JBL CO2 regulator and needle valve setup

[stevewoody]

I got a JBL CO2 system (500g cylinder regulator and solenoid) from ebay recently and believe I have set up the system correctly.

Initially I set up the bubble rate to 30 per minute in a 35 gallon FW tank and I am watching the pH to see the effect.

The problem I have is that the outlet pressure shows about 1.4 bar during daytime operation and rises to 4 bar overnight when the solenoid closes.
As a result when the solenoid opens there is a pulse of CO2 to the reactor which made me jump the first time I experienced it, and it gave the fish a bit of a shock too.

Is this normal with a solenoid and timer, or is the needle valve not working correctly?

Steve

 

[coach_z]

something doesnt seem right, all you should hear is your selenoid click on. my milwaukee reg does not change its pressure ever.

i dont really know how to trouble shoot this problem but did you set your operating pressure to 1.4 bar when your needle valve was wide open? Maybe try a lower operating pressure, like 1bar

 

[timwag2001]

do you have the needle valve all the way open? do you adjust your bubble count with the regulator instead of the needle valve?
if your getting that much co2 out at once i would imagine that the fluid in the bubble counter isnt lasting too long either.

 

[stevewoody]

The JBL system uses the reactor as a bubble counter, so no water to lose.

After further investigation it looks like the regulator is faulty/needs servicing as it should be maintaining about 1.5 bar.

I guess the regulator valve is leaking slightly and allowing the pressure to increase overnight while the solenoid valve is closed.

Thanks for the suggestions

Steve

 

[coach_z]

hope it all gets sorted out!