Decanting From Commercial Gas Cylinders

[Ces]

Got a question related to home kegging so this thread may belong elsewhere but to solve my problem i reckon i'll need some gear so...

I have a friend who is a GM at a Sydney pub and he has offered to order me commercial size bottles of CO2 that i can store in their cellar (one at a time, not a truckload). But i have a question or two....

Is it a PITA to decant gas off these large bottle into homebrew size bottles (i.e. 2.6 kg or 6.3 kg etc.)? because I will not be able to keep the large bottles at home.

Can this be done? or has anyone done it?

IS IT LEGAL?

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[adryargument]

Local aquarium does it here to customers bottles.
I used them twice in an emergency. Gas ran out in less then 24 hours both times. Something wasn't right. I didn't return.

I have a commercial bottle now. It sits behind the fridge and I hardly notice it.

 

[QldKev]

The local HBS's CO2 pump for filling kept dying. Now they just have a hose from the large bottle to the small bottle for refills. If the small bottle is cold they say they can get up to 2/3 full. The only things I assume is firstly the source bottle would still have a tube to draw off liquid CO2 and the hose would be pretty decent to take the full pressure of the CO2 liquid pressure, whilst not freezing.

QldKev

 

[woodwormm]

I think you need a co2 pump... not super sure on the process but i am super sure that playing with pressurised bottles like that is super dangerous...

if you have a 6kg bottle of your own, gas aint that expensive, what is expensive is renting a bottle. I'm assuming your mate's pub would pay the rent on the big bottle and you'd just 'borrow' the gas as you need...

how much do you value your eyes and your fingers? let someone else fill your own 6kg bottle. I have a 'decent' consumption rate and my 6kg bottle has been going over a year now... cheap as.

 

[fcmcg]

A mate if mine at the brew club fills his soda stream bottle with a lead he made himself. He puts the soda stream bottle in the freezer and when it's cold and he is ready to go , he inverts his big tank , so that he is filling the soda stream bottle with liquid, not just gas..seems to work okay...
There are plenty of video's on you tube...
No pump needed , afaik ....

 

[QldKev]

Yep no pump needed, unless you want to get the 2.6kg in a 2.6kg bottle.

QldKev

 

[MHB]

You will need a bottle with a dip-tube (Liquid Withdrawal) or invert the bottle and a SAFE transfer line.
The ones on my system are Teflon with stainless steel brade and the terminals are all manufactured on.
Usually about of the rated fill will just run across from the Liquid Withdrawal bottle to the empty, if you do chill the empty it is possible to fill it completely, or if you freeze it to even over fill it, which I found out when a burst disc let go in the shop (yes it is possible to teleport out onto the foot path).
Fill by weight not best guess!
Mark

 

[adryargument]

yes it is possible to teleport out onto the foot path

More details / images are required.

 

[MHB]

Well when youre sitting at the desk, there is a loud bang, the shop instantly fills with opaque fog and your next recollection is of being outside on the footpath looking in I cant think of any other explanation.
Mark

 

[Ces]

Well when you're sitting at the desk, there is a loud bang, the shop instantly fills with opaque fog and your next recollection is of being outside on the footpath looking in I can't think of any other explanation.
Mark

That does not sound like fun at all. Luckily, our friends in the paintball community decant into paintball gun gas bottles regularly and have ready made devices to do it (as i've just found out). Thanks fergthebrewer for pointing me to look for it on youtube. They're 'deluxe' versions have two ball valves that allow you to control the air coming out of the large and small bottles separately, allowing you to bleed off excess gas if you over fill quite easily.

They claim they're safe and are for sale in every country that has any sort of paintball community (as far as a quick google will tell me). Pretty sure they could be adapted to refill bottles that homebrewers find useful. And for me, as SWMBO has insisted that my CO2 cylinder be stored "NEATLY INSIDE" my keezer, that means little bottles.

Anyone used one of these before?

 

[fcmcg]

A bit of a search on ebay america , turned up this bad boy...
Co2 refill lead
Just not sure it would fit my CO2 bottle or my soda stream bottle....

 

[Batz]

I decant from a BOC cylinder and I'm a little worried about posting how to do's. And there's no way I'll post pictures, you do have to know what your doing here. You also need a proper manufactured transfer line, you will find retailers will be reluctant to sell you this.

In my work I have done transfers many times, mainly charging large accumulators, there is a safety standard that must be followed.

Anyway if you do find the gear and do have a go, please be careful and wear eye protection at the very least.

C02 is liquid in the bottle and stays this way because it is at around 5000kpa, that's what your playing with without a regulator.

batz

 

[komodo]

BBQ LPG is filled this way at stores (note sure how the swap and go bottles are filled).
I used to do it as a young fella as part of my part time job.
Works best if the recieving vessel is 100% empty and colder than the full vessel.

On LPG bottles there is a bleed screw to get rig of the gas in the head space to help you fill more - I'd doubt your CO2 bottle has this and I certainly wouldnt advise using it if it does.
Do it in a well ventilated area in case of leaks and wear leather gloves and safety goggles.

Also on the LPG bottles that are used to fill from they are setup with a diptube so that they get the liquid not the gas - you "can" achieve the same result tipping the sending bottle upside down - but again I certainly wouldnt recommend it.
The other thing is that as the big bottle decreases in pressure it will fill your smaller bottle less and less because all it will do is equalise the pressure in both bottles.

 

[punkin]

Co2 bottles with a dip tube have a couple of large black vertical stripes up on the shoulder of the bottle or the whole top of the bottle black. This is the one you want to order if you want to fill from it. has an alphabetical designation depending on the supplier.