A while ago it occurred to me that I could build an inline carbonator much like Blichmann Engineering’s QuickCarb™ and I started to figure out the parts list, which I posted here. Shortly after that post I purchased all the parts and eagerly await the slow boat from China to deliver my new project. A few agonisingly long weeks later it had all finally trickled into my mailbox and I was ready to get my build on.
Carbonator Assembly
There isn’t actually a whole lot to this build, most of it was figuring out how to get things connected right, like using the carbonator cap with a barb on it to allow me to easily connect the gas line. I took pictures of the steps anyway so here they are:
Step 1 – Assemble the Carbonator Tee
First install the diffusion stone in the tee. It is important not to touch the stone with your bare hands as apparently the oils from your skin can clog the tiny holes. As I always do, I liberally apply pipe thread tape.
Next add the barbs to the tee.
I used the shortest length of hose possible to connect the carbonator carb to the diffusion stone’s barb. I don’t need any flex here, so it functionally acts as a solid piece.
Step 2 – Connect the Pump
I used a short length of tubing to connect the pump to the liquid out ball lock connector. This will connect directly to the keg and should be as short as possible as it serves no purpose to have extra line length here.
Use another short length of tubing to connect the output of the pump to the carbonator tee. Again extra length here serves no purpose, so keep it short.
Finally attach a long length of tubing to the output of the carbonator tee. This piece of tubing is where the magic happens. The long length increases resistance for the moving beer and forces the CO2 into solution before being pushed back into the keg through the gas in post. I used about 7ft of tubing on the output.
Final Parts List
So you don’t have to go hunting for my parts list, here is the final parts list for what I used:
- Amazon: DC 12V, 70W Food Grade Diaphragm Pump
AliExpress: DC 12V, 70W Food Grade Diaphragm Pump - 12V, 10A power supply
- Inline Diffusion Assembly: Stainless Tee + 2x 3/8″ Barb + Inline Carbonator
- Gas/Liquid QD Set, with Swivels and 3/8″ Barbs
- Carbonator Cap with 1/4″ Barb
- 8ft Thin Wall 3/8″ ID X 1/2″ OD racking hose
How Does It Work?
So the first time I tried to use it on a keg full of water things didn’t go smoothly. What follows is based on a mistaken belief as to how the pump worked.
I believed that what I saw the pump doing was part of some sort of priming procedure as it would crank once, suck up a little liquid, and then do it again. I expected that once it picked up enough liquid, it somehow sensed it and would start running normally. This happened the first time I ran it with a keg of just water, but it was terribly inconsistent in how it worked. I began to suspect a faulty pump.
With HomeBrew Con this week I was suddenly faced with needing my Club Night beer carbed and ready to be dropped off to our transport all in one afternoon. It was time to try the carbonator again. I set the pump up with some StarSan in a bucket, it did its little suck up some liquid a little at a time routine, and then when it got to the pump it started to run. That had to be how it worked, so I flush the StarSan out with CO2, hooked it up to the keg and low and behold it did the same thing with the beer and then it ran! My line carbonator was carbonating! Well, it ran for a few mins before I tried to adjust the position to close my keezer and it stopped and went back to moving a little liquid at a time.
After fully disassembling the pump to figure out if I could bypass this weird prime routine that didn’t seem necessary it dawned on me – this isn’t a smart pump with a sensor. The pump is dumb. I am dumb. What was happening was that the power supply I was using that should have been giving enough power to run the pump was not. Maybe the pump draws a little more than the rated 70W or maybe the power supply outputs a little less than the rated 72W, but either way the pump was not getting the power it needed.
A Properly Working Inline Carbonator
To get through needing the beer carbed ASAP to be ready to send to HomeBrew Con I figured out that I could remove the motor from the pump assembly, switch it on (it ran fine that way, which was how I figured out it was a power supply issue), and quickly shove it back into the pump assembly. This got over the initial large current draw where the motor had to work against the magnets of the pump and get it running smoothly. Since the motor drives a magnet that pushes and pulls the pump assembly I could do this without worrying about breaking the pump, at least a few times.
I picked up a more robust power supply from Amazon, 12V @ 10A instead of the original 12V @ 6A, and tested it today to find that the pump kicks on perfectly every time. Problem solved, carbonator working!
A Few Things to Adjust To
After running the carbonator for a couple of hours on the beer I poured a taster to see how it was going. Low and behold it was carbonated! It wasn’t, however, carbonated to the level I was hoping. I had set the PSI a few above what my serving pressure would be for the temperature the beer started at. What I didn’t account for was that the pump got warm, and after running for a couple of hours the beer had heated up a few degrees as well. I estimate it got up to about 45F, which is higher than the 38F I would normally carb and serve at. So while I wanted about 2.5 volumes I was probably more like 2.2 to 2.3 volumes.
The second time I ran it I put a fan in the keezer and the pump wasn’t feeling as hot. I think it would be good to add a fan if your pump gets warm during operation. I’m going to play with dialing it in, attempting to limit the temperature increase, and/or at least measure it so I can predict what PSI I need to set to properly carb the beer.
Another Use?
The very same beer I was attempting to carbonate, while good – you can taste it at HomeBrew Con if you find the AABG booth on Club Night – doesn’t have quite the bold flavour I was hoping to get out of the spruce in the mash. I am borrowing a randall from a club member to add a little extra spruce to the beer on-site, but then I had a thought: can’t I hook a randall up inline and run the pump to quickly add flavour from hops or other sources? That’s basically what Sierra Nevada’s torpedo is, right? I think this is well worth investigating in the future and if anyone has any experience doing this on the homebrew scale I’d love to hear from you.
I’ll be at NHC and look you up!
One of the days I’ll be wearing a tshirt with my Gremlyn logo on it, see if you can spot me 🙂
Also find the AABG booth on Club Night, I should be there most of the evening.
Think it would be possible to use this set up for carbonating water from a water supply line directly?
Obviously have to modify for water supply and valve control.
Would it be able to carbonate sufficiently? And do you think the pressure from the water line would ruin the set up?
Awesome post
If you used sufficiently high pressure and a long enough line, I think you could carb water in a single pass. Issues might arise if the water is too warm, as you’d need a pressure probably too high for the tubing to withstand.
As a fellow Michigander who’s also pouring at Homebrew Con’s club night (Motor City Mashers), I look forward to trying the beer and talk a little more with you about this rig. See you in a couple of days! Cheers!
Glad to hear we won’t be the only MI representation! I’ll be sure to stop by your booth.
I ordered the pump and the power supply you listed in the parts, and I just received them in the mail today. However, when I plug the power supply into the pump, it doesn’t start. Did you have to modify the plug on the power supply to plug into the pump, or did you cut the plug off the pump and wire on the little adapter that came with the power supply?
You purchased the 10A supply from Amazon? That should work straight away. Probably a stupid question, but you turned the switch on the pump on, right?
Yes I ordered it from Amazon, and I ensured the pump was turned on. I also tried a different power supply for a computer and the pump worked fine. The LED light on the power supply did not light up showing it was receiving power to send to the pump.
I’m returning the power supply to amazon as defective, and will have to order a new supply. Not sure if I should order the same one or a different one. My concern is getting one that is able to plug into the connection on the pump. I saw this one on amazon. Do you think it should work?
https://www.amazon.com/ZIUMIER-Regulated-Adapter-Transformer-Security/dp/B01MEFMJXO/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_sims?ie=UTF8
I just went back and looked at the pump, and I don’t see an on off switch on it, but as I said when I tried a different power supply it worked. When I ordered the parts, I used the links on your parts list on this blog.
Thanks.
Interesting, mine has an on/off switch right above the power port.
Yes that one looks like it should work.
Thanks,
Appreciate the quick response. Should have my new power supply on the 10th so I can put everything together.
Hope it works out!
Would it work to use a Chugger pump with a SS ball valve to limit throughput? Obviously would have to use the right fittings to connect up, but it would be nice not to have to buy another pump.
I’ve seen setups using Chugger pumps and the like, so I think it would be just fine.
Just wondering what you used to attach the tubing to the pump? Are there barbs inside the threads?
Hi James, there are short barbs that give enough surface area to secure the tubing on. Might be able to screw on the outer bit over beer tubing, haven’t tried though.
Thanks, haven’t got my parts yet but looking forward to the build. Would like to run another idea by you to get your thoughts. Was wondering how it would work to use a Corney Keg carbonation lid for the CO2, (those lids that have an extra gas port on top and a hose with a carb stone that hangs inside the keg) and just use the pump for circulation? May take a bit longer but would really simplify the build and cleaning. What do you think?
My pump works intermittently, is this a bad power supply or bad pump?? Keeps chugging like its priming?. Then ran a little while then quit. Stopped then now chugging again but won’t go. Really frustrated!!!
Btw no switch on my pump either fm Al—b-ba..
Falvocano power supply 10A 12V output..
That sounds like what I experienced with my first power supply, so that’s what I’d suspect.
I bought three more power supplies for friends, and they all do the same thing with the pump, one ran fine then pump quit all of a sudden. I think now that the female Cable Jack on the pump has a broken wire. Wiggling it would start it up but only sometimes. Similar problems are posted on UTube with laptops plugs. I guess Ill have to cut & replace it!
Not sure why the pump I originally linked with the switch got released with the one that just has a cable. Hopefully it’s an easy fix with the wiring.
I found a link to the pump with the
sweetheartswitch and updated my post. Thanks for pointing that out.🤣“Sweetheart”??? “Switch” got spell checked 😩.
Canceled 3 pumps plus I’m returning the bad pump, for the ones with a switch, that might preserve the plug wires connections better…
Thanks for the help
Oops to the typo! Hope the switched pump works out for you!
You used a DC 12V 70W Food Grade Diaphragm Pump on your build.
Is there any reason why one should not use the normal March/Chugger type pumps ?
Are they too “weak” or will the impeller cause cavitation and cause the Co2 to come out of solution.
Reason I ask is that I have a few of these lying around.
I considered an impeller pump for this, but had a few concerns. Weakness was definitely not one of those, they move liquid faster than the diaphragm pump I use can. My concerns were, in no particular order:
On top of all of that, there is cost – I wanted something separate from my brew day equipment. Sure if you have one already you could use it, but I think it would get old really quickly to pull it off the brew stand, make sure it is extra clean and then sanitise it, hook it into whatever carb setup I have, use it, and then reverse that process to make sure it’s ready for the next brew day.
All that said, if you’ve just got them available and not being used it might be worth trying it out to see if it can work. It might!
Just Wish we could find a reasonably priced US Supplier of Food Grade Diaphragm Pumps, the Far East suppliers are tough to deal with: I tried to return the 1st no-working / non-switched pump to no avail; I am “Awaiting Cancellation” of an order of 3 non-switched pumps, and Chinese New Year delay has got me on another replacement order for 4 more (=3 new for club members +1 replacement…sigh.
Great post!
Dumb question – why aren’t these parts available in the USA? They seem pretty basic.
Many parts are available here, but you generally pay more. Most of what you can but here is just bought in bulk from China and resold in the US.
I bought a similar pump. Max pressure is about 77psi, which is higher than what I set co2 regulator to (10psi). The link indicates your pump is at or above that pressure. When I run my build, the pump pushes water back to the regulator and won’t allow co2 to flow into the stone. Makes sense based on the higher pump pressure. What am I missing. Do I need a lower amp power supply?
I was actually planning an update post for this soon. I discovered that when just running the pump my line pressure was about 13psi, so no wonder when I set my CO2 to 12psi I wasn’t picking up much carb! I tried 20psi and that seemed to do it.
More on: “..when I set my CO2 to 12psi I wasn’t picking up much carb! I tried 20psi..’ My new pumps are strong too! max: 72.5 psi?? So is the Carbonation pressure of the Keg a complex function of the Tubing size, ball lock gas connection return size and the Stone’s incoming pressure?
Or a differential pressure? (20-13=7 psi : low.. English pub style). I set my NEIPA to carb at 12 psi, but the regulator pressure did vary a bit and I increased to keep it at 12psi… Confused in TX.
I’ve yet to figure out a formula. I tried my dubbel at 25psi, which I thought might equate to 12 psi (25-13), but that actually over carbed it slightly. I tried 20psi on my next beer (biere de garde) and that seemed pretty good.
I imagine pressure inside the system is different at different points. The diffusion stone chamber might drop the pressure out of the pump a bit since it opens up?
I added a bypass line that recirculates a portion of the discharge fuid back into the inlet of the pump.
The bypass consists of 2 barb tees, valve, 2 barbs, hoses, and clamps. The other portion of the discharge feeds into the carbonation tee. Worked with sanitizer and now a keg of pilsner @12psi.
So that relieved output pressure enough to carb at lower PSI?
Also interested in that bypassing! Is is the same tubing size?
Hi,
Nice DIY build.
How do you connect he tubing to the pump inlet/outlet, is the pump inlet/outlet threaded, and if so, what kind of connectors will I need ?
When I got all the parts I wasn’t sure about how that would work, but there is enough of a nipple of the pump under the screw on cap that you can get the hose on and clamp it in place. I just used zip ties and it’s held pressure.
I see that Blichman is using a 10micron diffusion stone on their QuickCarb system, saying this allows pushing sanitizer through the stone to clean it (and also make right Co2 bubblesize for a 40-60 minutte quick carbonation…..)
Do You think the 2micron stone will increase the needed time to fully carbonate, and are You able to push sanitizer through the 2micron stone?
…..and I can not find that it is possible to buy a 10micron stone on ebay or aliexpress…. ?
Yes, I can push sanitizer through it. I have noticed I need higher pressure than I expected to reach desired carbonation, but no issues otherwise.
Great read.
I was wondering if this could be used to make soda.
what is the highest PSI you can put through a diffusion stone? I haven’t found a number in my searches. I know I would require higher pressure lines. I would be looking at around 30-40 psi. Do you think the stone could handle that or would it break it apart?
I’ve gotten it close to 30 PSI and it doesn’t seem to have suffered any negative effects, though I can’t say for sure what the max rating would be.
How’s this unit working out for you nearly two years in…I just ordered up the gear and am going to slavishly mountnit to a stainless plate …or maybe lexan…did you hose and/or butterfly clamp the tubing…if I use the steel plate on mine I’m going to use yellow butterfly clamps so Mr. Blichmann won’t be offended🤡
A great build by the way and thanks for sharing…👍👍
It’s doing well! I need to replace the lines on it now, I accidentally left it with beer in the lines and it got a little gross, so then I recirculated 155F water through it for an hour. Pump is fine, but the hoses deformed enough to need replacing.
Mine is working fine most of the time! Few I mounted it on Alum. Diamond plate looks great & easy to cut & smooth. Pump work great for car boys transfers.
Recently had a problem carbonating a keg as it never got out of priming mode, fluid moved, but didn’t run fast. It pumped sanitizer in /out of a bucket just fine!????? Puzzled & need Help!
Have you tried removing and boiling the shit outta your carbstone? I do this periodically on the ones I use for my carb lid and aeration pump…
Further: FYI not “few “!!
Don: use SS clamps not butterfly’s.. not tight enuff for some tubing. SS is hard to drill & cut btw, Diam. Plate is nice light & inexpensive at TractrSupply
I thought about diamond plate…might be able to get someone to fab me the SS plate…thx for the tip…
Hmmmm…looks like the Blichmann uses the butterfly style…I might try…
Well if you mate your barbs to tight fit tubing you’d be good. Not always possible. On mine the plastic handles slipped / leaked w hard tubing. 😉
You’re correct- butterflies don’t work! But read my solution of a direct connectbto the pump.
Thx for the tip Gunnar…I’ll take it under advisement…will be using kegerator standard beer tubing…will check out the pump nipple length and take it from there…
An update…the 3/8” tubing easily installs to the pump’s screw on connectors both inlet and outlet as they are compression style connectors. The inlet/outlets have a grooved channel cut through them. Slip the 3/8 hose through the nylon nut, slide it snugly on the barb and then tighten it. I couldn’t pull the hoses off the pump and when I ran PBW and rinsed it with warm water, not a drop leaked. I’m anxiously awaiting the carb/tee/connect assembly so I can take this to sea trials. I had to use 1/4” barb swivels on the corny connects and hope they don’t change the pressure and if so, to the better.
Scrounged a piece of polymetal composite sign material and will use shiny side instead of the white side. Just figuring best way to cut and deburr it and thus far it looks like a 72 tooth carbide blade on a chop saw should do it. Then a piece of heavy brass or hardwood stock to roll and reform the edges. Still waiting for the China Express to deliver the last two pieces of hardware and then I’ll source a tee pipe hanger and hook to hang it off the keg.
How are the folks here making out with their builds? Lots of chatter and “overthink” on Homebrew Talk but a lot of good stuff on some DIY and ghetto builds of this project.
Finally all the bits and pieces arrived and the bad boy is ready for sea trials…looks real good as well. I may even create some surprise “mock” labels to jazz it up…SS bolted everything to the aluminum polymetal plate…she looks as good as the Blichmann and hopefully will work as good as it supposedly does. It’d be cool if I was able to post pics here but I guess thats the Gremlyns deallio…
Not sure how/if I can allow pictures in the comments… I’ll let you know if I figure that out.
Well, if that’s the software limitations and if so…I could always email pics to you to post 🙂
Various ways to skin the proverbial feline…
I cant seem to get the link to the adapter working.
is it this one?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/AC100-240V-TO-DC-12V-2A-3A-5A-6A-8A-10A-LED-Power-Supply-Transformer-Adapter-UK/113757196837?hash=item1a7c751225:m:mqqaJoi6bye3gU1ghohUwYA
thanks for the post by the way 🙂
another question is, that I can see that blichmann is using 10 micron and the one you listed is 2 micron. will that make any difference? and how about sanitizing? do you sanitize the carbonationstone outlet?
Sorry for a delayed response! Hopefully you figured things out already, but just for future reference for anyone else:
That power supply looks like it should work. The tips should be size specific based on their voltages, so as long as you have the right voltage and power it should work.
As for stone size, we’re limited by what’s available, so I went with the 2 micron. It’s probably why you have to crank the pressure up so much to get it working, come to think of it. So the smaller size just means more pressure and tinier bubbles.
I usually santise by putting a QD on the gas in while it’s running and forcing some sanitizer out it that way. Works so far!
The link to the carbonation cap is with a 1/4″ barb, but the hose is 3/8″. Did you experience any leaks?
This is an awesome post. Was one click away from ordering a Blichmann before stumbling here. Ordered all parts next day delivery here from Amazon UK, arriving today. Great advice can’t wait to get it all together and try out on a kegged Guinness clone this weekend.
Thanks for posting this. I may build a quick carbonator in the near future, but I just ordered on of these pumps to build a diy Torpedo using my Hop Randall from Norcal Brewing Solutions.
I’ll report back in a few weeks when I get around to trying it out.
Cheers!
Did you ever hook this up to a Randall and try to ‘quick flavor’ anything? Just curious as I’m interested in on demand flavoring…like quick dry hopping, or cacao nibs, or like your spruce tips.
Great resource you have here!
Great idea to build a carbonator yourself.
Before seeing this blog I looked around for components at Amazon and Aliexpress.
Aliexpress magically suggested me to buy a package with all the component from ELECQUEEN for around 74 USD incl. tax and shipping to Denmark.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001315102342.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.71754c4dIqzIiQ