Sodastream

theintern wrote: »

For those of you who haven't taken the plunge yet, I was in Harvey Norman the other day in Galway, and they do the Sodastream canister replacement too (21 euro). Bring your old one and get a new one. Not sure how they can open when Argos can't, but it's an option if you're stuck.

Going to get all the gear for self refill soon but for now I'm still paying the sodastream tax

Thanks for this im stuck with 2 empties and don't want to have a 3rd and was onto AJ Edge again who say they wont have the valves required for their cans till the end of April now. Ive got one old style sodastream can and one newer one so might try and chance my luck of getting a 2nd old style as the trade in as they are easier to refill.

54and56 wrote: »

Old style canisters available for €35.63 including shipping to Ireland here - https://www.co2-adapter.de/produkt/co2-zylinder-425gr-leer/
I have two of them and they are the "old" easier to fill style.

Also, it's a bit steeper than AJ Edge and similar but you can get an entire "Refill Kit" including a 10KG cylinder (twice the size of AJ Edges) with a dip tube, an adapter and a spare Sodastream canister for €257 including delivery - https://www.co2-adapter.de/produkt/co2-steigrohr-bundle-111-sodastream/ At one refill a month you'd have your money back in a year!!

Perhaps those with a business might have a need for environmentally friendly carbonated water in the office and be able to expense the purchase of one thus saving the business and the environment long term from buying San Pellegrino for those all so important clients/customers who drop by for meetings when lockdown is lifted.

Just sayin.....;)

Thanks for all that ive already bought the bigger adapter from c02 supermarket and im kinda set on the cheaper aj edge main tank now.

Ruairi.g wrote: »

This came in the post yesterday from China, under €10, the Sodastream canister fits on one end and the other end fits onto a CO2 fire extinguisher!
I’m going to try to refill my canisters from a fire extinguisher!
Is there any reason while this plan would not work, apart from the risk of not having a fire extinguisher in case of a real fire

I assume you're joking but in case you're not please DON'T!!!

AFAIK fire extinguishers aren't filled with the CO2 you need for your Sodastream.

See https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-chemicals-are-used-i/

Ruairi.g wrote: »

Or even get a larger canister of CO2, from a friendly publican!

Is it the same gas used in lager as used in a Sodastream??

I believe the answer is "yes" and it's commonly referred to as food grade CO2 but the fittings on the canisters used in pubs may differ from those typically used by AJ Edge and others. I'm not sure on that score.

Ruairi.g wrote: »

I’m confused now!

My thinking, which I admit may be flawed, was that if I went to a fire extinguisher company, like AJ Edge, they would refill my Sodastream canister with the same ci2 as they put into the fire extinguishers??
So there is a different mixture for the fire extinguishers??

My understanding is essentially "yes". They use CO2 as part of what they do but fire extinguishers also contain other chemicals to suppress fire (obviously) which aren't something you want to mix through your carbonated water, unless of course you want to become a YouTube sensation of some sort????

Lucked out and got an old style can when i traded in my new style one in Harvey Norman, now have 2 old ones so once AJ Edge get their valves in stock ill be set finally

ec_pc wrote: »

Very interesting thread, I have a Sodastream for fizzy water that we bought last year and now I have 4 cylinders as Argos can't do the Sodastream cylinder exchange due to some import issue from UK to the entire island of Ireland. I contacted Sodastream UK and the only option is to by another sodastream canister at €30 plus.

So, I have seen a lot of useful information on this thread but it's hard to follow at times.

Can anyone be so kind as to give me a list of items I would need in order to refill my own cylinders? I assume I need connectors, pipes, pressure gauges and a source of food safe Co2. Based in Kildare if it makes any difference.

If I was in your shoes with 4 Sodastream cylinders, and especially if getting refills meant a bit of time in the car, I'd probably invest in this bundle of 10kg cylinder and adapter - https://www.co2-adapter.de/produkt/co2-steigrohr-bundle-11-sodastream/ as it's twice the size of the 5kg cylinders you can get from AJ Edge so a refill would last twice as long.

The extra cost would be paid back in time and petrol saved traipsing to Bray (or wherever) for more frequent refills.

wassie wrote: »

Unfortunately that bundle is only available in Germany.

Ah apologies, I put it into a cart last week with Dublin as the delivery address and it quoted me a delivery price etc so I assumed it would follow through for anyone wanting to buy one here.

VinLieger wrote: »

...I have this one which is a bit bigger has a gauge and allows for vertical positioning of the sodastream can

https://www.co2supermarket.co.uk/sodastream-cylinder-refill-adapter-p520.html

Im interested in this adapter also. Did you purchase it this year (i.e. Post-Brexit) - asking as Im trying to work out what the final cost would be in terms of VAT and admin charges potentially?

Thanks

so this time I have taken a punt on this fella - will report back

Adapter

Just read through this entire thread and there is some great advice. Kudos in particular to 54and56 to ...Ghost... for your instructive posts.

Now just awaiting for AJ Edge to get restocked!

The lads at AJs have new valves in stock and even had a couple of bottles made up ready to go for 50 quid. Reminder for anyone looking to purchase same make sure you can pay in cash. My regulator & replacement valve also arrived by mail from CO2 supermarket - no issue with customs even with a declared value of ~£60 (Thanks @VinLieger) so all set to go.

wassie wrote: »

The lads at AJs have new valves in stock and even had a couple of bottles made up ready to go for 50 quid. Reminder for anyone looking to purchase same make sure you can pay in cash. My regulator & replacement valve also arrived by mail from CO2 supermarket - no issue with customs even with a declared value of ~£60 (Thanks @VinLieger) so all set to go.

Don't forget to get the AJ Cylinder up to room temp for a few hours and place the sodastream canister in the freezer for a few hours before starting the fill as differential in temp creates the maximum vacuum (or some other chemistry / physics stuff my son tried and failed to explain to me) thus enabling the max fill up of the sodastream canister.

Also,

Wear gloves or use a tea towel unless you want blisters from holding a frozen sodastream canister and if you have a digital scales weigh the empty sodastream canister (should be circa 795g empty) and again after filling so you know how much CO2 you've been able to transfer. 1,250g is the max "full weight" I've been able to fill mine to meaning I got 455g of CO2 into the canister but that gradually reduces as the pressure from the AJ donation cylinder declines as it empties.

At max 450g per fill you should get 11 full refills out of the 5kg CO2 in the AJ Edge cylinder or 12/13 if the last 2-3 fills are less than full transfers.

crazyderk wrote: »

Picked up a cylinder from AJ today. I got the wrong impression from this thread that they would include the adaptor that goes from the cylinder to the soda stream bottle and that's what they were waiting on but it must of been the adaptor thats connect to the actual bottle instead of say the hose that you aim to put out a fire.
The guy recommended an adaptor from lew tech called "W21.8" So off I go to find a "W21.8" adaptor

There ya go.

RobAMerc wrote: »

If you are willing to wait, mine should be arriving shortly and I can confirm its compatible both ends - my last one didnt

Yes, I'll hang on. The bottle from AJ is huge & I saw a video where you tip the AJ bottle upside down to refill the soda stream bottle. If that's the case I could see using this valve as being quite awkward.

Did anyone get to confirm if Harvey Norman are doing canister exchanges / refills?

crazyderk wrote: »

Yes, I'll hang on. The bottle from AJ is huge & I saw a video where you tip the AJ bottle upside down to refill the soda stream bottle. If that's the case I could see using this valve as being quote awkward.

When I got mine I asked if it had a dip tube and they said it did. If it was one of the ones that was pre-made then it will most likely will be fine.

Anyone thinking of purchasing should remember to ask this.

wassie wrote: »

When I got mine I asked if it had a dip tube and they said it did. If it was one of the ones that was pre-made then it will most likely will be fine.

Anyone thinking of purchasing should remember to ask this.

Got mine earlier and was only in the car on the way home when i realised i never asked about it being dipped. Wll be trying a fill later so will find out, if not im making a journey back to bray tomorrow.

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

And are they are definitely doing exchanges, not charging the full price for a new canister?

Yep they are deffinitely doing trade ins, i did one in carrickmines 2 weeks ago

Just filled my spare and all went great got 418g into it which im pretty happy with, just 1 more refill to go and ill be saving myself a lot of money

RobAMerc wrote: »

If you are willing to wait, mine should be arriving shortly and I can confirm its compatible both ends - my last one didnt

Hi, I’m looking at setting this up and was curious if that valve worked for you or am I better off purchasing one from co2-adapter.de?


Also, I’m going buy a Soda Stream in the next few days. Is there any particular model that is best to get?

Any help would be great.

54and56 wrote: »

I got the "One Touch" plug in model which lets you press one of three buttons for the amount of gasing you want. It was a bit more than the manual one but I'm glad I did. If you're planning to use it a lot for carbonated water for example I think the convenience Vs having to manually pump the gas is worth it.

Jesus that's some coin for that.

I got my yoke for £29.99. I'll take a couple of pumps of the button over that anyday.

That being said, a year without gas is getting tiresome. Hopefully that bit doesn't arrive into Harvey Norman and buys 11 next time again!

crazyderk wrote: »

Hi all,

Hoping someone can help. I have the tank from AJ in Bray. I got the adaptor from Amazon and I put the empty side stream bottle (newer kind) in the freezer. However when I connect everything together and slowly release the valve then nothing happens. When I release the soda stream bottle a little bit of gas escapes but that’s about it.

Not sure what to do next.

Watch from 5:13 onwards for a good explanation of the problem you're experiencing.



The closing action he's referring to with the newer Sodastream canisters is what happens when you open the donor (AJ Edge) canister valve too quick. A high volume of CO2 rushes out and pushes the Sodastream valve closed. You need to fiddle around to find the right amount of release from the donor valve which pushes open the Sodastream valve enough to keep it open to fill but not so much that it forces it past the "open" range and forces it closed.

If I read it correctly the old narrow Sodastream valves only have a single open and closed function so the pressure from the donation canister can only open the Sodastream valve. At its max it stays open whereas the new valves have a sweet spot for staying open and if too much pressure comes from the donor canister they push past the open range and effectively close requiring you to start again.

Took me a bit of time to figure out how much pressure to initially apply but basically start slow and when you hear gas being transferred stop opening the donor valve any further and just let it complete it's fill.

Hope the above makes some sense to you!!

54and56 wrote: »

Watch from 5:13 onwards for a good explanation of the problem you're experiencing.

The closing action he's referring to with the newer Sodastream canisters is what happens when you open the donor (AJ Edge) canister valve too quick. A high volume of CO2 rushes out and pushes the Sodastream valve closed. You need to fiddle around to find the right amount of release from the donor valve which pushes open the Sodastream valve enough to keep it open to fill but not so much that it forces it past the "open" range and forces it closed.

If I read it correctly the old narrow Sodastream valves only have a single open and closed function so the pressure from the donation canister can only open the Sodastream valve. At its max it stays open whereas the new valves have a sweet spot for staying open and if too much pressure comes from the donor canister they push past the open range and effectively close requiring you to start again.

Took me a bit of time to figure out how much pressure to initially apply but basically start slow and when you hear gas being transferred stop opening the donor valve any further and just let it complete it's fill.

Hope the above makes some sense to you!!

I’ve watched that video a few times, I’ve started super slow and never hear the gas starting to fill or hear any kind of a click of the valve shutting like in the video