My Oxygenation Rig

[tjpfeister]

If you're like me you hate dangling hoses and things that fall over- damaging equipment. Not too long ago I started using an oxygen cylinder to add O2 to my wort prior to fermentation- two things became clear in short order:

1) I needed to meter oxygen flow so that $10 cylinders arent used up every three brew sessions

2) this O2 thing was fapping dangley and falls over and is a nuisance to store- it needs to be in a crate of sorts (which would also hold the regulator in a vertical position)

So I took a week off due to the birth of my second child... and I got a little bored of sitting around the house. I hid in the garage for an afternoon and built this:

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[arnobg]

What are you using for a flow reading?

 

[tjpfeister]

The flow meter (with valve) that I used can be had here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/142041811561

It cost me $11 to have it shipped over on the slow-boat.

Incidentally, if you trust china-gauges, the brass valve on the cylinder (often mistakenly referred to as a regulator) opened about 360 degrees seems to flow about .5Lpm through the .5 micron stone.

With care you can easily control the flow down to the .1 mark

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[tjpfeister]

The crate was made out of 3.5" x 3/4" pine (wish i had used hardwood).

The bracket holding the regulator is 1/16" x 3/4" L-shaped aluminum.

The velcro strap is an 18"er

The hose is standard bevlex beverage tube.

The wand holder is 1" pvc

The wand itself is available from Bobby at brewhardware.com

 

[Leadpencil]

nice rig you made there. how is the build quality of that flow meter?

 

[tjpfeister]

I have no problems with the quality of the flowmeter, considering the price. The physical quality is sturdy, its accuracy I dont have reason to suspect. However, the only way to be sure will be to put a balloon over my wand and see how long it takes to displace a liter of water; that i havent done yet.

 

[stamandster]

Looks great! I may do something similar ;-)

 

[JohnnyGunn]

The flow meter (with valve) that I used can be had here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/142041811561

It cost me $11 to have it shipped over on the slow-boat.

Incidentally, if you trust china-gauges, the brass valve on the cylinder (often mistakenly referred to as a regulator) opened about 360 degrees seems to flow about .5Lpm through the .5 micron stone.

With care you can easily control the flow down to the .1 mark

Did the brass valve for the O2 tank come with that flow meter you linked?

 

[tjpfeister]

No, to separate purchases. Tank valve came from Bobby at brewhardware.com

 

[bschot]

When you use your oxygen system how many liters per minute do you have it set on and how long do you run it? And have you used it long enough to know how many batches you get out of a bottle?



-Brian

 

[tjpfeister]

At .15LPM (for 1 minute) a cylinder would last 200 (5 gallon) batches. At .5LPM it would last for 60.

I have some experiments to complete before I make process decisions, but quick answer is that I will be using the lower end of the flowmeter for a longer duration as this likely to result in the least bubbles reaching the surface (better utilization)

 

[kshuler]

Nice build. I hate storing the oxygen tank-- this seems like a good compact solution.

 

[stever1000]

Very cool - I will order one of those from ebay as well

 

[edecambra]

Great build. And go Gators!

 

[RichBrewer]

Ļ

 

[brew703]

I have the same oxygen tank but no stand. It is a PITA to store and keep the tubes neat. So far I have 14 uses (60 sec each). No idea how much is actually left so I have a second tank. Getting a set up like you have is nice. May work on that next year.

 

[crane]

Here is my version I came up with. I already had everything for it except the flow meter and the velcro strap.

I use an inline oxygen stone on the output of my plate chiller.

 

[crane]

Here is my version I came up with. I already had everything for it except the flow meter and the velcro strap.

I use an inline oxygen stone on the output of my plate chiller.

Somehow the pictures didn't upload.

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[tjpfeister]

Looks good! I like how you use the angled aluminum to hold the velcro in place. It's a simple solution