# CO2 regulator jumping



## Cneon (Sep 19, 2011)

I have a dual-stage regulator from Cal Aqua Labs and have never had issue with it. Bubble count remains steady day to day and all that good stuff. However, I've recently noticed that the delivery pressure guage dips down and then jumps back up. I keep the the pressure here at 60 psi. It will slowly drop down to about 45-50, and then immediately jump back to 60 psi, where it will hold steady for about 10 seconds before starting it's slow decent. The decent takes about 10 seconds to bottom out. This happens at all pressure levels. I've dropped it to 40 (and it will dip to 30), and increased it to 80 (and it will dip to 60). I did this only to see if the pressure needed to be at a different level to maintain a steady pressure.

Any thoughts on this? Cause for concern? My main gauge hasn't had a noticeable drop since I started using it about a month and a half ago (still showing just under 1000 psi.)


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## Cneon (Sep 19, 2011)

update on issue. I was tweaking things around a bit, and when I close the needle valve, the gauge stays steady, as soon as I open it up - even at the lowest bubble rate - the needle starts dipping. 

Also, it seems that I get better flow if I close the needle valve after the CO2 has been pumping for a bit then open it back up again.


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## AKnickolai (Nov 30, 2007)

That does seem a little strange. Are you using a diffuser that requires a high pressure and have you checked for leaks in the system? I've only noticed my regulators fail to maintain pressure when I've got a small leak. If you use a reactor of some sort for CO2, you only need a few pounds of pressure (10psig is plenty), see if the problem exists at that low of a pressure. The actual gas volume downstream of the regulator and upstream of the needle valve is very small, any changes in that pressure via gas flow through the needle valve or a leak could cause the pressure drop you are seeing. Probably also worth an email Cal Aqua and see if this is a common behavior for their regulators and see what they recommend.


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