Sodastream

Would any of the knowledgeable self-refillers have an opinion on why these would/wouldn't work for the refilling?
or are any of the valves available o there suitable?

I want to save money and get the simplest setup possible without blowing up the house/shed

Update - I've ordered it, in EU size; total cost was €18.25 including delivery.
Will see if it fits Sodastream bottle first when it arrives, and then see if it is possible to source a CO2 tank in this new world order.

Thanks for all the tips and info sop far!!
If I die in a SodaStream related incident you will all get a mention in the eulogy

54and56 wrote: »

Hi Robbe,

I just purchased this adapter which should be delivered this week.

The home brew guys have a constant requirement for Co2 so I found this thread which recommends one place in Bray (which suits me as I'm in Sandyford) where you can buy a filled 5KG cylinder for a once off €45 and then have it refilled for €10 once it's empty, see https://goo.gl/maps/YwdNZfRJyswWcgJe7 The Co2 needs to be "Food Safe" apparently so check that it is before getting it refilled.
I'm sure there must be lot's of similar places around the country.

Given the Sodastream cylinder is less than 0.5KG of Co2 I guess I'll get 10X Sodastream refills out of one €10 refill of the 5KG cylinder.

€1 per refill DIY Vs €28 per Sodastream sounds a good plan to me plus I'll only have to refill the 5KG once or twice max a year.

Edit: I have an aquarium hobby and use www.seahorseaquariums.com all the time. They sell a 3L filled cyclinder for €130 and after that refills would be €30 a go. Not as cheap as the place in Bray but they confirmed to me their Co2 is "Food Safe" so might be a more secure supply chain. 3L for €30 would equate to €5 a refill of the Sodastream cylinder so still a very good saving on €28.

This thread has popped up on the front page and the above post in particular has caught my eye.

Our house goes through @24 LTRs of carbonated water a week, and home brewing is one of those hobbies that impending middle age has me considering.

I've had a quick trawl through some sellers and get the basics minus a Co2 tank together for @€;60.

Deciding on what tank and what supplier for food grade Co2 will likely be the bulk of my cost but even one tank will near offset the cost of the setup within a year of use.

Any recommendations for gas supply in Limerick area?
I'm assuming BOC are likely my only option?

Raoul wrote: »

North Dublin City.

I can't find anyone offering them online.

I am tempted to just try the adapter but I don't want to f*ck it up and space is an issue in rented accomm.

And, yep Argos are closed.

I attached a picture of the cylinder I have. Seems to be the newer one. So is it possible to refill with any of the adapers?

Yes it's definitely possible, just a bit trickier. If you read back a few posts someone described how they did it and I think there's a video of same also. I haven't tackled a new one yet but my understanding is you have to unscrew the donor cylinder valve very slowly until you hear the high pitch noise which is the CO2 being filled into the Sodastream cylinder. Unscrew the donor too little and the Sodastream valve won't have enough pressure to open, unscrew too much/too quick and the Sodastream valve will have too much pressure and close. It's a balancing act you should get familiar with over the course of a few re-fills.

54and56 wrote: »

My Sodastream cylinder ran out last night so I put it (it's an actual Sodastream cylinder with the new/wide valve) into the freezer along with the 2 empty cylinders I got from co2-adapter.de and brought the 5KG donation cylinder I got from AJ Edge in Bray into the house to warm up.

Refilled all three this morning. Took about a minute each with the new valve a bit trickier as you have to release the donor valve slowly but no big deal.

Empty the Sodastream cylinders weigh 795g each. Full (or as full as I could get them) they weigh between 1,100g and 1,179g.

The maximum fill is +/- 400g so a really full cylinder will weigh up to 1,200g. (The guys in co2-adapter.de confirmed this to me)

I think depressing the valve on the sodastream cylinders to completely empty them before re-filling helps get the maximum into them.

It's a bit fiddly hence I decided to buy two in addition to the one I got from Sodastream when I bought the machine to do them in (fewer) batches but it's very straightforward.

It'll be interesting to see how long these 3 refills do me until I need to re-fill them again.

No mention of blowing the house up then?

54and56 wrote: »

Something to do with chemistry or physics I believe but not my strong suit.

Anyone with some actual knowledge be able to contribute?

The cylinder is filled once you have pressure equalisation between the cylinder and the tank. The temperature of the cylinder/tank will affect the internal gas pressure. With warmer cylinders/tanks, internal gas pressure rises. In colder cylinders/tanks, the internal gas pressure decreases. So ideally you start with a warmer tank that you're filling from (higher pressure), and a colder cylinder that you're filling (lower pressure) to allow the cylinder to take in extra gas before pressure equalisation. At least, that's how I think it works.

Anyone tried buying from BOC? I'm assuming this would work?

https://www.boconline.ie/shop/en/ireland/carbon-dioxide-food-fresh-for-gaseous-withdrawal-%28340kg%29-563-vk

I just rang AJ Edge myself earlier and confirmed they are open and operating.
They advised to give half hour notice and they'd have a tank ready for me.

Going to hold off for another little while, as I'm about 20KM from them and don't have a valve yet anyway.
Last delivery estimate for my cheapo valve was 13th June, I'm starting to wonder if I should pick up something else closer to home in the meantime.
Are there any B&M options for these things that anybody is aware of, or am I as well off just waiting.

I still only have 1 Sodastream gas bottle that came with machine, which i think is on the way out, rather than exchange, I reckon I'll pick up another in Argos and hope I have all the bits in place before that one is empty.
And will then have 2 cans for experimenting/refilling.

Only real remaining concern is explaining to my wife why I'll have a gas canister in the shed, and why it isn't a stupid idea cos all the cool kids nerds on Boards are doing it

I see Argos is back open, albeit with big queues and mandatory advance ordering apparently, for the wimps who won't be doing their own gas transfer experiments in their sheds.

banie01 wrote: »

Anyone aware of anywhere in Limerick I can pick up a 5 or 10ltr Co2?

I can sort rental of a 30ltr but it's far more than I need and trying to source something small and local has me stumped.

Would we get away with sending one via Parcel Motel do you reckon?
Not sure of dimensions of a cylinder as I haven't gotten one yet, but thikn it might fit into Large, it' sjust if Parcel Motel guys would reject...

PM sizes: Small 8 × 38 × 64 cm; Medium 19 × 38 × 64 cm; Large 41 × 38 × 64 cm

I'm going to pick one up in Bray in next few weeks, and have no problem getting a second and chancing my arm with Parcel Motel if you want to risk it (at your cost of course)


I just read on homebrew forum about a lad who comes from Galway on the bus for his refills, so may not be many options around the country.

banie01 wrote: »

Weirdly between my posting my question and your reply.
I just bit the bullet and went with a 6.35kg bottle from iedepot.

There is a bottle deposit of €100, but it quickly works out cheaper than airproducts or BOC rental.
Which is anywhere from €110 to €160 per year!


There is an aquarium place in Limerick, but never heard back from them regarding Co2 supply.

The bigger bottle can also do service for any keggers I might throw I suppose.

Anywhere that provides marine (seawater) aquarium products, fish, services etc will sell CO2, it's essential for maintaining marine aquariums.

I have a freshwater aquarium so know from visiting http://www.seahorseaquariums.com/store/ in Ballymount that they sell CO2 to their marine customers. You can buy a 3L tank from them for €130 initially filled and and then it's €30 a refill IIRC thereafter. Not sure if they'd ship to you but could be worth a call.

Problem is marine aquariums are very specialist so most run of the mill local pet stores and even dedicated aquarium businesses don't carry any marine products.

DavyD_83 wrote: »

My valve arrived in the post today;
It feels solid, and fits the SodaStream cylinder, so looks like it'll do the job.
As long as the second side fits the big tank I'm sorted I think.

Now I just need to sneak out to Bray for a CO2 cylinder and start the re-filling (mis)adventures.

Don't forget to ask them for a dip tube in the cylinder as it'll save you doing contortions trying to hold it upside down as you fill. Wish I'd asked for one, might see if they'll fit one next time I'm getting a re-fill.

DavyD_83 wrote: »

Was wondering about the mentions of dip tubes in the thread alright.
I get the basic concept, but wasn't sure how necessary or helpful it would be, or would add complexity in some way.

Checking back , ...Ghost... did say that he got a dip tube can and it had the w21.8 male output valve (which is what my adaptor is looking for) so I'll aim for that.

Out of curiosity, do you know what type of output valve was on your AJ tank '54and56'?

Cheers for the heads up.
Now to get to Bray while WFH without my wife or boss noticing me missing

I got a W21.8 male output.

I'm sipping a cold glass of bubbly water as I write this

My order arrived at the parcel motel locker today. It had been delivered up north on Saturday, so it took a week to get it to my locker.

I opened the packs and this is what they contained. Main adaptor, secondary adaptor, replacement sodastream bottle valve.


I secured my sodastream bottle in a small bench vice and removed the "booby trap" valve from the bottle and replaced with the new valve. This was easy enough and could have been done without the bench vice.....but why make life harder?


I screwed the main adaptor onto the donor tank and tightened with the wrench. I strongly suspect the main adaptor could be utilised for many other applications once the correct secondary adaptor is screwed in. I then fitted the sodatream adaptor to the main adaptor. From there, I checked all pin valves were closed and I then screwed the sodastream bottle into position....hand tight only.


I followed the instructions and filled the bottle. Result!



Side Notes:
It's best to freeze the sodatream bottle first to lower the pressure inside the bottle, allowing it to take more gas.

The knob on the top of the main adaptor is hard to turn when pressurised. I recommend opening this before opening the donor tank.

My donor tank has a dip tube, so I can use it straight up.

The direction of the sodastream bottle when connected to the adaptor is irrelevant.

It's also great for filling balloons :cool:

That looks super easy really. I am in! I actually just got a new gas thing today with the valve below attached. That's the old style one, I think, so should get easier filling??

So I just need to order:
Co2 Adapter
And get down to Bray to get the Co2 and then I am sorted.

...Ghost... wrote: »

It really is. My only concern was getting the wrong connection. The refill process is super easy. I think refills are too expensive, which is why I looked into this after the first bottle ran out. It lasted over 4 months too.



Yes, that's the old style one, so you don't need the replacement valve. The linked adaptor kit is all you need when you have your donor tank from Bray.

Excellent. Cheers for that. Ordered!