For that I’m using this simple adapter [0].
NB, newer Sodastream tanks have a booby trap valve, but I had no problem sourcing older ones. Spare Sodastream “60 Liter” tanks can be had at BestBuy for $30.
Refilling of my large 20lb CO2 tank with dip tube [1] (also called siphon) is done at a Bay Area fountain supply store [2] for ~$30. This store also carries commercial syrup for all kinds of soft drinks (Coke Zero, Apple Juice, Ice tea, etc.).
For a more continous supply of carbonated water, I’ve thought about a small “Korny” keg system with a special adapter [3]. But that would require fridge space and running CO2 and water lines. A Kegerator for the garage may be the better solution.
[0] https://www.co2-adapter.com/
[1] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ICO58CG
[2] https://www.carbonicservice.com/
[3] https://www.morebeer.com/products/continuous-soda-carbonator...
How many refills of the 60 liter tank is the 20lb tank good for? Are there any safety concerns, or steps to take to make sure you don't overfill or have an accident?
When I moved to Europe I couldn't take it with me, so I just bought a Sodastream. Now that the mini CO2 tanks are standardized, you can just take your empties to the supermarket and swap them for filled ones at dirt cheap prices.
How much do they cost where you are? I swap mine for $15 each, which seems like an incredible markup. Bed Bath and Beyond coupons bring it closer to $10, but I assume the true cost is 1/10 of that. Can these be bought elsewhere?
Compared to $30 for a 20lb canister, it's of course still expensive, but then again you also don't need such a heavy up-front investment or bulky equipment.
> For economical home use, the best solution to the chiller overhead would seem to be in altering the commercial design by refrigerating the pressure vessel. This should be possible by separating the pressure vessel from the rest of the carbonation unit and installing the vessel in the household refrigerator. The unit could then be operated at lower CO2 pressures. This would require adapting the liquid and gas plumbing on the unit, and the electrical controls, to make them longer and to pass them through the walls of the refrigerator.
I ended up doing something similar - I found a large commercial kegerator cheap on Craigslist and stuck a McCann carbonator entirely inside it. Then I just had to run power and water to it, which is simpler than splitting the carbonator itself into two components. It works surprisingly well (after replacing a bad check valve on my eBay-sourced model).
I sourced a post-mix bar gun from eBay to dispense it, which also lives entirely in the fridge with the carbonator. After learning about how soda systems work, it was also easy to add a bag-in-box soda system. The pumps are cheap used and are powered by CO2, so you need an extra regulator per syrup you want to add, and then run a line for it to the bar gun. The syrup box lives in the fridge with everything else, so it all stays cold (and the fridge is large enough that we use it for extra fridge space and for beer kegs).
The only downsides are that it’s loud (both the fridge compressor and the carbonator) so it lives on the back porch, and the fridge uses more electricity than I’d like (because it’s commercial). If you were willing to spend more money on a similar set up though, you could fix those issues.
Fill the 2L with cold liquid, pressurize, shake, pressurize, shake, etc. It's amazing to fill the bottle until it's hard and then as you shake it the co2 dissolves and the bottle gets soft. You can carbonate beverages more than normal with this approach. On the final carbonation, you'll want to put the bottle in the fridge for a while before you release the pressure so it stabilizes.
I made many custom and weird concoctions over the years with this setup.
Cole's Law.
