# Azoo regulator does not fit CO2 bottle? (2003)



## emernal (Oct 24, 2003)

I recently acquired my first CO2 system which included an Azoo regulator. I picked up a 5lb gas tank from a hydroponics and brew store. When I got the tank home I discovered that the regulator will not fit onto the tank. When I took the tank and regulator to the hydroponics store they said the problem was that my Azoo regulator is not standard because it has a stem with a brass screen filter built in which does not fit into the small opening on the CO2 tank. Is this guy giving me a story about his tank being fine and I should return the regulator, or do I just need to look around for a different tank supplier? I guess it is also possible there is some sort of adapter. The hydroponics store did not have one.

Any help is appreciated.


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Would the threads from your regulator fit onto the tank other wise? How far past the flat mating surface does this screen stick out inside the regulator nut?


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

I did a search and can't seem to find that regulator. I am thinking you may need to return the regulator. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to try and make it fit, I would want it to fit right from the start.
Look into the Milwaukee regulator most of us use. Aquatic-store.com has them at a great price.

Mike


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## Rex Grigg (Dec 10, 2002)

It's your regulator dude. All larger CO2 cylinders (not counting specialty cylinders) have a common fitting.


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## Scorpion (Oct 10, 2003)

Who da heck is Azoo? I suggest you stick with something more common to the industry. :roll:


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## crocodylus (Jun 29, 2003)

Scorpion said:


> Who da heck is Azoo? I suggest you stick with something more common to the industry. :roll:


Give the guy a break, he's probably new at trying CO2 tanks, he will learn not to trust that brand and he will have gained experience :shock:


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## Scorpion (Oct 10, 2003)

I gave hime a break plus some advise...    

I hope that post does not come across as if I am giving him a hard time...


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## crocodylus (Jun 29, 2003)

might have been the smily :lol: 

but thats just me :wink:


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## emernal (Oct 24, 2003)

Thanks for the info. No offence was taken (you have not called me an idiot yet).

I bought this regulator as part of an aquarium CO2 system from Drs. FosterSmith via the Internet. Here is the system.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=6&pCatId=9935

The coupling is the correct size for the CO2 bottle. The stem with metal filter extends almost so it is flush with the coupling nut. The problem is it does not fit into the small hole in the 5lb bottles I have seen. I did see a 10 lb. bottle with a fitting that would fit this regulator because it does not seem to have the insert with the smaller hole inside the fitting. In other words, it looks more like the end of a garden hose. The problem is that bottle will not fit in the space I have and comes from a much more expensive place. I will give Drs. FosterSmith a call and see what they have to say. I was just hoping someone else may have seen this problem before. 

Thanks again


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## Scorpion (Oct 10, 2003)

You could have bought the Milwaukee combo and saved a lot of money.

http://www.aquatic-store.com/ look under co2, the fifth pic from the top


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## Doomer (Jan 5, 2003)

Something doesn't sound right. As far as I know, there is nothing that's supposed to fit into the hole in a co2 tank. Are you sure you're not looking at a washer that's not fully seated ?


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## Daemonfly (Oct 1, 2003)

One part that bothers me is that he saw a 10lb that looked like it would work, but his 5lb won't. Both the 10lb & 5lb tanks should have the exact SAME fitting, if not, then you were sold the wrong tank, or this hydroponics store doesn't know what it's doing.

Reg should look like this: http://rapidswholesale.net/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/9T852.jpg

Tank should look like: http://rapidswholesale.net/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/G25.jpg


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## Rex Grigg (Dec 10, 2002)

Actually I have a permanent washer in my cylinder and it does fit into the outlet and makes it smaller. So check the cylinder and see if you can fit an Allen wrench in there and remove what MIGHT be in there.


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## emernal (Oct 24, 2003)

My problem is solved.  

I called Drs FosterSmith, whom I ordered the CO2 system from, and they had an answer for me. There is a metric to english adapter which was supposed to be added to my box, but they had sent out a few without it. Lucky me, I was one of them. They are shipping me the missing adapter.

Thanks again for the assist.


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## broodwich (Nov 29, 2005)

It's funny how back in 2003 people had never heard of the Azoo and now some people seem to be recommending it over the Milwaukee and JBJ.


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## Marc (Oct 13, 2004)

yeah..thinking the same thing.


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## TWood (Nov 1, 2005)

Anything that needs an adaptor at that connection can't be good. That's the high pressure connection and is the most likely place to leak. Adding an adaptor just adds another place to leak.

TW


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## Georgiadawgger (Apr 23, 2004)

TWood said:


> Anything that needs an adaptor at that connection can't be good. That's the high pressure connection and is the most likely place to leak. Adding an adaptor just adds another place to leak.
> 
> TW



They don't need an adapter...mine was plug-n-play right out of the box. Could have been an import issue way back in '03.


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## thatguy (Oct 11, 2005)

that azoo is a euro/asian style regulator....it has the nipple on the end. it will fit asian/euro co2 tanks. in the us, the tanks regulator surface is flat...in asia they have a larger orifice that the nipple seats into. i have one asian style regulator...i had to grind down the nipple so the surface was flat to fit our US tanks....but in asia, that fits their tanks.


id post a pic of one..but we cant. *edit*


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## thatguy (Oct 11, 2005)

here is a post at APC...i posted a pic there...similar regulator...and i posted a pic of a asian co2 tank.....its small but you can see the inlet for the nipple on the face of the co2 valve.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/showthread.php?t=10171&page=2


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## jgc (Jul 6, 2005)

Actually how most of the threads I have read have trashed Milwalkee and praised Azoo...
----
Duhh, did not see the date on the first post - It is interesting how times have changed.

That said, my cheep, used, soda/beer regulator has worked for me for the last 10 years. (Beer then tanks)


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## Tino (Jan 9, 2005)

New Azoo regulators are made specifically for US/Canada applications.

No need to bring up ancient history.


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## thatguy (Oct 11, 2005)

Tino said:


> New Azoo regulators are made specifically for US/Canada applications.
> 
> No need to bring up ancient history.



apparently not..since DR FS just sold him a euro/asian style one. Even in this very thread, people dont know the difference or that there or 2 kinds of regulators. More of these asian.euro style regulators will likely enter the market, as cheaper asian planted tank stuff hits the US market. Tools and equipment are notably cheaper over there and enterprising individuals will start bringing them over. Well actually, people already are...they just inflate the prices to US standards...even if they buy it over there at retail..... ive seen it at a few places.


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## joan (Apr 25, 2005)

thatguy said:


> apparently not..since DR FS just sold him a euro/asian style one.


That post was from October 2003.


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## tazcrash69 (Sep 27, 2005)

Man this thread just confused the daylights out of me until I read Joan’s post, and checked the dates. This could really scare off some new buyers. 

Hmmm.... Could Milwaukee counter intelligence at work here? :icon_roll 

PS, before I get flamed, I have a Milwaukee all-in-one, and haven't had an issue.


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## TWood (Nov 1, 2005)

joan said:


> That post was from October 2003.


Doh! :icon_redf 

TW


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## malkore (Nov 3, 2003)

broodwich said:


> It's funny how back in 2003 people had never heard of the Azoo and now some people seem to be recommending it over the Milwaukee and JBJ.


What was the point of dredging up a 2-year-old post? :icon_roll


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## Hypancistrus (Oct 28, 2004)

I have bought the following regulators over the last couple of years:

Azoo
M3 (Company is gone but "M3" regualtors are being sold by Marine Depot)
JBJ

The Azoo regulator is the one sold by Drs. Foster & Smith. If it's "non standard" then it's pretty odd that it's the one sold by a major retailer. And the tank connector is identical to the regulator sold by Marine Depot, another major retailer. And guess what... the JBJ's tank connector is also exactly the same.

It does seem however that these regulators don't properly fit American tanks.

As I said, all three of these regulators have tank connectors that look exactly the same. Here's the M3:










All of the CO2 tanks I get don't have any kind of indentation for the raised metal in the center. This means that the o-ring in the picture doesn't make a connection. I solved the problem by putting in a second o-ring:










I've brought this up in the past and I got jumped on for installing the 2nd o-ring. I do agree, doubling o-rings is in general a bad idea. But in this case, there's two things at work that make this safe: one, there is a sturdy circular connection completely filling the inside of both o-rings; and two, once the metal makes contact, compression stops. So we've eliminated the two main dangers with o-ring doubling: displacement, and crush.

I've used the same o-rings this way for years now. No signs of stress or damage.

It would be nice, however, to get a regulator / tank combination that actually match up and work properly with the o-rings and everything else installed per standard.


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## Hypancistrus (Oct 28, 2004)

Whoops... original post was from 2003. Didn't see that.

However, I bought the Azoo regulator in 2004. I bought the M3 regulator from Marine Depot in 2005.


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## Hypancistrus (Oct 28, 2004)

I'd also like to request that someone please post a picture (similar to mine would be great if possible) of an American style tank connector since I've never even seen one. :icon_conf


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## TWood (Nov 1, 2005)

Here's my old Clippard "Beer" regulator. The M3 regulator I bought a few years back looks exactly the same. It's basically the same as the face of the CO2 tank connection except that the concentric ring machined into the faces of the CO2 tank and the regulator are slightly different in diameter. If you look closely at a used flat washer, the rings will appear as *raised* areas on the face of the washer.


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## random_alias (Jun 28, 2005)

I have a new 10lb aluminum Co2 cylinder and a new Azoo regulator. They fit fine without anything special being done.

Also have one on a 5lb aluminum cylinder.

Yeah, the Azoos seem great. My first one gave me no desire to change brands.


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

I edited the title of the thread to add the year 2003 so folks don't become confused as to when this discussion originated.



> It's funny how back in 2003 people had never heard of the Azoo and now some people seem to be recommending it over the Milwaukee and JBJ.


Funny? Times and quality change. I feel the Milwaukees have slipped over the past few years. That is why I switched over to the AZOO units.

Mike


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## Marc (Oct 13, 2004)

Momotaro said:


> I edited the title of the thread to add the year 2003 so folks don't become confused as to when this discussion originated.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It seems like the needle valve is what most people are having problems with.


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## Rex Grigg (Dec 10, 2002)

Needle valve problems are easy to fix. Just get another needle valve. Run it in-line and open the other one up.


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

> It seems like the needle valve is what most people are having problems with.



I have had problem with needle valve and solenoid.

Mike


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## TWood (Nov 1, 2005)

Marc said:


> It seems like the needle valve is what most people are having problems with.


Here's a big part of the problem described here: 

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=21640&page=3&pp=15



Peter said:


> Milwaukee's troubleshooting instructions recommend opening wide the needle valve and just adjusting with the regulator valve and not using the needle valve at all. When I did that my unit's low pressure gauge didn't show any pressure at all and I couldn't get a steady bubble count.


If that is really what Milwaukee is recommending, then they don't understand their own equipment, because that approach will never work. Another common thread with the complaints is very low pressure on the low pressure side, and a very low bubble count. I don't think it's the needle valve per se, but a combination of issues.

TW


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## thatguy (Oct 11, 2005)

Hypancistrus said:


> I'd also like to request that someone please post a picture (similar to mine would be great if possible) of an American style tank connector since I've never even seen one. :icon_conf


looks like twood showed one..
for reference, if we could, id post one of my asian style ones, which is like yours....fresh from taiwan..thats what they use over there.

my american style one looks simiar to twoods....flatter face though with no groove for an o ring. just a crush type washer.


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## TWood (Nov 1, 2005)

thatguy said:


> my american style one looks simiar to twoods....flatter face though with no groove for an o ring. just a crush type washer.


That groove isn't for an O-ring. The connection uses a flat faced crush washer that crushes the washer so tight that part of it conforms itself into the groove. The face of the washer becomes deformed and the circle shows as a *raised* area on the face of the washer. I suppose to create a better seal.

TW


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## thatguy (Oct 11, 2005)

TWood said:


> That groove isn't for an O-ring. The connection uses a flat faced crush washer that crushes the washer so tight that part of it conforms itself into the groove. The face of the washer becomes deformed and the circle shows as a *raised* area on the face of the washer. I suppose to create a better seal.
> 
> TW



uhhhh you might want to read my post again.. I said "my american style one looks similar to twoods....flatter face though with no groove for an o ring. just a crush type washer."
My statement is in regards to an AMERICAN regulator..saying there is NO groove for an o ring. they use a CRUSH TYPE washer.

an ASIAN one HAS a groove and nipple for an O ring..with NO crush washer...like the one Hypancistrus posted.. I have BOTH kinds.


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## nsean (Apr 11, 2009)

Would this regulator fit on a Canadian CO2 tank?


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## nsean (Apr 11, 2009)

Yes or no? Thanks


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## snoz0r (Jun 6, 2008)

Holy resurrection, without seeing the tanks stem we couldn't tell you. As far as i know, canadian and us tanks are the same however.


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## nsean (Apr 11, 2009)

snoz0r said:


> Holy resurrection, without seeing the tanks stem we couldn't tell you. As far as i know, canadian and us tanks are the same however.


You can thank that little auto search feature when you go to start a new thread. Standard 5lb tank. I don't want to get a regulator without knowing if it will fit on a standard tank.

Could someone post a typical connection?


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## snoz0r (Jun 6, 2008)

well, with that regulator.. as long as your tank has the cga-320 valve and the threads are on the outside, and you have washers or a perma-seal for the tank or regulator, you should be fine


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## FISHSHROD (Jan 1, 2010)

I happened to get one like that from over seas (ebay) and took it to the shop where I work and took a grinder to it and removed the stem down to the washer . It works now .


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## nsean (Apr 11, 2009)

FISHSHROD said:


> I happened to get one like that from over seas (ebay) and took it to the shop where I work and took a grinder to it and removed the stem down to the washer . It works now .


So it won't just fit without modifications?


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## KH2PO4 (Jul 18, 2009)

You can screw it in but it won't seal properly.


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## tyler79durdan (Jan 23, 2010)

WOW, dredging up ancient history really did help me decide on which regulator to buy this weekend http://www.atomicmall.com/view.php?id=622536

Since we've just struck ancient oil with this thread, does anyone have any comments on sms122 pH controller usage? Thanks in advance -Aaron


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## KH2PO4 (Jul 18, 2009)

Having just known that a user with less than 5 posts couldn't post link and lost all 
my text worth 30 min of arranging...

So this is my 2nd post.


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## KH2PO4 (Jul 18, 2009)

3rd


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## KH2PO4 (Jul 18, 2009)

4th


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## KH2PO4 (Jul 18, 2009)

5th


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## KH2PO4 (Jul 18, 2009)

There are mainly 3 types of CO2 connections used:


CGA320 (USA)


DIN 477 No.6 (Europe) 21.80 mm x 1/14"
http://www.scottecatalog.com/ScottT...cc87126e20ce815985256b3c006132fa?OpenDocument

http://www.aquabase.org/articles/html.php3/co2-bouteilles-pressions-raccords-detendeur-etc=1468.html


JIS B 8246 (Japan) which seems to be 22 mm x 1/14"
http://translate.google.com/transla...ttp://www.klchem.co.jp/blog/cat3/&sl=ja&tl=en
Find with keyword CGA320, you will see a CGA320-JIS B 8246 adapter.


An Azoo regulator seller on eBay says the size of the nut is 22 mm.
And you can see a Taiwan-made adapter for CGA320 here, using keyword D975-R.
http://jia-nan.com.tw/products_18.htm
The other side of the adapter has same size as the JIS B 8246.
So it seems Taiwan follows JIS B 8246.


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## kat (Feb 2, 2011)

FISHSHROD said:


> I happened to get one like that from over seas (ebay) and took it to the shop where I work and took a grinder to it and removed the stem down to the washer . It works now .


Hi,

I just purchased the azoo and i have the same problem. is this a difficult procedure to remove the stem part? or should i just return it? Who can i get to remove this part?


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