BeerBorg

I took in my small 2.5 #er back up bottle for a refill today. Something was cracked in the shut off valve. (no wonder it was empty)

This is the second time I had an issue with a 2.5. Last year, my local supplier would not fill it b/c it was a cheap bottle from China that came with my kegerator. He said they nothing but trouble with those. I ended up swapping it at an Airgas store last year a few times. Now Airgas no longer swaps 2.5ers so my only choice was to try to refill it.

Moral of the story - my experience has been negative with those small bottles. If you are in the market for a keg conversion or a full out kegerator - double check what type of CO2 bottle it comes with.

brewnewb wrote:I took in my small 2.5 #er back up bottle for a refill today. Something was cracked in the shut off valve. (no wonder it was empty)

This is the second time I had an issue with a 2.5. Last year, my local supplier would not fill it b/c it was a cheap bottle from China that came with my kegerator. He said they nothing but trouble with those. I ended up swapping it at an Airgas store last year a few times. Now Airgas no longer swaps 2.5ers so my only choice was to try to refill it.

Moral of the story - my experience has been negative with those small bottles. If you are in the market for a keg conversion or a full out kegerator - double check what type of CO2 bottle it comes with.

The guy where I get my cO2 refills gave me information on the 2.5 pound bottles, for me they do seem to be convenient, but they're not at all cheap. I guess if I bought the bottle from him I wouldn't run into the same issue that you did but for now its still on my brewing wishlist.

ScrewyBrewer wrote: but for now its still on my brewing wishlist.

I went in to fill my 5# and my 2.5#. When the 2.5 crapped out I ended up buying another 5# bottle filled for $60. They charge $10 to fill a 2.5 and $13 so the 5# is definitely more economical to refill.