guess/hope is that it will at least get the job done…
Id say almost anything can be DIY; its just a question of time, hassle, and quality… IE id never buy a ready made filtration system; you can build yourself something with 1000% more capacity for the same material cost; BUT if your lawyer, Doctor, Pilot AND or have a family you may be more likely to spend the cash for a ready made system so you have more time to spend on things that you find more important…
BUT if you’re a starving student like me; Or building things is relaxing for you well then DIY is the way to go

But back to the point; welding gear… Industrial auctions or Medical auctions; you should be able to scrounge parts for a system…. If you have to machine any parts to bridge the difference in threading just be VERY careful the last thing you need is a high pressure part failing on you… (BTW if you blow something up; its your fault no liability etc… etc… etc…)

 

[Jay]

Rob..I have a little 10# co2 cylinder sitting next to my tank in the Sun Room.

The pressure in that tank new is what? Eight Hundred Pounds pre Sq. Inch?
A small rocket no?

The cork in that cylinder (rocket) is my regulator and needle valve, and I am going to go cheapo?...I don' think so

Jay

 

[RTR]

I very strongly agree w/Jay. I have seen the aftermath in a lab where the regulator went, I do not care to have that in my home, no way.

 

[jhj]

I very strongly agree w/Jay. I have seen the aftermath in a lab where the regulator went, I do not care to have that in my home, no way.

Even more the reason to build your own...I got a cornelius regulator and clippard needle valve, the best you can get. The adapters were purchased from HD. It took me less than 15 minutes to assemble.

 

[pbecot01]

Drs Foster and Smith sell their regulator setup for like 70 bucks. Don't ever buy something like this at a pet-store... always buy online.