Dead CO2 tank gauge

[Kbar]

What temp is the tank at?

When I hook up my freshly filled tank to my gauge it shows empty(because it is very cold)... and then when it warms up to 70 degrees and stabilizes it is about 40 psi (right on the low end of my green range)... and I carbonate and serve my beer (maybe 6-8 kegs depending on other purging) . BUT if it gets cold in the garage.. (right now it is 39 degrees) it is showing 25-30 psi... and tomorrow when it gets back to 70 it will show 40 psi.

Once it is getting near the end/empty, it will move from it's temp dependent psi level down to empty over the course of a couple days of serving. That is the time that I need to head across town and get it recharged.

If you want to try a little experiment and check that the gauge is actually faulty put the tank in a warm bucket of water and see if you get movement, if it moves up to 50 psi in an hour then you know it is working....the trick is to see when the gauge starts to move down, even if the temp is held high(er).

Just my experiences, I hope that they help.

Should you not be reading 800 Psi on the tank gauge for a newly filled tank?? 40 Psi sounds like an empty tank or a high regulator setting reading on the regulator gauge.

[Guido]

What temp is the tank at?

When I hook up my freshly filled tank to my gauge it shows empty(because it is very cold)... and then when it warms up to 70 degrees and stabilizes it is about 40 psi (right on the low end of my green range)... and I carbonate and serve my beer (maybe 6-8 kegs depending on other purging) . BUT if it gets cold in the garage.. (right now it is 39 degrees) it is showing 25-30 psi... and tomorrow when it gets back to 70 it will show 40 psi.

Once it is getting near the end/empty, it will move from it's temp dependent psi level down to empty over the course of a couple days of serving. That is the time that I need to head across town and get it recharged.

If you want to try a little experiment and check that the gauge is actually faulty put the tank in a warm bucket of water and see if you get movement, if it moves up to 50 psi in an hour then you know it is working....the trick is to see when the gauge starts to move down, even if the temp is held high(er).

Just my experiences, I hope that they help.

Good thought. The Co2 tank is refirigerated, around 40F, but that damn gauge needle on the regulator stays stuck in the red (empty)--regardless of whether it's at 40F or room temp, empty or full.

[Guido]

What temp is the tank at?

When I hook up my freshly filled tank to my gauge it shows empty(because it is very cold)... and then when it warms up to 70 degrees and stabilizes it is about 40 psi (right on the low end of my green range)... and I carbonate and serve my beer (maybe 6-8 kegs depending on other purging) . BUT if it gets cold in the garage.. (right now it is 39 degrees) it is showing 25-30 psi... and tomorrow when it gets back to 70 it will show 40 psi.

Once it is getting near the end/empty, it will move from it's temp dependent psi level down to empty over the course of a couple days of serving. That is the time that I need to head across town and get it recharged.

If you want to try a little experiment and check that the gauge is actually faulty put the tank in a warm bucket of water and see if you get movement, if it moves up to 50 psi in an hour then you know it is working....the trick is to see when the gauge starts to move down, even if the temp is held high(er).

Just my experiences, I hope that they help.

Should you not be reading 800 Psi on the tank gauge for a newly filled tank?? 40 Psi sounds like an empty tank or a high regulator setting reading on the regulator gauge.

I thought 800 psi was normal for a full co2 tank too, Perhaps the 40 psi is for the other gauge, the one that tells keg pressure.

[Nyakavt]

Should you not be reading 800 Psi on the tank gauge for a newly filled tank?? 40 Psi sounds like an empty tank or a high regulator setting reading on the regulator gauge.

I thought 800 psi was normal for a full co2 tank too, Perhaps the 40 psi is for the other gauge, the one that tells keg pressure.

The tank pressure reading changes with tank temperature as other posters have already said. If the tank is at 65F then the high pressure gauge will read around 800 psi, but if the tank is in the fridge at 40F the tank will read around 570 psi. Basically if the gauge reads above 500 psi and the tank is not frozen, you are good to go.

Agreed that 40 psi is probably the low pressure gauge, a reading that low on the high pressure gauge (which only even has markings every 100 psi anyway) would indicate a nearly empty tank.

[brewranger]

Is the face of the gauge bent at all. I bought a regulator from a guy who said the gauge was broken. I took it apart and CAREFULLY bent the facing back because it was pinning the needle in the red. You should be able to see that though...my other suggestion is to remove the gauge (make sure the cylinder valve is closed) and see if there is any blockage...teflon tape or the like in the flowpath. on the regulator side you could very slightly crack the cylinder valve to blow out through the hi pressure port.

If either of those doesn't fix the problem, I would just contact more beer about replacement.

[JohnF]

The gauge of the pressure coming form your C02 tank is kind of useless. I don't feel that it should even be on regulators. It will vary greatly depending on the tank's temperature alone. The best way to tell how you're tank's doing is to weigh it. Look for the tear-weight, it should be printed on the tank, and subtract that from the total weight of the tank. The average C02 tank holds 5 lbs and is about 4.85lbs over the tear-weight when full.

Hmmmmm ....... my average tank is bolted to the wall and holds 20lbs of CO2. I have zero desire to unmount it to weigh it.

Love the pressure gauge.
Tells me when I need to have it refilled.

+1 - indicator of the volume of gas - need it to tell me when it is time to refill, and if I have any leaks as it will drop faster than normal usage. Gauge feedback is a wonderful thing.......

Sure, but once the volume of the gas is less than 100% of the volume of the tank you need to refill, like, now.

[ajdelange]

Handy formula for approximate CO2 vapor pressure (psig) as a function of temperature (Fahrenheit)

P = -1081.4/T + 417.11 + 2.3725*T + 0.060376*T*T

Good to ± 2 psig between 20° F and the critical temperature (87.98 °F). Don't use outside this range.