grade of co2

[Chicago]

does it matter if the co2 in a calcium reactor is food beverage or induastrail grade.. the industrial grade is 99%.

whats the diff. does it matter.

thanks

[Creetin]

I dunno, But i use hospital grade. 9 bux to fill a 5 lb bottle isnt bad. I see alot of people filling at welding supplies so i dont think its a major deal.

[grim]

I've always used beverage grade, if it's good enough for human injestion it must be good enough for my tank. Can you use any old CO2, sure you can. Do you know what impurities it might contain? I sure don't, and I don't think that's a bridge I even want to cross.

jb

[Ereefic]

I have heard that you don't want to get them filled with C02 from a paintball place because of lubricants they use. Don't know if this is true, just something i've heard.

I just go to the welding supply place and take what they give me, it's about $10 for a 5 lb. bottle.

[Chicago]

thanks all

[kozmo02]

ive gone to bottling companies and welding places, ive never noticed any ill effects from either place.

[fritzdawg21]

you can get it filled at a welding shop, there is a "myth" that there is oil and such in the Co2, this is not true. I know a guy that works with gasses all the time and it is as clean as the rest of it. I have always used the regular grade Co2 in my system and so has my reef buddy, both with no problems.

[CoralBarn]

Welding shop works for me.

[Chicago]

i dont think it matters but here is some info i got. food grade and beverage grade are tested for contaminats like methan, carbon monoxide ect. the commercial grade is not. thus you pay little more. the beverage grade is a little more than the food grade.

beverage grade to refill 20lb is about thirty bucks.

[golfish]

I receive truck loads of CO2 a few times a week. From what I'be been told the stuff we use at Coca Cola and the stuff they use for welding is all the same, atleast 99.6% pure. If anything the stuff for weding is a better grade.

[Chicago]

interesting.;. maybe the cost increase for food grade is for the testing of the product

[MadCoral]

ahh from what i have heard, there is 5 kinds of co2, #1 CO2 ie welding grade, #2 food grade 1 (soda) #3 food grade 2 (never asked) #4 Medical grade # 5 Chemical grade I learned this from a gas production plant located close to me, I dont know what the differance is (never asked) but i would guess that is the purity level. What i do know atleast is that in the state of WI. you need a doctor to perscrib you to legally get medical grade, after hearing that i did not even ask about chemical grade, They will fill me up with what they call food grade 2 , eather way for me its a buck a pound. But I really dont think it makes that much of a differance for what we use it for in this hobbie. But they do make little portable machines like an air pump that converts air into Co2, now that would be nice, untill you see the price, to rent one its like $500.00 a month. You can always dream right? Wouldent that be nice no more fill ups, Ever. And Oil, no there is no need to lubricate welding tools from the inside, like air tools( nail guns etc) besides all oils are flamible to some degree, flames and oils dont mix.

[Chicago]

i also asked airgas about the other grade.. medical or research grade is like 99.99 pure. the fill the bottles in stages and check for purity all the way.

the beverage grade is more pure than the food grade from what i have been told. bottom line though is that they are all above 99%pure.

i just thought for the extra ten why not do the beverage grade over the other. 30 bucks for a 20lb at beverage grade

[golfish]

We get our CO2 from BOC gases.........They only have two grades of CO2 .... A Medical Grade and everything else grade. I know the stuff we get is at least 99.6% pure because I test it.

[Chicago]

how did you test it?

[golfish]

Originally posted by Chicago
how did you test it?

I'm not sure what its called but it reminds me of a glass bong (not that I would know what a bong is)..You fill it with distilled water, push the water out with CO2, fill one end with caustic and let the caustic flow into the chamber the CO2 is in...The caustic mixes with the CO2 and pretty much counter acts it. I'm not a chemist so I can't tell you the correct terms. If the CO2 is 100% there will be no bubble left. The bubble size determines the % if the test is done right. Or something like that

[Chicago]

thanks