# New CO2 Site!



## SuRje1976

Have a look at these new regulators I've started building. Just another alternative to some of the good stuff being offered already.


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## fishscale

Site is down?

In the mean time, what kind of parts do you use?


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## SuRje1976

Hmm...it's back up now!


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## BassMiesterNJ

Nice job on the Web Site.


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## SuRje1976

Thanks BassMiester!!!


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## imeridian

I bought a Cornelius regulator on eBay, but as soon as I received it I realized I didn't really know what to do and where to go to get the rest of the parts. 

I saw this thread and noticed Sergio & Co. were offering a similar regulator, so I sent him a PM. He was extremely helpful and made sure that what I had would actually fit what he had available. He had no problem selling me the parts from the regulator body on down. He even pre-applied the thread sealant for me, so all I needed to do was screw the parts he sent into what I had already! 

I finally have a high quality regulator setup to replace my original Milwaukee all-in-one unit. The greatest thing, apart from the excellent customer service, was that he had Swagelok needle valves that would attach directly to the rest of the regulator assembly. I was never really all that thrilled with the idea of inline needle valves.

The difference between my old Milwaukee regulator's needle valve and this new Swagelok setup is night and day.

Two thumbs up for Sergio & SuMo Regulators.


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## fshfanatic

Nice site, but it takes FOREVER to load. Who is your host. Might ask them what the deal is?


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## SuRje1976

*indiboi* - It was a pleasure!  Thank you!

*fshfanatic* - Thanks for the heads up. I think the speed issue may actually have been my fault! :icon_redf When I was uploading, I was setting the site up with pictures saved at much too high a resolution for a website. I've fixed it now. I hope it loads faster!


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## Gatekeeper

Sergio,

Do you have manifolds? I want to split my CO2 to two small tanks.

BTW: Site is loading better.


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## MrJG

Heads up dude. Site is giving a Bad Request (invalid hostname) error.


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## plantbrain

Consider selling Victor medalist with a real good needle valve(Fabco or the AC type), perhaps Clippard solenoids as well. That does not cost that much more and the stuff is nice and well worth the added cost.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## Momotaro

Well, I guess it is time I step out of the shadows and let you know that I have helped Sergio out with this project. :icon_eek: 

Thanks for the suggestions, Tom! Let me shed a little light on the subject for you if I may. 

We did a ton of research and tried quite a few needle and metering valves and like the two metering valves offered by SUMO better than the Fabco. 

The Ideal metering valve speaks for itself. Solid, quality valve. 

We think the Swagelok valve offered is also better than the Fabco. It features more turns open/closed than the Fabco and has a nicer flow coefficient. We think it is a fantastic valve and offer it at what we feel is great price. It is lighter, and we are able to mount it as part of the regulator assembly itself, which is an added plus and something we really like! Folks can avoid this:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/g...ssion/60514-if-i-dont-get-fabco-attached.html

Don't get us wrong, the Fabco is a nice valve! We just feel that we have found a metering valve with more of an "upside"!

AC valve? I don't know what that is so I have nothing to compare it to.

The solenoid valve _is_ a Clippard.  

The Victor regulator body is a nice one, but the cost is very high. $60 for a regulator body is probably more than the average hobbyist might want to spend. SUMO offers a beautiful MicroMatic regulator body, as well the same high quality Cornelius body that both Rex and Orlando sell. It also seems there has been some question about the authenticity of the Victor regulator bodies for sale on eBay so we know we want to avoid those for sure!

We really appreciate the feedback, Tom! We all know you know quality! I am sure you would appreciate the SUMO in person if you could see it! Perhaps I'll bring one with me on my next visit to San Francisco??? :hihi:


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## plantbrain

Momotaro said:


> We did a ton of research and tried quite a few needle and metering valves and like the two metering valves offered by SUMO better than the Fabco.
> The Ideal metering valve speaks for itself. Solid, quality valve.


Yep, then that's fine.
Note, the site was down both times I tried to access it.



> The solenoid valve _is_ a Clippard.


Good, they are decent and a decent price.



> The Victor regulator body is a nice one, but the cost is very high. $60 for a regulator body is probably more than the average hobbyist might want to spend.


This is where I fully disagree.
I can nab cheapy reg's for 20$ etc, but the Victor you should be able to buy in mass for about 40-50$ ea, maybe less.
Actual sell prices should be 50-60$, ceertainly worth every penny.

They look nice, are small, turn wonderfully, should last till your grandkids come home.

Several folks here in SF many years ago never used a needle valve at all.
They used a Victor regulator and it managed to perform very well.
The cheaper regs did the classic dump and killed the fish. Only the victor did not.

You are looking at 20$ difference.
Well worth it IME and IMO.



> SUMO offers a beautiful MicroMatic regulator body, as well the same high quality Cornelius body that both Rex and Orlando sell. It also seems there has been some question about the authenticity of the Victor regulator bodies for sale on eBay so we know we want to avoid those for sure!
> 
> We really appreciate the feedback, Tom! We all know you know quality! I am sure you would appreciate the SUMO in person if you could see it! Perhaps I'll bring one with me on my next visit to San Francisco??? :hihi:


Sure.

I've never been too partial to Cornelius reg's.

I've never seen a Victor cause issues, ever.

For 20$ more, no issue here. $ well spent. If you use CO2, then that's mostly what everything is about in the hobby.

I'm not trying to suggest that what you folks are selling etc is bad at all, I'm just saying, offer the same good stuff you suggested with the needle valve as you do with the reg's. Offer both, not just one.

Then I tell folks to buy it from you and to get the victor with the other goodies.:icon_idea

The AC valve:
http://www.aquacave.com/detail.aspx?ID=780

I still prefer the old Nupro valves. But there's several supply places here that sell valves that have even higher no# of turnes.
My criteria is that the valve must have 1/8" MPT male threads and be stable over a wide temp range(50F).

Metal expands as it's heated.
Daily variations can cause changes in flow. Unless you have a good flow meter(1000$), you miss this. I never bothered until I really started measuring it. 

You see this in precise applications, but they keep the temps stable, not so for us aquarist, 30F temp changes daily can be common for many. Especially here in CA between day and night.

I'm a nut when it comes to CO2, but that's because it's delivery and measure are so critical. Heck, compared to nutrients, it's by and far the biggest difference.

So I think it's wise to spend more on this part of the aquarium.
Get gas, get the best stuff and then focus on delivery.
I'll certainly give two green thumbs up for that.


Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## Momotaro

> I still prefer the old Nupro valves. But there's several supply places here that sell valves that have even higher no# of turnes.
> My criteria is that the valve must have 1/8" MPT male threads and be stable over a wide temp range(50F).
> 
> Metal expands as it's heated.
> Daily variations can cause changes in flow. Unless you have a good flow meter(1000$), you miss this. I never bothered until I really started measuring it.
> 
> You see this in precise applications, but they keep the temps stable, not so for us aquarist, 30F temp changes daily can be common for many. Especially here in CA between day and night.


Then I think I'd be able to interest you in a valve, Tom! :icon_wink 

The Swagelok we offer has an operating temp of -10° F to 400° F, so temperature fluctuations shouldn't be an issue with that particular valve at all. The Ideal is rated at -65° F to 450° F, so that valve should be good as well.

Thanks for the link to the AC valve. Funny, I have one on my desk down at work as I type this. I am not impressed with that valve very much. Doesn't seem to have the fine control of any of the valves mentioned.



> I can nab cheapy reg's for 20$ etc, but the Victor you should be able to buy in mass for about 40-50$ ea, maybe less.
> Actual sell prices should be 50-60$, ceertainly worth every penny.


The Premier body is far from being a "cheapy" regulator body. I realize you aren't saying that it, or the Cornelius are "cheap" (even though you are not fond of the Cornelius), I just want to make that point clear! :hihi: We think we have great regulator bodies _and _metering valves! I can probably say both Rex and Orlando feel the same about the regulators they build as well! :icon_wink 

Now I think a solid well built regulator body, and as good a needle valve as you can buy is the way to go. Regulator bodies do the tough work. They bring that 900psi down to a workable pressure, _however_ the metering valve does all the _fine_ work. It is the metering valve and it's fine control that creates just the right, precise rate of flow of CO2 into the aquarium. I think a cheap needle valve with a poor flow coefficient and/or only a couple of turns open/closed isn't going to be very accurate and will make injecting CO2 at a consistent rate of flow difficult no matter how good the regulator body.

I appreciate the dialog, Tom! Like I said earlier, I think I have a metering valve you may be interested in! 


Mike


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## plantbrain

Now that the site is back up, I can finally see them.

Yup, they get my seal of approval all the way around. I saw those regs, I did not think they where that brand, that plastic on below is what I thought of.
I hate those things. 

The valves are also great, a far cry from clippard's. 

One of the best ways to tell is to use multi ports and run various line lengths and pressures to see any variation between valves. This tells if the valve is good over time as well.

The AC's are okay.
The Fabco and the Swagelok are far far better however.

Now you need prices etc.
Good component make up.

I have the Victor and the Clippard solenoids and a some old Nupro. 
These are similar.
I'd say the newer Swagelok valve is better, especially if you have the MPT 1/8" threading. I'd buy those from you myself.

Okay, while crotchety, you do have a convert.
Now, how about pricing so I can tell folks about it?

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## captain_bu

plantbrain said:


> Now, how about pricing so I can tell folks about it?
> 
> Regards,
> Tom Barr


The prices are listed. Currently the layout is a bit confusing and makes the prices hard to find. The word Pricing appears below the description of each configuration and looks like it should have the price listed directly after it but the word Pricing is used as a section header not to list the price. The "Pricing" section for each package shows pictures and below the pictures of each regulator configuration the price is listed in smaller type. Hopefully they will also be adding a price list for individual components.


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## ZLewis

Site not working for me. Anyone else?


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## spacemanoeuvres

*...*

site is not working for me either


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## JSCOOK

me neither ...


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## deleted_user_16

nope on the working


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## SuRje1976

Sorry guys - working on it! I'll let you know when it's back up!!!


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## deleted_user_16

k, cool


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## Momotaro

Phew! Site is back up.


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## chuukus

I bought a SuMo regulator from these guys and just wanted to say the customer service was awesome they were verry fast at responding to my questions. The reg was packed verry nice for shipping but what I really liked about them is when u order a regulator they build it and test it to make sure your getting a quality peice of equipment.

Im glad I did bussiness with surje and mike and would reccomend there equipment to anyone that wants a nice reg


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## Lnb

I need to applaud outstanding service from a great guy. That's Sergio from SuMo. 

To make a very long story short. I started emailing them last spring regarding a Co2 rig. They held my hand, through numerous emails. I finally ordered and got my set-up! I never got around to installing it. Well, as life goes, my requirements had changed in the interim and I needed the rig modified. I contacted Sergio again and he said not a problem! 

He could not have made it any easier than that! Wonderful rig and unmatched service!! 

*THANK YOU*, Sergio!! :thumbsup:


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