Boots barrel CO2 8g sparklet issue

[smbenn]

Hi All

Been using the old faithful Boots barrel with 4" neck for the last couple of years for my AG brews (after a 15-plus years of hiatus) and just wanted to know the exact method for using the horizontally-mounted CO2 injector.

Basically, you screw it in, it squirts out all the CO2 which is great for the first couple of pints, then it goes again (ie the vacuum stops the flow). Thought the CO2 should always maintain a pressure so this will always froce the beer out? When I screw the sparklet in there's a lot of noise and it certainly doesn't seem to be esacaping anywhere (greased O-rings etc) so what's going on? Anyone use this one?

I also notice that part of the sparklet mount is a button which in theory you could push to just inject a bit of CO2 but it seems a bit all-or-nothing for me.

Not a biggie, just annoying. Don't want to hit the release valve to break the vacuum as surely this will let all the air in and limit the life of the beer drastically?

Cheers.

[Kev888]

Hi,

yes the little bulbs are really one-shot things. They are also fairly small capacity so you can get through a lot of them, but 2pts per bulb seems a bit excessive even so. I'd say there are two main probabilities: either there is a leak from somewhere, or the beer you're injecting into is absorbing the CO2.

In the distant past I had two of the horizontal bulb injector things and found that with one if you left the bulb in after injecting then gas leaked out around the pierced cap, ironically the second injector didn't seem to stop the return flow if the bulb was removed so you needed to leave the bulb on to limit that, imperfect as the seal could be sometimes.

CO2 can be absorbed if you didn't prime successfully initially (or if there's a small leak that let it out) or if you chilled the keg a lot after priming (as cool beer absorbes more CO2 than it would have done when warm).

There may be other possibilities but i can't think of any immediately. TBH I didn't last with the little bulbs, aside from the cost I alsways seemed to get them leaking in/around the injectors, so i went to S30 cylinders instead - you have to watch that the freezing effect of injecting from those doesn't stop their valve or the keg's injection valve closing but otherwise I found them much more successful. You also give a brief blast and remove/unscrew them again to stop it going in, so there's more control over how much gas goes in, though it can be a bit fierce so you have to be quick for small amounts.

Cheers
kev

[Fil]

if its like the one i had u load the bulb and give it a final twist to engage it. this punctures the bulb and injects the gas.

the other end to the bulb holder should push in and twist off this has a spring n diaphram which forms the pressure seal, check this n the oring for wear, It should hold pressure when the bulb is removed, allowing you to load one ready for use, depending on the amount of priming sugars used 2-3 bulbs should give u all the gass u need for a 5 gallon barrel,

Im relying on memory as i handed mine down the line, a while back.

mine was a boots injector, so may not be the same..

[smbenn]

Thanks All. And yeah, Fil, think you're talking about the set up I've got here. There's got to be a leak around the spring and diaphragm as I'm losing a hell of a lot of CO2.

Thanks as usual, guys.

[An Ankoù]

Sorry to revive this old thread, but I've dug out my old barrels and injectors and I'm going to try t pass the back into service. I used to use a different kind of valve which took a blast of gas fro a Hambleton bard cylinder and these use to last for ages. Unfortunately I can't find these anywhere in France and I'm not sure they're still available in the UK.
Anyway, I greased up all the rubbers and did a dry run with a bulb. What a scary noise! But everything seems ship shape and Briistol fashion and I didn't detect any leaks.
Any thoughts or warnings over using such ancient kit.
(ps. Watched Independence Day at night , and they managed to get the alien spacecraft flying that had been laid up for about the same time. So I shoud be able to manage a pressure barrel)

[nallum]

Sodastream type cylinders have replaced HB cylinders. More readily available anyway. In France too presumably. In terms of using old barrels, my main concern is going to be using an old plastic vessel. I wouldn’t store beer in new plastic. It’s not food (beverage) safe at all.

[IPA]

They are available in the UK under the name Brewgas Cylinder Services.
You can buy them here
https://www.google.com/search?q=the+hop ... e&ie=UTF-8
And they accept empty Hambledon Bard cylinders. I have also made an adaptor that fits normal CO2 bottles.