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Scott 18a or 18b Regulator - Any Good?

2K views 7 replies 3 participants last post by  PlantedRich 
#1 ·
Apologies as I have not found much info in a search. Turning up quite a few of these used Scott Specialty Gases regulators in the $50 range.


Looks to be a dual-stage with the model 18a delivery pressure of 1-50 psig and the 18b being 2-100 psig.


Is this a good buy?


Thanks for any/all advice!
 
#4 ·
Without getting too deep into the research, there are a couple items to consider. One big one is that we don't ask much of our regs compared to many users. We don't have to have heavy duty for our light duty so that opens it up. Second is that we need to know what use it is set for or plan to convert it by swapping out the nipple and nut. CGA 320 is what we want but we can convert from O2, nitrogen, etc. with some work if we are up to it. Then the major question on these two might be what pressure you plan to work depending on what diffuser, reactor, etc. at the end. Many/most will be at lower than 50PSI but the one reg might be walking close to the line. Look at the gauges to see how well you might be able to read a change from say 23PSI to 25? Some gauges are pretty course in their readings and I like to avoid those.
The reg itself is almost certain to be good enough for our limited uses.
 
#5 ·
Yeah looks like the dial increments by 2 up to 60 so should be easy enough to dial-in and don't think I'll need any psi > 50, right?. Will need to swap out the nipple for a CGA-320 but that only adds $10 or so. Seems like a two-stage for $30 shipped is worth pulling trigger on.


Thanks for the help/
 
#6 ·
Without looking further and from what I read, I would agree!! What I see is that the really much cheaper regs that come with off the shelf sets are not too often the failure. It is the small items like solenoid and needle valves which often give problems rather than the reg itself. So in looking at more commercial grade dual stage regs, they should be a big leap ahead if not used/abused, etc.
Regs rarely wear out but they can be abused to the point of failing. Things that go wrong with regs in industry? They go underwater in floods, etc. They get frozen and people thaw them with a torch to get them working, They wind up dropped off the third floor and get bent up. So many of them will last us a LONG time.
 
#7 ·
I am amazed by the help people on this forum are willing to give to someone as new to the forum as I am. PlantedRich, thanks for helping to confirm that what I was learning was correct, and thanks to charlie 1 for taking the time last night to send me additional eBay options. Really appreciate the help getting a good start on CO2 for my 125g!

I ended up with a brand new AGA High Purity GPT270 (GPT270-125-590-BV) for $90 shipped.
 
#8 ·
Glad to help. We all need to remember that we were all new at some point. What I see happening on lots of issues is that we all get busy and it is easy to say that it just doesn't matter so we stop talking to each other. We don't have to agree with the other view but if we stop talking, we are really in deep with no way out and I don't even want to think what that leads to.
Once you get the parts together, you may look back and see it is really easy to put the thing together. It's the shopping that can kill you!
 
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