Seltzer bottles

[Ascholten]

that's true grinders but I can almost guarantee you, all the bars, restaraunts, dives, hotels, etc who have kegs or carbonated beverages out of the fountain, use the same co2 as the industrial guys do, they both get it filled at the same place.   Perhaps what they are inferring is the 'end user' container is better checked???  Because in the end, the co2 comes from the big tank of it out back    Which gets refilled by the semi truck or train car that comes in every so often to do so.

Aaron

[chef glenn]

I just refilled my 32oz ex paintball co2 bottle at local paintball stor for $5.
Got the Dr Co2 adapter and hose w/ bottle on the 'Bay. $80 incl S/H.
Works like a champ, beats the $30 or $35 refill for propietary bottle.
   Still enjoy collecting old seltzer bottles at the thrifts and antique shope tho..

[mp]

Yeah ... so ... CO2 is the same where ever you buy it.

CO2 food grade tanks are lined with glass inside to prevent rusting inside the container.

Dr. CO2 attachment costs you 1/6 of the price of Sodastream or less depending on where you fill up.

Right?

 

[chef glenn]

Correct...$5.00 to fill it up, vs $30 or $35...Don't know about shipping, never filled up the proprietary tank once
I realized there was an alternative.

[mp]

I may have found a place near me that does CO2 tank rentals.

I will find out in the next couple of days.

 

[Ascholten]

be careful on the rentals,  it can add up fast on the 'millage' charges.   You can buy an empty tank for like 30 bucks or so for a 5 lb tank, and then swap it out when you fill or pay the 8 bucks for the initial purge and you are good to go.   They DO have expiration dates on them.  It's like 5 or 12 years, depending on the tank,  im pretty sure the aluminum is 12.  For the price of a hydro etc you are better off at that point just getting another tank unless it's one of the bigger ones.

Aaron

[mp]

Some places just rent out the tank at the cost of a fill.  When empty you just bring it back and pay the refill price.  I'm interested in a 20 lb tank.

When I hear back from them I'll see what they say.

 

[mp]

Ok ... update.

There is a comprehensive CO2 testing document put out by the US General Services Administration here. In a nutshell there is medical grade and industrial grade.  Medical is the purest at a much higher cost than the industrial grade.

I found a local place (CamCarb) that rents CO2 tanks to local businesses and private individuals. They want $50.00 to fill it up. They also have a program where they rent you a 20lb tank for $50.00 a year.  If you can drain it 10 times a year this may not be a bad option.  On the other hand if you have your own 20lb tank it would cost you $50.00 to fill it.  A tad on the expensive side. The other benefit of this exchange program is that they own it and are responsible for the maintenance on the tank.

Big Al's Aquarium will only fill a tank if it was purchased from them. Cost of 20lb tank was $239.00. No thank you.

Paint Ball Nation had a policy of $6.50 plus tax per fill, yes, even a 20lb tank. I like this price.

Best price I found on a brand new 20lb tank is from the Beverage Factory. (Click on tank for link.)

It is $126.90 shipped from California to Niagara Falls, New York.

There are some other interesting links I've found that make a lot of sense in terms of setting up your own operation using disposable PET bottles with a little elbow grease and cheap supplies. 

I'll see if I can dig them up later and post them.

 

[Ascholten]

Ahmm   drain a 20 Lb tank ten times a year?   Wow.    Maybe a restaraunt will do that.
For what it's worth, a 5 lb tank will give you about 6 to 10  = 15.5 gallon Kegs worth of beer before needing a fill up.    Say 100 gallons.    so a 20 lb will give you 400 gallons.  times ten, are you going to drink 4000 gallons of soda in a year?  Man Id hate to have your water bill with all that peeing and flushing  .

Look up beverage supply companies or welding gas supply companies in your local area.  Most of them have new tanks if you want to buy them or you put a deposit on a tank and just bring it back for a refill.  Or you buy one swap it out each fill up.... 50 bucks for a20 lb tank is kind of steep..... 20 lbs is a bit high,   6.50 is a good deal there.

I just called one out here,    12.95 for a 20 gallon tank fill.

Aaron

[mp]

Yeah ... that is quite a bit ... but the difference between buying a 10 lb tank and a 20 lb tank is only about $20.00.

That is not bad for double the capacity.

That is a good idea about the welding supply.  I'll have to check that out.

Thanks.

 

[mp]

This is a great link with lots of information on carbonating your own beverages.

 

[mp]

Another neat link.

It basically explains how to turn a Carbination Cap into a bottling system.

Enjoy!

[mp]

I ran across this site which will sell you a Soda Carbonation Kit:



The kit delivered is less than $138.00 delivered to your door with a 5 lb carbon tank. The CO2 tank is good for 180 liters of carbonation before the next refill.  The only thing you need to add to this is your own 2 liter PET bottles which you should be able to get for close to nothing very easily.

I thought that it was a pretty good deal.

(Click on image for link.)

 

[ecc]

mp, that setup looks way cooler than the one I ended up with earlier this weekend.

I got a soda stream, it will live in the kitchen until the stock bottle runs out.  at which point I will go with bypassing the tank.

I got a local Bed,Bath,and Bold-markups 20% off coupon, which made it about neutral with the online price with a fairly permissive return policy in case I run into any trouble before mods.  I think it ended up near $80.

It certainly does not have the pizzazz of a nice seltzer bottle, but having extra cold quantity is handy.

[mp]

how many carbonator caps does that kit come with?  it's really tempting cuz I know it will last longer then a soda siphon.

That kit comes only with one carbonator cap.  That is the disappointing thing about it.

I was thinking of modifying it with a tire chuck and installing Schrader valves on the caps of the PET bottles. You can get a set of 10 off of eBay for $16.00 whereas the carbonator caps are about $20.00 each.  It is a little work but then you can carbonate 10 bottles at a time and not have to worry about taking the cap off to carbonate another bottle.

A tire chuck is only about $5.00 shipped. The only thing I have not figured out yet is what type of fitting I would need to put the tire chuck on the hose.

For about $30.00 in cost you can get the equivalent of 10 carbonator caps (with a little work).

The 5lb CO2 tank weighs about 8 pounds when empty and can carbonate 180 liter bottles.

You pretty much pay off the set up after the carbon dioxide runs out of the tank. You then pay about 4 cents a liter for carbonation as long as you can get the fills to the 5lb CO2 tank for around $7.00.