Milwaukee CO2 Regulator w/Solenoid Valve, MA957

bought one of these about 4 months ago. the main connection to the tank leaks, yes, i used the washer and tightened it with a wrench. the low pressure gauge has also failed and the needle valve is tricky to adjust. make sure you come back and check it at least 5 minutes after you think you have it. I came home tonight to a graveyard, the solenoid had failed open. i lost about $300 worth of fish. i wish i would have spent the extra $30-$40 and got a higher end model.

I've had this regulator for over ten years and it works great. It comes with a unique sized Teflon gasket to seal with the tank. Tighten it really tight and re-torque it after a week or so. A 20# tank lasted me five years at one bubble per second, twelve hours per day. I've tried other regulators and solenoids and always had problems, mostly leaks.

If you did a co2 reg this is the one for you.<br>

very pleased with this regulator. Easy to control bubble counter. would recommend this item

Overall, the products feels like a middle-of-the-road piece of equipment. The gauges are plasticky, but the connections to the tank and the main valve are decent.<br><br>The needle valve could use a much finer thread as the difference between 3 bubbles per second and ten is about as small a turn as you can possibly manage. It also does not seem to be able to keep it's adjustment very well even over 24 hours. I will probably need to replace this.<br><br>The bubble counter is a joke. Mine would not seal at the top as there were not enough threads on the cheap plastic "glass" area to allow he top brass nut to successfully push down far enough to seal. There was not a gasket inside this connection either. So I had to rig some teflon tape to remedy it. I've since purchased a more considered replacement bubble counter.<br><br>Honestly, I wish I had ponied put he scratch for a higher-end device. But this does work. The solenoid has so far worked fine (a week in use). I already know that this will find it's way into a box somewhere in the garage and be one of those purchases I wish I'd never made.

Regulator has no extra features that make it confusing or extra stuff you have to set up set the bubble counter and set regulator and hook the solinoid up to the light time and ur ready to go works great.

This is a no frills regulator that does everything you need for a basic set up. Bubble counter works great with the needle valve and the solenoid turns unit on when your lights come on. Make sure to use the plastic insert that goes in between tank and regulator, they even give you a spare.

Im using this for my planted tank and it works fine. The only problem is if the check valve is not working properly the water in the bubble counter will leak out slowly when the solenoid shuts off(may take two weeks or more). <br>I recommend getting one without the bubble counter right next to the solenoid or make sure your check valve is high quality.

Works great and was easy to install and now operate!

As the title says, it works. It comes as one unit, so no piecing anything together. The bubble counter does not have a built-in check valve as do similar styles, so its a good idea to add one in there somewhere (water backflow to the NV and solenoid would be very bad). The needle valve is difficult to dial in, but can be done and stays there. Regular nylon washers work if you use a lot of force to tighten the reg onto the tank, but a permaseal will not. The specific fitting that this regulator uses is not flat, as other CGA320 fittings are, so 2 nylon washers of specific design are included. Because nylon washers should be replaced every time the CO2 tank is refilled, after two fills youll either have to use a regular nylon washer and crush it down, or contact Milwaukee for their particular washers - they cant be found anywhere else.<br><br>Overall, a good buy for the money. Definitely a good bet for your first regulator rig.

Complete piece of junk they last about 6 months and are difficult to regulate. Their tech support is condescending.

The instructions are almost good. They fail to mention that In order to keep a steady bubble count using the needle valve, the pressure in the secondary stage should be above 20 lbs. (between 20 and 30 lbs. is fine). It takes a few hours until the pressure in the second stage holds steady, so you can initially set it to 30 lbs and it will slowly drop for a while and then remain constant above 20. As long as the second stage pressure is above 20, the needle valve will meter out a very precise and steady flow rate of CO2 - which is easy to adjust using the bubble counter. <br><br>Kudos to AquaCave for prompt shipping and excellent price.

This is my first planted tank and Ive never used CO2 before. The directions were easy to follow, but the setup seems touchy - the only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5. It would be fine for a while and then slow to a stop. I finally did get it dialed in with the needle valve - contrary to what the Milwaukee instructions say, I found that starting with the needle valve closed, then opening the main control valve about half way and then slowly tweaking the needle valve is the best way, at least for me. What I really liked, though, was the fast shipping. I ordered at night and they had it shipped first thing the next day. The ability to pay with PayPal was nice too.