I recently obtained two 20lb tanks with regulators for free from a friend. I was told they were used for breeding fish. The regulators seem to be in the right pressure range for serving beer, but they are equipped with solenoid valves and what looks like the wrong size gas output line. Is it even worth it or possible to try to modify these regulators for a draft beer setup?
Well, you'd need to lose the solenoids, or ensure that they are always open. What kind of hardware is on the outputs? Also, is this for commercial kegs or homebrew? You can can use a variety of gas line diameters for homebrew (corny keg) setups, as long as you use appropriate connectors. (Don't know much about comm'l keg hardware.)
It's not rocket science. Nor is the beer fussy on the gas side. You can find all sizes of adapters at your local Home Depot clone. 5/16" seems to be common on home setups, but it's by no means necessary. As Vikeman said, lose the solenoids. They serve no purpose here.
The regulator setups are pretty much the same as this: http://www.marineandreef.com/Milwau...RMI00957.htm?gclid=CObb5eyD4rgCFY2e4AodFmAA7A The gas output currently comes out of the bubbler with a flexible (maybe silicone?) 1/8in ID line (approximately). One issue is that the regulators only go up to 15 psi, which would work but doesn't offer any flexibility... I'm planning on using them for both homebrew and commercial. It looks like I might be able to just unscrew the entire solenoid/bubbler portion and put a check valve and barbed output for a "standard" size line. I wasn't sure if there was anything different about the regulator itself that would cause issues. Of course, I'd have to buy parts for the conversion... considering the cost difference, it might be worthwhile for me to just craigslist the two regulators and buy a shiny new double gauge?
from the looks of the item you posted, this regulator does not have a lo side pressure gauge. and it will not work without modification. the gauge that is noted to "measure capacity" is likely the hi-side gauge and it will tell you the pressure of your CO2 tank, it wont move much until almost empty, then it will drop quickly. the other gauge is listed as a flow meter. which would be nice for bubbling a precise amount of CO2 into an aquarium, but we need to know the pressure, not the flow. if you are handy, you could plumb a lo-pressure gauge in line. disconnect the solenoid if it is normally open. if your not handy or this doesn't make too much sense, list your gauge on Craigslist and use the money to buy a mid grade regulator. economy grade if you must, but they tend to have issues. Cheers.
