Pub CO2 Safe?

[the_kitchen_brewer]

I've found a local supplier of 4KG Co2 canisters £10 for the Gas and £20 deposit for the cylinder - which sounds great! :party:

However... having been reading about Co2 safety, I'm wondering how safe it would be?

I was using a sodastream bottle with an adaptor, but after trying to force carbonate my lager at 20psi (the long term method rather than the roll around method) the following morning the gas was empty.

I'm not sure whether it's just because the sodastream doesn't have enough gas for the job, or whether there's a leak somewhere (I'm new to cornies)

I'm thinking that if I have a big cylinder and a leak develops, and say I was away for a few days, then I could walk into a shed full of Co2 - and since you can't smell/taste it, I'd be none the wiser. Apparently too much can make you pass out/die - though I'm not sure whether there is enough in a cylinder to do so.

I looked on ebay for CO2 detectors and it came up with Carbon Monoxied detectors - will they detect CO2 too?

The other concern is the advice to secure them to the wall. Being a wooden shed, I'm not sure how much stability it would give it, or what to attach it to the wall with? If I put it in the corner, would a tug on the gas line be enough to pull one over (it says they are 21KG full and 17KG empty).

Anyone using the midget gas system for force carbonation? I realise it would be more expensive, but would it be safer? And how many cornies will a cannister carbonate and serve?

 

[the_kitchen_brewer]

I realise of course that every pub and a lot of restrauarants in the world use CO2 and people aren't dropping like flies from CO2 inhilation, but since I don't know what I'm doing, I'd like to err on the side of caution

 

[the_kitchen_brewer]

This page got me a bit worried! Can the safety valve really blow at 25oC? I know this is the UK, but in the middle of summer it could happen!
http://yorkshire-co2gas.co.uk/Safety_Sheet.pdf

And if that had me a wee bit worried....
http://www.lindegas.hu/internet.lg.lg.hun/en/images/1270_15655.pdf

This one talks about not being able to detect in with human senses, and that at 10% concentration can cause cramps, unconciousness, respitory arrest and death.

:shock:

Are they talking more about industrial sized quantities they use in breweries, or if a 4kg of CO2 leaked into an enclosed shed (not airtight) would I be stuffed?

 

[DrD]

4 kg CO2 = 90 moles = about 2160 L or 2.16 cubic metres of CO2.

Sounds a lot, but unless you vent it all at once in a rather small and airtight shed you'd do well to asphyxiate yourself. A small shed would have a volume of around 10 cubic metres. Get it gas tight so you don't waste your money on CO2, and stop overthinking it. Maybe leave the door open when you go in, or have a pressure dial visible from the door/window, but that is almost certainly overkill.

CO monitor wouldn't work.

Side note: My father in law passed out from CO2 inhalation after trying to keep dry ice (solid, frozen CO2) in a chest freezer. He went to retrieve it the next day, it had sublimed and he passed out when he got a lung full and slumped into the freezer.

 

[the_kitchen_brewer]

Eek, did your father-in-law survive?

Yeah I've placed an order, obviously a lot of people have Cornys with big tanks, so I'll just need to be careful with it.

 

[Malkin71]

Buy yourself a bird that they used for mining. If it dies get out quick :lol:

You will be 100% safe in a shed. If it's a worry just drill a small hole in the shed so if anything does happen the co2 can escape.

Does this company deliver by any chance?

 

[the_kitchen_brewer]

Buy yourself a bird that they used for mining. If it dies get out quick :lol:

You will be 100% safe in a shed. If it's a worry just drill a small hole in the shed so if anything does happen the co2 can escape.

Does this company deliver by any chance?

Hahaha, yeah the shed is far from air tight, there is a big gap inside the roof, and a few holes in the wall (albeit if I'm righte CO2 is heavier than air so tends to sit at floor level?).

But yeah I'm probably worrying too much :)

 

[Fil]

in a basement or cellar its a REAL concern,, but in a shed y should be fine,

a couple of cup hooks screwed in and secure in the shed wall battons(or added batton ) and a small length of BnQ chain round the neck of the bottle will be fine to keep the bottle stable, its just to keep the thing standing as they are top heavy and a slight tug can fell a full bottle.

if using JG fittings for the gas line make sure you cut the line cleanly with a sharp blade scissors will deform and result in a not square cut. and test the system with an empty keg (liquid will absorb the co2 if used) plumb up to the co2, charge the keg, and then turn off the bottle if you have no leaks the keg pressure should be maintained, if it drops over the next day or 2 you have a small leak, corny oring replacements should be the first thing to check off.....

 

[Brew_Mike]

Just to add to what Fil has said, when you cut the line cleanly, roll the edge hard on a solid surface so that you chamfer it, this way the cut edge doesn't damage the seal in the fitting. Or do what we do here in the states and use vinyl tubing and hose barbs with clamps :)