I'm kinda new at this CO2 stuff. I am curious about what should my pressure gauge read on a full CO2 tank. I have 2 tanks and after the last fill at a local beer dispensing company, one tank read 500 psi and the other read 400 psi. I am only getting about 5 weeks on each tank and am pretty sure I have no leaks (I use teflon tape on all fittings except at the tank where I use a nylon washer on one tank and a rubber o ring on the other).
I'm kinda new at this CO2 stuff. I am curious about what should my pressure gauge read on a full CO2 tank. I have 2 tanks and after the last fill at a local beer dispensing company, one tank read 500 psi and the other read 400 psi. I am only getting about 5 weeks on each tank and am pretty sure I have no leaks (I use teflon tape on all fittings except at the tank where I use a nylon washer on one tank and a rubber o ring on the other).
If it reads only 500 psi right after you get it filled, they are not really filling it!
It should read about 900psi at room temp and hold that reading for about 6 months (depending on bubble count)!
My recently refilled 5 lb tank reads 850 psi. It will stay at that reading until all the liquid is gone - for me (55 gal tank) about 8 months.
You may have a fill place who cannot properly fill a 5 lb container. That happened to me at a beer supply place. He rarely got more than 2 lbs in. I ultimately switched to a fire extinguisher place who has the right equipment to fill it properly.
CO2 is stored in liquid form with a vapor pressure of about 800 psi at 68 F. It should remain there until about 10% remains in the tank. If you read 400-500psi, then the tank has less than 10% fill in it. The fill operator was allowing the tank to become air-locked during the fill. The tanks must go through a fill-purge-refill process to become fully-filled. Yes, you need a better refill vendor.
If you look on the tank you should see a Tare Weight stamped on the tank. If the TW is 21 lbs then the tank should weigh 26 pounds when filled. The TW stamp is required on CO2 tanks as far as I know. Most of the time it just says TW XX lbs.
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