[wakesk8r]

I have the red sea paint ball kit.I have been adjusting my bubble rate on a daily basis, I replaced the crappy needle valve with a fabco. When the system turned on yesterday there were no bubbles coming into the bubble counter. I turned up the needle valve and it was like an explosion of built up pressure.
Is there a chance my regulator is screwed up? It reads like it is fine on the guages.
Maybe the solenoid needs to be cleaned? I just dont know how
Any thoughts or ideas of what it may be?

thanks guys

 

[jjp2]

what is the low pressure on the regulator set to? it should be between 10 - 20 lbs.

 

[wakesk8r]

it's set at 1 bar or 15 psi.
It's almost like something is blocking the flow and when the pressure builds up enough it blows it free

 

[snafu]

is there a check valve in your system? just curious...

 

[wakesk8r]

yes, between bubble counter and reactor but not between regulator and bubble counter

 

[wakesk8r]

I installed a check valve between the bubble counter and regulator, seems it was sucking a bit of water in, Not sure if it fixed the problem or not. We'll see when it comes on

 

[hbosman]

I have a check valve between the diffuser and bubble counter and then placed a second check valve between the bubble counter and needle valve because, I noticed that when the solenoid closed, water from the bubble counter would go down the tube towards the fabco needle valve. Everything is running inline by the way, not all connected via brass on the regulator. You might want to see if you are not getting water into the needle valve.

I just very recently installed the solenoid in the correct way so, that was a new problem for me to solve.

 

[wakesk8r]

i think that is exactly what is happening, I redid everything only to mess something up. I hooked it all up inline and now I have a leak somewhere. Emptied a brand new 20oz bottle overnight. I'm getting bottles refilled today so I'll have a better idea if thats whats wrong.
I recently installed a new bubble counter that holds a pretty good amount of liquid, I think that is what is getting sucked into the needle valve

 

[hbosman]

I have to wait a month to see if adding a solenoid was worth the aggrevation. I had a nice stable setup with no algae except gda that I would have to wipe at water changes. My stems require trimming on a weekly basis. I would run co2 24/7 at a cost of about $5.00 a month. I think I have the solenoid working properly now. I just have to see how much adjustment I have to do with light and co2 timing to avoid algae. Even if it gives me 50% savings on co2 usage (which I doubt), it would take a long time to realize any cost savings. As far as losing fish, I have never lost any. Because I never had to use more than 3 bps (46 gallon tank) to get a green drop checker.

Anyway I'll get off my Soap box now about the necessity of running a solenoid. Which, has the potential to melt co2 tubing or burn the back of my hand, just to save $2.50 worth of co2 month.

I did buy the solenoid to see, if my thinking was wasn't totally wrong though. Hopefully, it will be one of those things that will make me wish I bought one a long time ago.

 

[Momotaro]

The Second Rule of Planted Aquariums, with The First Rule of Planted Aquariums being patience, is if something is working - stick with it!

All kidding aside, give it some time and see what happens. You won't burn through your CO2 tubing.

 

[hbosman]

The Second Rule of Planted Aquariums, with The First Rule of Planted Aquariums being patience, is if something is working - stick with it!

All kidding aside, give it some time and see what happens. You won't burn through your CO2 tubing.

It's installed and working so I'm committed or should be! :biggrin: