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Re: CO2 bottle pressure gauge



     >Right, more or less. In the last 5 years or so, I've bought 7 or 8
     >20 pound CO2 tanks. Each showed the exact same pressure (about 1200
     >psi) and then, over a few days or a week, dropped to 0. As soon
     >as that needle moves, the tank is empty - you're running on fumes.
     
     Hmmm, this isn't my experience.  I recently refilled my 20# cylinder 
     after watching it go from the usual 900 psi down to about 100 psi over 
     the past two months (before Thanksgiving; I got a refill Jan 11).  My 
     tank uses about 2 bubbles/second.
     
     You have a leak somewhere.  Did you do the soapy water test (put soapy 
     water on all your connections, and check for bubbles)?  7 or 8 tanks 
     over 5 years sounds like a lot, unless you have hundreds of gallons of 
     aquaria.
     
     Are you running high pressure through vinyl tubing somewhere (like 
     from the regulator to the needle valve)?  Vinyl tubing is slightly gas 
     permeable.  I use copper tubing between the regualtor and the needle 
     valve, and vinyl from the needle valve to the tank.