Hydro Innovations Water-Cooled Co2 Generator

[Bobby Smith]

Has anyone here used the newer Hydrogen Pro generator and can comment on its reliability?

I really want to water cool to keep temps in check, but I don't want to give up the reliability of my trust Cap generator - they "claim" to have fixed the problem of non-firing on the newer models, but I'd love anyone's feedback (positive or negative) before I buy one.

 

[Farmer Jon]

Have them both, love them both, never had a problem. They run super cool and are very effective.
I got the older model a few years back and the new model a few months ago.
I also got their co2 controller, super simple keeps the ppm between 1300 and 1500. The only negative aspect of the controller is that it does not have a photo sensor so the co2 stays at that level in the dark cycle as well (photo controller needed)
FJ

 

[Bobby Smith]

Thanks Jon, appreciate it.

 

[Bobby Smith]

I've been rockin a hydrogen co2 geny for about a year now...no probs at all. Its the LP version, i use a pond pump (id have to look at the gph) but its a bigger pump and i set my gas and water flow to the lowest setting.
As far as water for the unit i run my waste water from my r/o unit to a 30 gal trash can and about 8 in. from the top of the can i have taped in a 1/2 line for overflow, i run through the unit to waste an voila not a hitch works great for my room. Keep my co2 controller set to kick on at 1350 and the unit runs for about 45 sec to boost me back to around 1500.
Im planning on grabing there new co2 controller for the room im in the process of putting together, its plug and play style and keeps the room @ 1300-1500 on its own. (no programing needed)

Hey Jon, you got a guesstimate of how much water you're going through every day draining that to waste?

Your room is about half the size of mine, so I'm just trying to get a feel for how much water is gonna be getting used daily, mainly because I wanna see if it'd be worth it to first run the water through a Cool Coil in my reservoir (save my chiller some work) and then run it through the Hydrogen.

If it's only a few gallons a day than it's not worth it, but if it's 50-100 gallons a day than I think that'd be a worthwhile move for efficiency's sake.

Thanks.

 

[mrduke]

just wondering if any of ya'll can tell me whats the down side of running heated water back thru the unit?
we are only concerned with the gas exhausted off the burner. how much hotter will it be if the water running thru is 90* instead of 60*???

 

[Bobby Smith]

just wondering if any of ya'll can tell me whats the down side of running heated water back thru the unit?
we are only concerned with the gas exhausted off the burner. how much hotter will it be if the water running thru is 90* instead of 60*???

There's a built-in high temp shutoff on the unit, if that's what you're asking - not sure what temp the water would have to be to hit that high temp shutoff, but it's not something I'd wanna mess with.

Then there's the issue of hoses melting from too hot of water, etc..........probably a question to ask Hydro Innovations directly.

 

[Zephyr]

Proper installation

after 6 month of using the hydro gen I killed it, to many problems for me, damn thing wouldent stay lit, seemed to always be a problem of some kind.

I'm running two differents units, one HydroGen(battery ignition) and one HydroGenPro (Power supply ignition). Running in two differents room on the same pump.

I'd run the first unit on a cheap sum pump and it did work for a week. Then it start misfire which'snt good cause my exhaust is on a dim when co2's on.

Then we realise that the unit did'nt have enough Water pressure on the inlet.
So we change pump for the real deal, A 1/2 HP Continous duty jet well or sprinkler pump.

These pumps are made to maintain steady pressure on plumbing so you have always the good flow at the inlet. Since the piping is now always underpressure a solenoid valve was needed ,we use two solenoid valve so we can have the two C02 gen working on the same pump/tank/piping network.
Since the pressure is at 30 psi 1/2"Pex piping was use to hook up everything together. C02 controllers in each room control the valve, wich control the flow,who run the ignition . The pump as a automatic switch that start the the pump when the pressure fall under 30 PSI. We use a pump that come with a small precharge tank this alloy the water to flow wihtout having the pump working all the time. Pump is hook up with a check valve and a dirt filter.

Pump and 90 gallon reservoir is locate in a remote room in serve as heating buffer during winter .

This works great for 2-3 run then the misfire problem came back ... took me a while to figure out what was the problem .

The thing is that when you heat water calcium precipitate and build up in the tank and particule recirculate in the system then get stop at the inlet screen that provide the co2 unit not to get clog .Then even with a super pump the water pressure might not be enough to cooled the unit (unit to hot ,did'nt strike). So to fix water purity we add a inline sediment filter before the solenoid.I also recommend installing braided flexible connector like the sink one with valve on the inlet and outlet of the generator cause any other fitting risk to be hard to tight and loose on the generator and the intake is really really fragile ,break it and it scrap!These fitting are made to be screw and unscrew often. And as cleaning the inlet still a duty on recirculation set up...

Since then EVERYTHING have been working like a charm!

Now I'm preparing the summer set up: A custom made heat exchanger like the hotbox but made out of car radiator, bigger inlet better water flow!

Hope this help some peeps fixing their problems with this wonderfull but machine

Peace!

 

[CelticEBE]

I just got a MAREY 5l tankless water heater and the HI CO2 controller. The Controller hasn't arrived yet, but I'm a little confused as to how I hook up the controller to the water heater. The water heater has a battery for ignition. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm planning on running this with a 55 gallon reservoir and a 1/2HP water chiller. Also planning on running a cool coil with this.

 

[WastedRabbit]

I bought one of the hydro innovations water cooled co2 gens and it only worked for about a week and then something happened to cause the water flow to not work properly and the gen would not turn on at that point because it is programed to only operate while water is flowing through it. The other issue is that you have to run cool water through it for it to operate properly. They neglect to tell you that when they are showing you how easy it is to operate on their videos. I am running mine through a 35 gallon rez but the water temp climbs to around 85 degrees and the gen will not operate at this temp. I had to mail mine back to them for repair which I can say they were nice enough about fixing it but that still doesn't solve the problem of a sealed room without co2 while the unit is in transit to and from their location.

 

[nixusr]

I just got a MAREY 5l tankless water heater and the HI CO2 controller. The Controller hasn't arrived yet, but I'm a little confused as to how I hook up the controller to the water heater. The water heater has a battery for ignition. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm planning on running this with a 55 gallon reservoir and a 1/2HP water chiller. Also planning on running a cool coil with this.

Did you ever figure out how to fire your tankless water heater using the controller?

 

[WastedRabbit]

I saw where someone had said they were going to use a res until money allows for a chiller. That won't work, at least it didn't work for me. The water in your res will get hot quick and then the unit will not operate because it has a temp feature that shuts it off once the water hits around 90 degrees which it will hit fast without a chiller..

 

[Funkadelic]

Mind if I resurrect this from the dead, guys? Can we get an update on these a year+ down the road?

Very curious about these units.... still working? Not working? Now working well? Stonertech or not?

 

[Jalisco Kid]

If your room is big enough you can heat your pool with them. I use a johnson so I have no idea if they make new and improved water cooled. I dump a lot into my room at once in the morning hardly runs to maintain a 1200 ppm. but it was made for a greenhouse so not so pretty. JK

 

[Funkadelic]

Seems like the HI website has easy, clear diagrams of how to run them and sell kits to cool the water, chillers, etc.

Seems worth it for our application?

 

[CelticEBE]

Seems like the HI website has easy, clear diagrams of how to run them and sell kits to cool the water, chillers, etc.

Seems worth it for our application?

As much as I love HI, I don't care too much for the Hydrogen Pro....mines sitting in a box. I have had a few problems with it and tried to troubleshoot it with there help.

I do have to Marey 5L's that keep my Flower rooms filled with co2 though. They are basically the same thing, only the Marey has less bells and whistles. I run drain to waste right now, but I am about to install a 5 ton water chiller to cool everything and will be hooking them up to that soon.

 

[ttystikk]

I've been lugging CO² tanks and hoping for a better solution. Yet, I pay seven bux for a 20lb tank of gas, which lasts a lot longer in my better sealed rooms than in poorly sealed ones, lol. As part of a deal that saw me get my chiller, Iceboxes and so on, I got a hydroGen Pro. Since I had a friend on propane at his mountain cabin, it was an easy move to trade it to him for some LED lights.

Have I spent a lot more money buying tanks for the last couple years?