CO2 Generator, I scared myself, any advice?

splooto

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Well I made the jump to a CO2 generator I found on Amazon, and after following the instructions as closely as I could, I've discovered that I'm absolutely petrified of the thing. Had no idea I would react this way until I had a pressurized metal tube in my house. Now I'm not sure what to do. :grimacing-face::grimacing-face::grimacing-face:

The instructions say to add the materials (200g baking soda, 200g citric acid, 300ml water) And then immediately attach the valve and tighten everything, okay!! Did it!
Then it says to wait 8 hours, and THEN add the solenoid valve and bubble counter... Uhhh.... It's already pressurized ? The place to add the solenoid valve is sealed up with a metal nut, I assume to keep it pressurized?? So how would I even add this after it is already pressurized? Heck, how do I even let the pressure out now that I can't do anything else with it?
I thought it would be pretty straight forward in the instructions, but there were zero safety instructions included, and I am absolutely terrified of touching this thing at all now that it's pressurized. I've essentially got a bomb in my house that I don't know how to deal with because it doesn't really tell me... How to?

I feel like a complete idiot but I'm begging for help now from some more experienced individuals. I know I look like a moron here but I'd rather look like a moron and not have my hands blown off than not looking like a moron with no hands.:downcast-face-with-sweat:
The instructions don't even state what to do in the event that too much pressure builds, how to safely release all the pressure if you can't use it or something happens and you need to transport it. It's not over-pressurized at all according to the gauge, but I'm still terrified of this thing blowing my hands off if I touch it now. Idk how I'm gonna sleep tonight knowing this thing is in my house and I can't put it outside either because its below freezing and snowing and I know for certain that isn't safe at all either.

Attaching pictures of what I'm looking at now. What on earth do I do? I made a huge mistake trying to do this with just guidance of the instructions booklet, I've learned my lesson.
See how where the solenoid valve is meant to go, there's some sort of nut in the way? In the instructions, there is no nut there. Why is there a nut there at all if not to keep it pressurized? And why on earth would it tell me to wait until it's fully pressurized to install all the rest of these pieces??

I tried releasing the smaller control valve on the right but it did not budge very easily and quite frankly I'm too petrified of this thing to try and force it. All I know is that pressurized things go boom and i like my hands on my body and no holes in my walls.


This is doubly embarrassing because I am a mildly experienced diver and have handled pressurized oxygen tanks oodles of times! But I don't know how this specific thing works, and so, I am terrified. LOL.
instructions.jpg 20250208_232006.jpg 20250208_231955.jpg
 
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splooto

splooto

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I seen just now that trolling is a bit of an issue here sometimes so I just wanna be clear here I am NOT taking anybody for a ride here other than myself! :loudly-crying-face: Not trolling at all, just have really bad anxiety and don't know a whole lot.
 
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splooto

splooto

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Just to confirm. You're at like... step 7 of the manual right?
Yes! It has been 8 hours (almost on the dot) since I put the reactive agents into the canister and sealed it up. I'm just scared on how to proceed because the nut in the solenoid valve threw me for a loop!
 

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Can you try and take a close up of where the solenoid connects? The solenoid is a separate thing you screw on right?
My thinking is it's just like a paintball gun cartridge. You'll probably hear a hiss when you start to screw it in, but you have to keep going to seat it fully.
 
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splooto

splooto

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Can you try and take a close up of where the solenoid connects? The solenoid is a separate thing you screw on right?
My thinking is it's just like a paintball gun cartridge. You'll probably hear a hiss when you start to screw it in, but you have to keep going to seat it fully.
Here's what they look like! What really confused me is that there is a nut for the valve where the solenoid goes and one on the solenoid itself. I understand the one on the solenoid is to adhere it properly to the valve but I'm just so lost on why the valve has one of its own :loudly-crying-face:
The link to the amazon listing is hyperlinked in the original post
Amazon product

((on a side note something I find funny about this is that the solenoid does not have a timer, just a plug, so it is somewhat inherently useless unless you have a timer of your own hahaha))
 

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BeanAnimal

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Look in the end of the solenoid, there will be a pin, similar to a tire pump, the area under the nut on the tank should be like a tire stem.
 
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splooto

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Look in the end of the solenoid, there will be a pin, similar to a tire pump, the area under the nut on the tank should be like a tire stem.
The valve port in the canister has the pin, but the solenoid itself is fully concave. The nut on the canister is removable (though this is what I'm afraid to touch) but the nut on the solenoid itself cannot be removed.
 

JTP424

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I feel like the one on the canister is just a cover to keep the threads and pin connected.
Google the exact one and see if it comes with a cover that needs to be removed.
 

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Note the direction. It says instal counterclockwise. It probably unthreads clockwise.... you're probably tightening it.
 

BeanAnimal

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The valve port in the canister has the pin, but the solenoid itself is fully concave. The nut on the canister is removable (though this is what I'm afraid to touch) but the nut on the solenoid itself cannot be removed.
The cover cap nut comes off of the port on the tank. Under it should be Schrader valve. The solenoid nut does not come off, this is what threads onto the Schrader port.
 

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