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re: Check valves for CO2
James Purchase <jpurch at interlog_com> sez:
> I suppose that they are concerned about water from an aquarium getting
> sucked backwards and into things like Needle/Regulating Valves and/or
> Regulators. I just don't know how "secure" these little bits of plastic
> truly are, and when considering a set-up that might contain several hundreds
> of dollars worth of valves and regulators, I'd like to make sure that my
> investment is protected from water damage.
I don't trust check valves, and I doubt that they are really
necessary. It is a failure prone device that is used primarily
because conventional wisdom tells you it's a good idea. The fine
metering valves specs that I've looked at were suitible for
controlling liquids or gas, so I don't think they would be hurt by
dirty water. The metering valve is gonna be operated almost closed at
the flow rates we use, so I really doubt that it would pass any water
(especially dirty water) to the regulator.
Check valves are used on welding regulators or torches to prevent
having
oxygen and fuel gas mix in the regulator or tank, possibly causing an
explosion. Check valves are used in plumbing to keep contaminated
water
out of the fresh water supply lines. Why do we use them again?
Putting on my flame suit,
Bob