# [Wet Thumb Forum]-milwalkee regulator contact info



## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

i need the number to contact the manufactor of milwalkee regulators. i have had a devistating problem, and i really don't even feel like typing it right now.


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## Amphiprion (Jul 12, 2005)

Sorry man, I dont remember off the top of my head-think the number is at my workplace. But the reason I am replying is because mine just had a serious problem too. I was so angry that I could hardly see straight. Hopefully my tank will do ok while I have Milwaukee fix it


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

well, i have calmed down enough to be able to tell you what happened. 

i woke up this morning, and my co2 was rushing into the tank. my regulator dumped about 1/2 of my co2 into my aquarium. all of my fish, and all 60 or so of my cherry shrimp were all dead. i checked my ph, and i think my co2 was around 700ppm.

the regulator was fine for several weeks, and i havn't adjusted it or anything. it just started dumping co2 in.


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

Russell, the number is listed in the Vendor support numbers directly above. Ask for Brian.


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

thanks robert. he was at lunch, but he is going to call me back.


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## imported_shalu (Feb 13, 2004)

Russell, are you saying the solenoid failed to shut off by the controller(I assume you have a controller)? That's a bummer, sorry it happened. That is the reason I have multiple lines of defense against such a thing, I can type a longer message when you calm down enough to hear it. Again, sorry man.


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

shalu, i don't have a ph controller. what happened was the regulator for some unknown reason got turned up a whole lot. the people from milwaukee told me that sometimes if they get a buildup of corrosion, they can spontaneously do that.

i'm not really mad anymore. it's just one of those things.


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## imported_shalu (Feb 13, 2004)

ah, ok. At least there are couple of things to do to minimize some risks: 1) Do you know that it is not an end-of-tank dump, but a regulator malfunction when the bottle is still half full? The trick to alleviate the end dump is to use higher PSI setting on low pressure. What concerns me was that Milwaukee support often tells customers to use low setting 2) Do you stop CO2 at night? That would give the tank at least half a day to recover itself if anything happens. If you still have problem with those precautions, then the quality of the product is really the issue. There are multiple ph crashes on another board with their ph controller in place recently, due to another mechanism.

Was Milwaukee support able to help you straighten out the regulator?


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

brian was out of town, so he will call me monday to work things out. i have a few questions for him. 

i know it was not end of tank dump, because my left guage (tank pressure) is still at 1,100 psi, or full.

i was told that it could have been a buildup of corrosion. the corrosion builds up, and cloggs the regulator, then you have to turn it up gradually over time. suddenly the corrosion breaks loose, and the regulator has all that extra room to flow through. their secretary told me that this might have been my problem.

the main thing they kept telling me was that i needed a controller, but i think that the regulator should be trusted enough that you don't need a controller "just in case" though i am sure that is what i will end up doing.


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## imported_BSS (Apr 14, 2004)

I hear you, Russell. I continue to have inconsistent results with my regulator. I finally did purchase a controller. I bought it partly because I wanted easier adjustments to my CO2 leves, but also partly because I got tired of wrestling with the regulator.

No fun!
Brian (not the Milwaukee variety







)


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

brian, is it working? is it worth the money?


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## imported_shalu (Feb 13, 2004)

You still have to use all the possible precautions. It can still have accidents/ph crash and fish loss, like I mentioned in previous posts. Two incidents just recently: jhoetzl and momotaro


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## rrguymon (Jul 22, 2005)

Sorry about your shrimp and fish Russell. I just took Shalu's advise. I put a timer on the output of my SMS controller and took a couple other steps. A few things I think could be good ideas to prevent malfuncitons or water parameter changes from overdosing the CO2 are:

1. Use a controller if possible. If your regulater malfunctions and starts pumping out the CO2 the controller will close the Solinod. I have the SMS122 and love it. I have only had it about a month though. I have it set to turn off the CO2 at 6.6 and it turns it back on at 6.7. I can walk by the tank any time and at a glance see the ph reading. I love the real time read. 

2 Set your bubble rate so the lowest PH it will provide is just below the set point on your controller. This way if the contoller or solinod fail your PH wont swing too low.

3. Don't run CO2 at night. I put mine on a timer. The CO2 comes on 1 and half hours before lights on and turns off an hour before light off. Cuts the risk time from dosing CO2 in half. My PH does swing from 6.6 to 7. It does not seem to do the fish any harm.

4. Always test KH after a major water change. If your KH went up significantly you need to change the set point on the controller. A rise in KH is dangerous it will lead to a rise in the CO2 you inject if the set point is not changed. A drop will only lower the PPM of CO2. I have mine set so a plus or minus reading of one for KH is not a big deal.


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## imported_BSS (Apr 14, 2004)

> Originally posted by russell:
> brian, is it working? is it worth the money?


I've had my SMS122 for 3-4 months now. It has worked just as advertised thus far. Because my regulator is iffy and I've been wanting to try differing CO2 levels, it has been worth the money in my mind.


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

thanks for the help guys. i will try to get a controller and timer soon.


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

here is the trouble shooting manual they emailed me:

Trouble Shooting MA957



The procedure is as follows:

If you have a pH controller unplug the solenoid from the controller and Plug your solenoid into a wall socket or power strip. Do not have it plugged into any type of controller or timer to do this adjustment.



Turn your CO2 bottle off. Go to the regulator and turn the main knob counterclockwise till you feel no pressure. Next go to the needle valve underneath the bubble counter and turn it counterclockwise all the way out.



Now go back to your CO2 tank and turn the tank to full open. At this point, even with the tank full open you should have no bubbles coming through the bubble counter.



Very slowly, turn the big knob on your regulator in until you start seeing some bubbles come out of your regulator bubble counter. Do not pay any attention to the right side gauge. All we are interested in is the bubble counter.



You must proceed very slowly when trying to adjust the CO2 regulator. Go slow, slow, slow; take your time, we want to slowly work the bubble count up.



Turn the knob one eight to one quarter turn and wait about 30 to 45 seconds or longer before making any further adjustments. Continue with this process until you get a bubble count that is equal to or a little greater than what you're looking for. At a bubble count of 60 bubbles per minute, you might want to take it up to 80 bubbles per minute and then use the needle valve to crank it back down 



The right side gauge is not relevant to adjusting your gas flow. Indeed, we have been trying for several months to get them to take the right side gauge off of the regulator because the bubble counter is your true an accurate gauge. Therefore, any reference to the right side gauge serves no purpose.



This procedure, when followed, works about 90% of the time in getting regulators consistent in their flow. The primary problem for poor flow consistency is that too much gas is backed up behind the needle valve causing the diaphragm in the regulator not to function properly. 



If you're using a pH controller plug your solenoid back into the pH controller box at this time.


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## imported_shalu (Feb 13, 2004)

I have seen the instruction on another forum(they gave this instruction to people who saw bubble count DROPPING a lot after adjustment), and I commented there that this is dangerous, another accident waiting to happen. I still hold the same opinion. They even tell you to ignore the low pressure gauge. Russell, tell me what the low gauge reads if you follow their instruction.


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## rrguymon (Jul 22, 2005)

I have followed this instruction and my low pressure gauge reads zero. The regulator is pretty stable though after doing this. No need to fiddle with it.


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## imported_shalu (Feb 13, 2004)

that's exactly what I expected. Basically they asked you to throw away the needle valve and use the extremely low pressure from regulator(well, maybe you did turn the needle valve just a little from fully open). Therefore, any protection offered by the needle valve is thrown out the window. You paid for the needle valve but are not using it anymore, for the most part. I can't imagine what would happen at end of tank without the controller. Even with the controller, god forbid if the solenoid malfunctions, which happens surprisingly often if you read enough forum posts. Call me a pessimist, but I have expensive fish.


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## rrguymon (Jul 22, 2005)

My regulator will stay pretty steady if I follow the above procedure or if I set the low pressure gauge to 20 and use the needle valve to set a rate. Shalu are saying that having pressure read on the low pressure gauge is safer? Helps with end of tank dump? If so I will set it back to 20. Thanks.


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## imported_shalu (Feb 13, 2004)

> Originally posted by rrguymon:
> Shalu are saying that having pressure read on the low pressure gauge is safer? Helps with end of tank dump?


Yep. The higher, the better, say 30-40 psi. The only downside is that the needle valve is really sensitive with higher pressure, harder to control. Some people use two needle valves/flow meters in serial to get finer control. The reason why this helps with end-of-tank dump: imagine you set low pressure to 2 psi, really low. At end of tank, the low pressure gauge reading would increase as high pressure gauge reading drops, that's the physics of regulators(You should really pay attention to how much change in low pressure gauge you see as high gauge goes from 800psi-700-500....). Suppose the low pressure jumped by 10 psi(depends on your regulator design), then you get 500% higher pressure and therefore, tons more CO2 is now bubbling out. The same jump would result in less significant difference when the low pressure was high to begin with.

That's why I think it is idiotic for Milwaukee tech support to say that they wanted to get rid of the low pressure gauge.


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

i agree with you 100% shalu, but my only problem is, if i keep the regulator pressure guage at 20-30 psi, it keeps fizzling out. i go in and crank it up, then come back a few hours later and it isn't bubbling again. i do this 20 times until i get mad and reset the whole thing.


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## imported_shalu (Feb 13, 2004)

I can see your frustration, Russell. In my opinion, this is a product quality issue.

When I got my first regulator a few years ago(don't know what brand), it failed to hold steady pressure. I returned it to the dealer and got a replacement. Worked like a charm ever since and can hold any pressure rock solid, no problem.

ok, I read your previous posts on the problem. Seems like the needle valve is the culprit in your case.


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

should i ask to have it repaired or is it somthing i can do on my own?


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## imported_shalu (Feb 13, 2004)

I have no clue how you might fix it yourself. Based on Milwaukee's response so far, I don't think that they have a clue either, since their workaround is fully opening the needle valve.

I wonder if you can just replace it with a better quality needle valve.


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