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Re: APD #1269 CO2 regulators
I'm using an ancient Victor 2 stage oxygen regulator that I had collecting
dust. I switched the inlet fitting to CO2. Because it's a 2-stage
regulator, it is stable at very low delivery pressures. For a while I had
been using a tiny Victor single-stage oxygen regulator, but it was not stable
and eventually started leaking (the delivery pressure would creep up without
bounds even when the regulator pressure was set to zero). I don't have a
needle valve; I restrict the flow with several inches of copper tubing that I
hammered flat in the middle until it would just barely pass any CO2 at 30
psi. I guess I'm operating at about 1 psi, but if this regulator breaks the
copper restrictor will prevent me from having a disaster. The CO2 runs to
the inlet tube of my little power filter. I have no idea how many CFH I am
running.
I looked up acetylene regulators in a Victor product catalog, and all of them
had a maximum inlet pressure of 3000 psi (you would expect about 800 psi
since the tank-side guage only goes to 400). I guess they use the same
castings for all the regulators and just change the springs, guages, and
fittings. Since acetylene has a working pressure of less than 15 psi,
acetylene regulators might be more stable than oxygen or CO2 regulators. You
could also get a new spring installed to make it operate in the "natural gas"
range (0 to about 2 psi).
best regards,
bob