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Author Topic: Where to go for oxygen tanks?  (Read 28650 times)

narvin

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Re: Where to go for oxygen tanks?
« Reply #15 on: May 30, 2011, 07:09:13 pm »
Ideally, you're wanting food/medicinal-grade oxygen. Go to a medical supply store.

Seems like most people that aerate with O2 use the welding tanks.  What's the difference?
Medical oxygen costs more.  ;)
The purity of welding oxygen is just fine.

As far as I know, medical oxygen is the same except that you can't get it without a prescription.  So, stick to welding tanks.

Offline thomasbarnes

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Re: Where to go for oxygen tanks?
« Reply #16 on: May 31, 2011, 04:24:14 am »
Ambient air is only 21% O2. That's why bubbling O2 gas is preferable to an aquarium air pump.  Dive tanks mostly use compressed ambient air.

You're absolutely right that your typical scuba diver uses nothing fancier than compressed air. What I meant re: dive shops is that deep divers will sometimes use rebreathers, which use pure O2. Dive shops which cater to deep divers might also mix their own deep diving blends, like heliox. So, if you're looking for a line on high grade oxygen, a good dive shop might know a source.

Offline richardt

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Re: Where to go for oxygen tanks?
« Reply #17 on: May 31, 2011, 07:29:51 am »
Currently, I just aerate it by splashing the wort into the fermentor.  I'm considering an aquarium pump and aerating the wort versus oxygenating the wort. 

Noob question here:  What other equipment besides an O2 tank is needed to oxygenate the wort? 
A regulator?  A flow meter?
Please post pics if you're able to do so. 

Thanks in advance.

Offline tygo

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Re: Where to go for oxygen tanks?
« Reply #18 on: May 31, 2011, 07:47:01 am »
Clint
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Offline tumarkin

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Re: Where to go for oxygen tanks?
« Reply #19 on: May 31, 2011, 08:09:48 am »
the setup Tygo posted is pretty much what I use, though I've got a different stone. the small 02 tanks are available from Home Depot for about $12. I think they sell the regulator for $12-14. stones are available for varying rates depending on type, size etc. a couple of months back, my local home depot had the 02 cannisters on sale for $6. I bought about 1/2 dozen of them. they last for quite a while as you don't need to run the 02 for more than a couple of minutes per batch.
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Offline a10t2

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Re: Where to go for oxygen tanks?
« Reply #20 on: May 31, 2011, 08:24:14 am »
Noob question here:  What other equipment besides an O2 tank is needed to oxygenate the wort?

You will need a regulator, preferably an inline syringe-type filter, and some kind of airstone, plus the tubing and maybe some clamps to connect it all.

My two cents: unless you have a dissolved O2 meter, or at minimum a flow rate meter, I'd stick with aerating. With pure oxygen, there's always the risk of super-saturating and oxidizing the wort, and with air that just isn't possible. The downside to aeration is that it takes longer (5-10 min vs. 1-2 min).
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Offline graymax

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Re: Where to go for oxygen tanks?
« Reply #21 on: May 31, 2011, 01:04:21 pm »
Pinski--I too am able to purchase oxygen at Home Depot and also at a local hardware store (both in the Washington, DC metro area) that has affiliations with Ace and True Value.   Good luck.

Offline thomasbarnes

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Re: Where to go for oxygen tanks?
« Reply #22 on: June 01, 2011, 03:34:17 pm »
My two cents: unless you have a dissolved O2 meter, or at minimum a flow rate meter, I'd stick with aerating. With pure oxygen, there's always the risk of super-saturating and oxidizing the wort, and with air that just isn't possible.

Is it possible to just figure out maximum flow rate, crank the tank valve all the way open, and then figure oxygenation rates based on time, or would that be too imprecise?

If you were to super-saturate your wort, how quickly would oxidation character show up? Would it be ruined before you could condition it, or would it just mean that oxidation would show up sooner after the beer was conditioned and packaged?

Offline Pinski

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Re: Where to go for oxygen tanks?
« Reply #23 on: June 01, 2011, 04:02:21 pm »
Well, my regulator doesn't have a meter so I opened her up and let 'er rip for 2 minutes through the .5 stone. Looked really cool.
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Offline ajk

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Re: Where to go for oxygen tanks?
« Reply #24 on: June 03, 2011, 07:32:18 am »
The staff at the big box stores seem not to know what they are.  I've found them in two places at Lowe's: in the tools section near the welding supplies and in the plumbing section near the stuff for sweating copper pipe.

Offline thomasbarnes

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Re: Where to go for oxygen tanks?
« Reply #25 on: June 03, 2011, 01:30:11 pm »
I'm considering an aquarium pump and aerating the wort versus oxygenating the wort. 

This is what I do, but if I had to do it over again, I'd just use disposable oxygen and a sintered airstone.

By the time you've paid for the aquarium filter, the inline HEPA air filter and broken a couple of aquarium airstones, it's almost as cheap to go with a disposable O2 tank, a regulator and a sintered airstone.

Offline thomasbarnes

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Re: Where to go for oxygen tanks?
« Reply #26 on: June 03, 2011, 01:43:39 pm »
The staff at the big box stores seem not to know what they are.

This is normal. 90% of the staff at big box hardware stores are semi- to completely clueless. Look for the grizzled old guy with gnarly hands, who spent most of his life in the manual trades until he got too old or crippled to work. Failing that, try to find the guys who are as redneck-looking as possible while still complying with the corporate dress code.*

*In my experience, the really good hardware stores are staffed by guys whose preferred mode of dress is dirty Lynyrd Skynyrd t-shirts and tree bark camo hats. Another good sign is if the parking lot is full of vans and pickup trucks with contractor logos on the sides.

Offline punatic

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Re: Where to go for oxygen tanks?
« Reply #27 on: June 03, 2011, 07:31:02 pm »

... tree bark camo hats.


They wear those so no one can see what they're thinking...
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Offline 52mgtd

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Re: Where to go for oxygen tanks?
« Reply #28 on: June 05, 2011, 02:26:48 pm »
in NYS a welding supply outlet. To get really pure O2 you need a prescription!