# DIY CO2 explosion



## baconeggsandkate (Jun 7, 2017)

Hi! I setup a DIY co2 system using one of those nifty pre assembled bottlecap systems that you can get on Amazonhttp://www.amazon.com/DIY-CO2-Aquarium-Plant-System/dp/B008CUZJF6

I set it all up with a bubble counter and using a citric acid and baking soda system to generate the co2. This worked great for the last week and a half. The pressure stayed around 1.5 (halfway through the green zone on the gauge) and I was using .5 bubbles/sec which was suggested by the instructions. 

Well, tonight it exploded a little. Over the last two days I noticed that the pressure was building itself up to 3-5 on the gauge. When I noticed this I would bleed it off a bit down back into the green zone. This was working fine, until my boyfriend decided to help, and instead of pulling a line and opening up the pin valve all the way he decided to try just unscrewing one of the bottle caps. The noise was deafening and of course everything got coated with a layer of baking soda water. 

So, my question is about the pressure fluxuations. It started happening in the last day and a half, while we were experiencing a lot of barometric variations. No idea if that is a likely root cause.

Any ideas?


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## kyle3 (May 26, 2005)

Wow! that sounds exciting 

has it been warmer? Pressure changes seem like a plausible contributing factor to me too.

PS back in the day when I was doing DIY CO2 that sweet bottle cap assembly did not exist. I had to drill holes in caps and silicone them in place -- so much less awesome. I'm really impressed by that rig!


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## JonA (Mar 8, 2017)

I always have a problem with the pressure dropping. I end up having to squeeze bottle b like crazy to get the pressure back up.


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## baconeggsandkate (Jun 7, 2017)

Thanks for responding! It got much warmer by about 10 degrees F last week then we had rain and storms and it dropped a little but not much. That said I try to keep the apartment cooler with fans going while at work during the day and the parts of the night when nobody is in the room with the tank. There is a chunk of the evening when the room is air conditioned.


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## GrampsGrunge (Jun 18, 2012)

This is why I don't do my DIY CO2 systems against those sintered glass diffusers that require higher pressure. I keep all of mine as low pressure feeding into either a power head or a low pressure filter or circulation outflow pipe or tube.


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