If you want to carbonate water but don't want to buy a countertop carbonator or its overpriced CO2 refills, you can get a ball lock valve cap that screws onto 1L or 2L soda bottles for around $8-16.
That valve will attach to a standard female fitting, which you can put on the end of a hose coming from a pressure regulator, which will attach to a full-size CO2 cylinder available from a brewing or gas supply shop. CO2 refills are a lot cheaper this way.
Put cold water in the bottle with some extra space at the top. Squeeze out the air and attach the valve cap. Set the pressure regulator, connect it to the bottle, open the regulator's output valve, and watch the bottle that was slightly crushed by your squeezing expand back to its normal shape. Slosh the water around with pressure applied for maybe 10-30 seconds. Close the output valve and disconnect.
Voilà. Carbonated water.
IIRC, PETE soda bottles are pressurized to about 50 psi for retail shelves. I don't think they're likely to burst until well beyond 100 psi, and they'll deform before they burst, so if you're careful, you can go a little higher than 50 and make fizzier water than what you can buy in the store. I have used 70 psi many times.
Read up on precautions for handling pressurized gas before doing any of this. Wear eye protection. Don't turn your bottle or gas cylinder into an unguided missile. :)
Sadly, I don't have any info on microplastics released by this process. (Nor by countertop carbonators and their rigid plastic flasks.) I wish I knew of a suitable steel bottle to use instead.
I found it cheaper and much, much more convenient to get an adapter to refill the countertop carbonator's CO2 cylinders from a standard 20 lb CO2 cylendar. That way, you can carbonate from the much smaller and easier to use countertop unit, you can service multiple countertop carbonators from a single larger tank, and you can leave the larger tank shut off and away from living areas so that a leak doesn't pose a hazard.
> I found it cheaper and much, much more convenient
Cheaper? I don't see how. We're filling from the same CO2 cylinders, and my total hardware cost was less than that of a midrange SodaStream without the adapter you describe.
More convenient? Maybe, depending on environment and use.
But mine has advantages, too: More fizz, no counter space required, fewer fragile plastic parts, standard components that are easily serviced/replaced, and the ability to carbonate liquids other than water without worry of backspray gumming up a countertop machine's internal components. (Your unit's instructions probably tell you to use only water, for this reason.)
> you can leave the larger tank shut off and away from living areas so that a leak doesn't pose a hazard.
I close my cylinder's main valve when it's not in use, and the two additional valves downstream of it (at the regulator and ball lock fitting) also work, so I think a leak is very unlikely. Even if there was one, I would expect it to be noticed quickly or else too slow for the released CO2 to cause harm.
One advantage of standard tabletop carbonators is that you can get versions with glass bottles. I quite like the 0.7l glass sodastream bottles.
You could probably get them to work on a DIY setup with the right pressure regulator settings and the right adapter. But I'd like to avoid the flying glass shards if I get it wrong
Do you mind my asking which ones you use? The only ones I've been able to find (Canada) don't work with the standard soda stream
I use SodaStream Crystal. There is the older Crystal 2.0 that uses the old generic screw-type CO2 cylinders, and the newer Crystal 3.0 which uses the patented quick-connect cylinders.
Looking at the Canadian website, neither is sold in Canada (1 for a link on the German website). There is the SodaStream Duo which supports a different type of glas bottle. Might be easier to source locally, but exists only with the quick-connect cylinders and is a bit expensive for what it is, at least if you buy it new
[1]: https://sodastream.de/products/crystal-3-0?variant=404654832...
How's the durability of the Crystal? I had two of the original Penguin systems, and the seals broke down and the frame stretched. I'd prefer to go back to the glass bottles.
No issues with the Crystal so far. It's pretty sturdy. But that's the old 2.0 model, looking at the reviews the new 3.0 is a downgrade in terms of quality, in addition to the downgrade of being forced into the proprietary cylinders
Bummer. I loved the glass bottles in the penguin, but I got tired fighting the durability problems. I got as far as researching custom gaskets and shims, and gave up.
Search AliExpress, eBay, or Amazon for "SodaStream glass bottle adapter" and you'll find aftermarket adapters that allow filling the glass bottles from SodaStream models designed for plastic bottles. They're $5 to $15, depending on which store you get them from.
SodaStream carbonators are super common at all the thrift stores near me, so they're like $5 to $10. There's one on eBay right now for $25 with free shipping. The refill adapter was $10 on AliExpress, but the cheapest regulator alone cost more than my entire setup.
Before the plague shut down the place I got my larger bottle refilled, I got a mid-size standard CO2 to SodaStream adapter from Ali Express. Saved me a fortune hooked up direct to the SodaStream, especially as sparkling water was intermittently surprisingly difficult to get hold of during those times. I should contact the gas supplier, see where the nearest point is now.
I’ve done this for years and never ruptured a bottle, I set the regulator to 60psi.
I’d like a metal bottle too but haven’t found one - I presume spraying some co2 into it would be enough to get the plain air out since you obviously can’t squeeze the air out.
Use Perrier glass bottles. They're designed for low-level carbonation and can be resealed.
I guess the definition of "overpriced" varies, but I pay 7 or 8 EUR for one bottle of CO2 and it lasts like 3-4 weeks for 2 people, just to put it into perspective.
I paid about 20-25 USD for my last 5 lb refill. That was a few years ago, and it's still providing. My prior fill lasted more than 5 years (maybe 6 or 7) serving one fizzy water fan and occasional guests.
Here you go: https://www.kegoutlet.com/carbonating-kits.html
Hmm... Those steel growlers look appealing, if a little pricey, but their 45 psi relief valves would prevent carbonating with as much fizz as I like. I wonder if the PRV could be swapped with a different one that holds more like 75 psi.
Thanks for the link. This gives me a direction worth investigating, at least.
Ask on the site, the company was responsive to my questions. I’d be curious to know also, as I usually run right at the limit (about 40psi to account for temperature changes. Fridge water cold holds much more gas than just tap water cold, particularly in summer
Apparently kits are now available for those who don't want to shop around for parts. Here's a photo:
https://www.kegoutlet.com/prod_images/xlarge/2/0/SP202T-SS.a...
FWIW the counter carbonators aren't too bad if you use a third-party refill instead of the expensive branded ones. Also, you can just use dry ice to refill the bottles rather than swapping for new ones. If you don't want to geek out on a complete DIY setup, the countertop models are definitely a little more convenient.
Pro-tip: cold water.
And not soda stream but drink mate.
Disconnects with the head and can be shaken dissolving more gas.
Also since the head is detachable, the worst that can happen after something foaming the nozzle I 5 second rinse in the cold water.
Don't like the company, love the product.
I bought an Aarke (soda stream comp) and a CO2 hose. Now I use one of the 5lb tanks. It's great.
What do you mean? You use the 5lb tank via the Aarke instead of the CO2 cylinders? Or you refill somehow the CO2 cylinders? If it's the first one this sounds like the best of both worlds with the convenience of the countertop device and the cost-efficiency of the bulk CO2. It would be great if you elaborated some more!
I bought a hose from Amazon where one end screws onto the 5 kg CO2 tanks (I'm in Japan so metric) and the other end has the same male nozzle as a SodaStream cylinder so you screw it in where a cylinder would screw in, so the tank feeds straight into it. Just need a place on the floor near your countertop to put the big tank.
As a kid I built a pneumatic musket with both 20 oz and 2 liter bottles and filled them up to 80 psi repeatedly, and never had one pop.
I wouldn't recommend going that high for a carbonated drink though, unless you like to live dangerously while opening your soda.
Could you do the math for the raw material cost of 355ml?