UK Getting big co2 cylinders and cylinder type

[Sinisterzane]

Hello all,

I phoned round some places today trying to get the big co2 cylinders..

I found a place that does the small cylinders (think they are 6kg) for £25.00 each...I need them for a 5m x 4m sealed room of which I dont fancy visiting much.

I tried phoning somewhere that does the big cylinders like welders use etc of which are shoulder height but they said I would have to be in some kind of a contract to get them??

I was also told there are several different types of which have different co2 densities..argon etc?

Which type is it that I should be asking for?

I could get like 4 of the small ones (provided they are the right ones) and swap them over but doubt they will last long if I am keeping it to about 1200ppm continuously

Anyone any ideas?

 

[Sinisterzane]

spent hours trawling the net..I think I am after the 35kg or 50kg bottles....

 

[overbudjet]

Why you don't use burner?

 

[Bush Dr]

You'll need a supply contract for the bigger tanks, the gas supplier then delivers one of his tanks .... usual to have minimum order per month as well

Remember this is usually to a company with a reasonable turn around and they will expect you to specify the gas

Be prepared for lots of questions and deposits up front on tanks etc

 

[mack 10]

^^yeah is a pain in the ass to get, you will prob have to join there membership(1 year usually cost's £30-40 and £25 a refill, or is it the other way around,i forget,lol plus you might even get blagged for a deposit on the tank,lol) Beer pump for a party is a good excuse or welding? i actually have 2 spare tanks as i binned the co2 as too much hassle,.
Mack.

 

[foomar]

The Health and Safety have really tightened up on bottled gas supplies over the years , used to wander into BOC and pay cash for any welding gasses and take them away in the van.

They now require a business acount , fire brigades storage inspection certificate and will insist on delivering to that adress only.

I now refill my portapack via a scrapyard at a considerable price hike , going through a welding shop or garage for the amount of mig gas you will need might attract attention.


Not had much luck with a burner , the amount of water they produce in a sealed room led to mould , without extra venting which took the co2 with it , two runs with mig gas sealed were not much better than simply doubling the airflow , and a lot of fuss and expense saved.

 

[Bush Dr]

two runs with mig gas sealed were not much better than simply doubling the airflow , and a lot of fuss and expense saved.

^^^^ Agreed .......Good intake and a big ass exhaust fans will bring stunning results for relatively small outlay

CO2 in the UK is a hassle not worth the cost and extra visitors

 

[Sinisterzane]

Am i correct in thinking I can go and buy the smaller 8kg ones straight off the shelf for £25 a bottle? Would probably last about 10 hours mind you...

 

[foomar]

If you like home brewed beer and wine , its worth combineing the two hobbies , useing the riseing heat from a veg box instead of a heated brewing mat to ferment and routeing the CO2 down into the box.

The plants definately benefit even from an uncontrolled flow like this , the smell from brewing and fermenting hides growing weed well.

Last time i borrowed an accurate CO2 meter , forty gallons of beer and a dozen demijohns of wine was raiseing the ppm from an ambient 350 to 800+ unsealed in two cubic metres of volume , so its impractical for anything very large.


The waste beer yeast makes fantastic compost outdoors in a bin , or a tasty snack grilled on toast , a northern delicacy.

 

[Sinisterzane]

Any ideas how long 2 x 8kg cylinders will last going 24/7 in a sealed 5m x 5m x 2.2m high room?

 

[Sinisterzane]

I am thinking of one of these controllers...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ppm3-Co2-Co...216?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3ccaa50950

with two of these

http://www.ebay.com/itm/digigro-Reg...820?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cba63d624

And the controller will trigger both the regulators. I will have to use the 6 or 8kg bottles so if they last a reasonable amount of time it will be ok

The controller has a 4-20mA output on it of which I will put on an SMS controller so I can see via text message what the current ppms are and it will alarm me if they drop below 500 i.e time to swap the bottles over....I will get 4 bottles so I can swap the empties over..

Thats the current plan anyway......

 

[mack 10]

^^why not get the ecotechnics one, fit ya bottle turn the dial to the size of your room and bingo, youre done.Comes with a guage to show when your empty. Cheap(ish) and reliable.
Mack.

 

[mack 10]

The dam thing used to make me jump. Their you are checking out your plants when TSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH!! the Co2 blast's out,lmao.....The first time it went off i shit it, hahahaha
Mack.

 

[Sinisterzane]

^^why not get the ecotechnics one, fit ya bottle turn the dial to the size of your room and bingo, youre done.Comes with a guage to show when your empty. Cheap(ish) and reliable.
Mack.

I really want to see the actual ppms of the room...I could go for the esoterics one and a seperate ppm meter but the cheapest meter ive seen is £140

 

[mack 10]

ebay is your friend, i've seen them for £60-70. the are bombproof. i payed 150 i think? was great till the "managenent" made it hard to refill the tanks. Do you ave a fully sealed room with A/C ? if not i'd just get some big in and out fans, much less headache. an it works everytime! Mack.

 

[Sinisterzane]

ebay is your friend, i've seen them for £60-70. the are bombproof. i payed 150 i think? was great till the "managenent" made it hard to refill the tanks. Do you ave a fully sealed room with A/C ? if not i'd just get some big in and out fans, much less headache. an it works everytime! Mack.

Its a 5m x 5m x 2.2 m sealed room with 2 x air split air conditioners, big humidifier and 2 x 3m x 2m tents in it with a vent space.

I dont much like the idea of the esoteric ones of which basically work on timers dependant on your settings of which could go horribly wrong as to me it seems like a bit of guess work the way they work...the ones that kick it at an actual ppm level seem a lot better......

 

[foomar]

I really want to see the actual ppms of the room...

When i have use of a meter i manage to borrow an accurate and callibrated data logging model that sells for around 1500 quid to industry users and gas fitters , two of the cheap models off fleabay were hopelessly innacurate in comparison , reading 770 ppm and 1125ppm when the true reading was 970 +/- 2% ppm , and they drift worse than a cheap pH pen with no easy way to callibrate.

The errors were larger at high canopy temps , at best they give a relative figure , but if you want to really know the actual numbers the quality meters are expensive , but can be serviced and kept working for decades if you buy an established brand , and have a resale value.

Quality models start around 300 quid and are good enougth for our needs , well worth paying a bit more for data logging facility via USB or card.


The logger set every five mins showed the CO2 slowly falling dureing the light hours from 340 ppm to below 150 ppm by six hours in , despite what seemed to be adequate ventilation , restrictng growth and looking more like a nute issue.
One of those cheap meters would have read 290 , near ambient , and the problem would have been missed.



Do you have an expectation of yield increase with CO2 , would 20% be in the ballpark ?

 

[mack 10]

persoanally i think the other way around, the eco is simple, buying this and that and trying to work out how much C02 you need.
good luck what ever. any pics bro?

mack.

 

[Sinisterzane]

Found a crazy man at an industrial estate today who sells rabbits and gas. £25.00 for the 6.4kg knee height ones and £80.00 for ones 5 times the volume..think they are 35kg (takes 2 people to lift them) no VAT and no deposit