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11-17-2020, 01:52 PM #1one of those sickos
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PSA: Carbonate your own fucking water
Over in Sprockets we drifted into a discussion about fizzy water, so I thought I'd put this info out there for mags (or mags' partners) who might benefit. A year or so ago I set this up for my GF, and it's been going strong since then.
You need to buy a few things, either from Bezos or from your local beer brewing supply house.
C02 regulator & hose with quick connect. We typically set it to about 40-50psi on the water bottle side. Higher pressure doesn't seem to accomplish anything.
https://smile.amazon.com/FERRODAY-Re...0-a2ffae3a273c
https://smile.amazon.com/Weekend-Bre...FE7PX2CRPYBV2B
Bottle cap adapter thing, which will fit nearly any water bottle. We get bottles from the recycling bin, since we don't buy plastic bottles unless absolutely necessary. The 1 & 2L ones originally intended for carbonated beverages work best, but regular ones will work too--but they will balloon alarmingly.
https://smile.amazon.com/Stainless-C...2PHP6TX2CHZ34J
CO2 bottle in whatever size you like. I bought a 10# one from my local welding shop, and it was about $70. Refills are about $20 IIRC, but we're not even halfway through the first bottle. GF makes 1-2L per day of very fizzy water.
https://www.amazon.com/10lb-Aluminum...645904&sr=8-13
Ms climberevan brags relentlessly to her friends about her awesome unlimited supply of fizzy water. She loves that she can make it eXXXtra fizzy, and can put whatever flavor she wants in the bottles. It will also carbonate any other liquid you put in there (white wine works pretty well).
The liquid must be pre-chilled or it won't hold the CO2, so we keep a few bottles ready in the fridge. Carbonating 1L takes about 10s of shaking it while it's hooked up to the hose. I looked into making an on-tap dispenser, but the only way to reasonably do it for home use was to fill a pony keg with water and keep it in a dedicated refrigerator, which wasn't acceptable to us for ecological reasons.
Say goodbye to endless aluminum cans of LaCroix or to proprietary bottles & refills from SodaStream.
Happy carbonating!
ride bikes, climb, ski, travel, cook, work to fund former, repeat.
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11-17-2020, 01:54 PM #2
But whatever you do, do not make coconut flavor unless RideIt is coming to visit.
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11-17-2020, 04:12 PM #3
Are you thinking paintball shop for CO2 refills?
_______________________________________________
"Strapping myself to a sitski built with 30lb of metal and fibreglass then trying to water ski in it sounds like a stupid idea to me.
I'll be there." ... Andy Campbell
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11-17-2020, 06:02 PM #4one of those sickos
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Paintball places could probably do it, but I believe they mostly deal in smaller bottles and may not have the fittings for the larger ones, and I don't know if they do exchanges. Welding shops are plentiful and will swap out your bottle in minutes.
ride bikes, climb, ski, travel, cook, work to fund former, repeat.
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11-17-2020, 06:05 PM #5Registered User
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Timely post.
I used to do soda stream, but refill around here is a PITA.
I go through at least a liter per day, time to cut back on the bottles.
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11-17-2020, 06:17 PM #6Registered User
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- Feb 2012
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As a home brewer (beer and cider), I buy my CO2 from the brew shops in the 5-20lbs sizes. Easy to refill or exchange around here. If you don’t have a leak in your system, you can make about 100 gallons with a 20 lb tank.
Different for folks that haven’t invested in that infrastructure obviously... I have so many used 5 gal ball lock Corny kegs I’ve lost track.
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11-17-2020, 06:22 PM #7
Hate to say it, but the coconut ‘syrups’ that you add to home brew are fucking gross.
Forum Cross Pollinator, gratuitously strident
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11-17-2020, 07:16 PM #8Registered User
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- Sep 2011
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FKNA. Thanks. Sucks these days trying to track down new cartridges. Been getting mine at bed Bath and beyond with the $5 off $15 coupons so an exchange cylinder was $10. Just used my last coupon and they stopped sending them. Time to order parts.
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11-17-2020, 09:03 PM #9
So, you have to stand there shaking the bottle while you inject CO2? Isn't there some kind of hose/wand thingy to stick down in the water like SodaStream does? Or maybe just invert the bottle?
However many are in a shit ton.
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11-17-2020, 09:52 PM #10
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11-17-2020, 10:07 PM #11one of those sickos
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No wand thing. The CO2 just pressurises the bottle and the shaking makes it dissolve into the water faster. It takes about 10 seconds. She's never had the patience necessary to just let it sit, but I suspect it would eventually work.
It's a little like this:
https://youtu.be/hF4OlKKrFfIride bikes, climb, ski, travel, cook, work to fund former, repeat.
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11-17-2020, 10:17 PM #12
We’ve been Sodastreaming for years, making our own diet tonic from syrups. But Covid has severely disrupted the supply chain; syrup is impossible to find. Now I have to haul flats of liquid tonic from the liquor store like a fucking prole.
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11-18-2020, 03:34 PM #13Registered User
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Super timely thread... I finally know what I'm getting my wife for Christmas. Thanks for spelling it all out.
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11-27-2020, 09:43 AM #14one of those sickos
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11-27-2020, 05:01 PM #15
We do shrubs from a Bellingham based company called Shrub Farm. Ounce or so of concentrate in a glass of sparkling water and has a fruity kombucha kinda flavor. We love em.
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11-27-2020, 05:41 PM #16Registered User
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- Sep 2015
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Here's my setup for bubbly:
Basically a kegorator, but have a pressure reducing tap since we're running 50psi.
Make our own syrups, ginger, tonic, etc.
Sent from my F1 using Tapatalk
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12-29-2020, 06:52 PM #17Registered User
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I went from hero to zero pretty fast with this purchase. Can someone walk this CO2 jong through the process? Got all the parts, exactly as linked, got the tank, but I can't figure out the right order on the dials. I can get pressure to my 2l bottle (cold) and feel the pressure on the bottle, but the minute I pull the bottle cap thing it all goes flat. Am I pressuring it too slowly? I feel like I'm shaking more than 10x and to no avail. Help before the wife makes me go to Safeway for more LaCroixs!
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12-29-2020, 06:57 PM #18
FWIW paintball fields are increasingly moving away from Co2 to compressed air. Compressed air used to be kind of exclusive to the higher end of the sport but there are many options that are suitable for rental equipment, they pretty much have to have it for regular players, and in the end it's cheaper to build a bulk system off a compressor than to deal with a distributor for Co2. Not to mention ease of fill and a superior customer experience.
Training for Alpental
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12-29-2020, 07:49 PM #19one of those sickos
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Your bottles should be about 80-90% filled. Some air space seems to help. They MUST also be cold-not cold from the tap, COLD from the fridge.
After you put the special cap on the bottle and connect the hose, you open the big tank valve. Then you open the little valve to the hose. Pressure should go into the bottle.
One dial gauge is for the CO2 bottle, and should read 500+psi. The other gauge measures the outlet to your water, and we like around 40 psi. The outlet pressure is adjusted by the bigger knob with the + and -. It has a lockring that must be loosened to change it. The pressure will be a little all over the place, but it's not really critical.
It takes maybe 10-20 secs of vigorous shaking for a 1L bottle. Dancing helps, and you'll have more success if you film it and post here. Or, in true TGR fashion, photograph your wife while she does it in the nude.
After that, you close the valves and remove the hose (the quick connector will also cut off the flow, so NBD if you don't close the valves). Then you should have your bubbly water!
Don't forget to close the tank valve each day bc even an imperceptible leak will drain it.ride bikes, climb, ski, travel, cook, work to fund former, repeat.
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12-29-2020, 10:04 PM #20
I don’t get it. What’s in the keg? Water?
Sent from my iPhone using TGR ForumsHowever many are in a shit ton.
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12-30-2020, 08:26 AM #21guy who skis
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For those with sodastreams already, there is an easier way to do this. Get a 20# co2 tank from either a welding store or a hydroponics grow store (the gardening centers catering to weed growers are ideal). Then get one of these adapter kits. It'll screw into your 20# tank and the sodastream. You'll have some initial expense, but once you're over that hump fizzy water is effectively free. I can swap 20# tanks at the hydroponics shop for $12 apiece, and a tank lasts us 6-9 months of 1-2L of fizzy water per day, give or take.
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12-30-2020, 08:41 AM #22
I didn’t know that existed. ^^^
Thanks! Now if only I could find tonic syrup; it’s been pretty rare all year.
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12-30-2020, 09:27 AM #23guy who skis
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I'm not big on making the rich richer, but there is internet for that.
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01-13-2021, 12:54 PM #24Registered User
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01-27-2021, 07:41 AM #25
Always carbonated corny kegs by pressurizing them by cranking up the pressure to 50lbs or so, and laying the keg on its side and rolling it back and forth with my feet while watching tv, computing etc.... tried to agitate for at least half hour and remember to turn psi down to 8lbs I wish I could justify a dedicated fridge,
Is here a soda making thread, been trying to brew a good NA Ginger beer via ginger bug.It’s the places you ride that are special, not you riding there.”
All stunts performed without a net!
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