CO2 Scrubbing: An Unexpected Journey Chasing Numbers

[USMA36]

Slightly cleaner setup and a bigger humidifier. Now I can track how much water is left in the reservoir. For anyone trying out the humidifier thing, having a clear container adds a bit of reassurance for some reason

Do you have a second hole drilled into the cap to allow fresh air to enter the mason jar? I feel like I would create a vacuum and no air would be pulled without a vent hole.

 

[Ty Hamatake]

Do you have a second hole drilled into the cap to allow fresh air to enter the mason jar? I feel like I would create a vacuum and no air would be pulled without a vent hole.

Yes there is. I made it as big as possible with still being able to plug it with my finger. Lol it sounds weird, but that's how I determine how much air I'm pulling through the scrubbers.

 

[dangros]

my scrubber is a phosban reactor 150, which sits on the outside of my fuge, which sits inside the cabinet below the DT. Isnt that pretty much a giant and boxy bottle with water in it?

 

[Ty Hamatake]

my scrubber is a phosban reactor 150, which sits on the outside of my fuge, which sits inside the cabinet below the DT. Isnt that pretty much a giant and boxy bottle with water in it?

And that water is heated which I'm sure increases the humidity by increasing evaporation. I've had to stick my head inside my stand a few times to check on things in the sump and each time there is a notable difference in temperature and humidity. My scrubbers are in my stand too, but I have it partitioned off to keep salt spray from getting on my controller. Hence the mason jar

 

[Ridgeway]

Has anyone worked out how to regenerate Soda Lime ?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm not aware of any good way to regenerate it.

 

[atoll]

Soda lime is not so dear anyway

 

[atoll]

Updates?

 

[CoralWealth]

I am thinking about possibly starting this up.

How long are the 5 gallon buckets lasting everyone?

 

[frenchie01]

On average how often are people changing their soda lime?

 

[Ty Hamatake]

Updates?

Hey there! Everything is going strong. No changes have been made or anything, but there is one thing I noticed that I found interesting. Up until a few weeks ago I had been changing the media based on the color. I recently decided to let it go and wait for my pH to tell me when to change the media and I got an extra week of pretty stable <8.0 pH!

I am thinking about possibly starting this up.

How long are the 5 gallon buckets lasting everyone?

I don't think you'll be disappointed. My bucket is still like 3/4th full and I've been going through about two canisters a month.

On average how often are people changing their soda lime?

From all of my reading and research it varies pretty wildly. I would say three weeks is an average.

 

[dangros]

I think one of the main factors is how much air is being pulled through the media. I put a valve on mine air intake so it wouldn't get depleted as fast. I had to close the valve to do some maintenance on the tank which left the the valve directing 100% flow through the scrubber media. The 3/4 of the media turned purple overnight but I also noticed the pH increase even more.
Personally, I'm on the fence about continuing this. It's yet one more thing to maintain and pay for.

 

[mitch91175]

About to start it up myself. Going the whole solenoid route and the media posted at the beginning of the thread. Instead of a mason jar, I think I am going to use one of these: https://www.amazon.com/OXO-Good-Gri...519268954&sr=1-13&keywords=kitchen+containers

It is one of those OXO pop top containers.

 

[mitch91175]

Today I had my fuge light on all day and it seems to have definitely helps increase the pH. I am expecting to get around 8.3 once adding the scrubber.

Not dosing anything at the moment.

 

[spacetime]

I’m finding that the media lasts about three weeks but that I have to constantly switch between having the intake on the skimmer and in the sump pulling air because I get too much moisture in the bottom of scrubber where it gets close to touching the bottom of the media.

Going to plumb in an empty mason jar to collect the water drops before the media reactor. See if that will help.

 

[mitch91175]

Check this out about the regeneration of Soda Lime. http://anesthesiology.pubs.asahq.org/article.aspx?articleid=1972305

 

[mitch91175]

Also found someone that heated it to regenerate: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dutchfreediver/8397610334

I may try this out once I have mine setup.

 

[Finhead]

Has anyone worked out how to regenerate Soda Lime ?

I recycle mine every 2 weeks with half new and half used, I seal off the used soda lime in the orignal container and that in Freezer bag . About 11-14 days later it is back to the white color it started out as. Here is a pic of the SL removed from my scrubber, one on the left is from Feb 11 and the one on the right is from 5 min ago. It is the TLF CDX as that is all I can find in Canada at a decent price point.

 

[mitch91175]

How frequently are you changing after recharge? Does it have the same affect on pH after freezing?

 

[Finhead]

How frequently are you changing after recharge? Does it have the same affect on pH after freezing?

Freezing? Nope I don't freeze it just use the double seal ziploc freezer bag so it's 100% sealed as well as the original container. It has the same effect on PH, but if you read my post I mix it with 50% new and 50% old/regenerated. This is due to not having enough bought to cycle it without running out. I change out my SL every 2 weeks.