Okay, I’m an idiot. I am getting ready to brew this weekend, and have my new oxygenation 2.0 kit all set up with the tank attached. It occurs to me that now that I have the regulator attached correctly to the tank, that I can’t get it off again. I am reluctant to just power through and force it off, and I don’t have enough experience with this to know how to handle it carefully and correctly. Does the regulator just stay on the tank until it’s empty? Is there a reason I’m stuck? I did screw the regulator on carefully, and did try not to over-tighten. Anyone have any thoughts? Anything would be appreciated. :-[
is this the home depot red tanks? just checking -you are unscrewing it the correct direction-clockwise.
it should come off with no problems
Yes, Home Depot.
k so what i said previously holds.
I have occasionally had issues threading the regulator onto those red oxygen tanks. Once I get it on properly, I don’t bother to unscrew it until the tank is empty.
if you do want to take it off, a little Vaseline on threads helps.
Just to reiterate, the threads on the O2 tank are left hand, so, as noted earlier, turn the regulator body to the right to loosen it.
Also as noted, sometimes the tank threads need a little lubrication. The current red tank I have needed it. I found that I could get the regulator on but getting it off the tank was very difficult. I used keg lube since that was what I had handy, but any food grade lubricant will work.
I take the regulator off each time, since I’ve found that leaving it on the tank results in an empty tank.
Please never ever put oil or oil based lub on oxygen under pressure that will explode. You do get oxygen grease never use anything else
The tubing also must be approved for O2. Things can combust easily with O2.
+1.
Vaseline in a pure O2 environment will undergo spontaneous combustion.
Well, I can’t argue since I don’t know the science involved.
But since we don’t operate in a pure o2 environment, what are the actual risks to us if we don’t use an approved lubricant?
The best way to ensure no petroleum products get inside the regulator is to NOT EVER use it.
I deal with regulators/fittings on a daily basis (oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, helium, CO2, etc.). The brass threads on the regulator and tank should mesh well enough to form a gas-tight seal with minimal torque (not sure of the exact foot-pound required), so removal should require the same force, and I have never used a lubricant, and have never had an issue removing the fittings. I agree with the afore-mentioned safety suggestions that NO petroleum products be used with an O2 system. O2 reacts with everything, and the tubing used should be O2 compatible. Not hard to find that, most 1/4" gas lines are suitable for handling O2 (nylon tubing is acceptable).
This may help understand the use of pure O2:
Let’s assume that you understand that the O2 bottles are left-hand twist, and thread/unthread in an opposite direction from nuts and bolts. (I marked arrows on my bottle with a sharpie marker to remind me which way to tighten and loosen.)
I also have the same problem. The pressure of the O2 forms a very tight seal, making it hard to turn the bottle (or regulator). It seems to push up on the regulator. I have found that pushing down on the regulator as you turn the bottle is what it takes for the bottle to unthread. That might help.
I still dont understand why you’d take the bottle off until it’s empty…
All great advice. Thank you so much. Having my oxygen bottle explode my adversely affect my ability to make and drink beer!
So I did brew an IPA last week and oxygenated with my wand. I did things a little out of order, and I took my hydrometer reading AFTER oxygenating. The OG reading that I got was way off. The OG was supposed to be 1.065, and it was 1.05 something. It was so far off that I didn’t even note it. Should I have taken a sample and read it BEFORE dumping all the oxygen in? I can see where the added oxygen might affect the gravity/buoyancy.
Am I way off the mark here?
It’s doubtful that made a difference… you’re not going to dissolve a meaningful amount of O2 at room temperature/pressure. 10ppm is good for yeast but very little overall.
Hmmmm…bummer. Okay. I did follow the recipe closely, but maybe I missed something. I do find working with Better Bottles that are not graduated to be a hassle. With partial mash, you start with three gallons of water for your boil, then top off the remaining water to equal five gallons. My thinking is that I may have added too much water. I’ll use my graduated ale pail next time.
Thank you for the response.