I recently got myself into my first soda fountain, and although the fella assured me that everything was there except for some hose, I’m not sure if I’m missing a part, or just not understanding how it is supposed to be configured. I’m hoping for a little direction if possible.
Basic elements are:
What I’m struggling with is the carbonator aspect. This McCann thing has an Aquajet pump with an input and output (presumably for the water to come in and pushed into the tank). And then it as a 2 gallon tank with only ONE single input/output (actually it has a small port on the back that is like a metal valve stem, which I believe is used to set the initial 40lbs of internal pressure with air). The single entry/exit point into the tank has a 3-way head on it so that the pressurized water from the pump goes into one of the 3 spots, another spot is consumed by a pressure release mechanism, and then the 3rd is just a barbed end for a hose – which leaves me scratching my head, because I would have thought I’d have an input somewhere for CO2 and an output for the carbonated water.
Since the water HAS to be able to come out again, I’ve got to assume the 3rd spot is the water output. Which means we aren’t getting any CO2 in the tank to carbonate. So, I question – Am I missing another piece of the puzzle that mixes the co2 and water after the water comes out of this ‘booster’? Or is there some sort of sciencey/voodoo that says I should be using one of these Y shaped or T-shaped hose connectors (that were in the box along with a bunch of other spare parts) to have the water and the co2 merge inline somewhere, with the fact that the co2 is running at 100psi being the factor that prevents all heck from breaking lose and water backing up and ruining my day? Or something else stupid that I’m missing?
Basic elements are:
- Lancer 4 head tower
- 4 FlowJet CO2 powered syrup pumps
- Chiller plate
- 2 CO2 regulators (with a T to split output from #2 and feet into #2 to presumably down the pressure for the pumps)
- McCann 2.0 Econo Boost (carbonator?) Model: 16-3172-3/8
What I’m struggling with is the carbonator aspect. This McCann thing has an Aquajet pump with an input and output (presumably for the water to come in and pushed into the tank). And then it as a 2 gallon tank with only ONE single input/output (actually it has a small port on the back that is like a metal valve stem, which I believe is used to set the initial 40lbs of internal pressure with air). The single entry/exit point into the tank has a 3-way head on it so that the pressurized water from the pump goes into one of the 3 spots, another spot is consumed by a pressure release mechanism, and then the 3rd is just a barbed end for a hose – which leaves me scratching my head, because I would have thought I’d have an input somewhere for CO2 and an output for the carbonated water.
Since the water HAS to be able to come out again, I’ve got to assume the 3rd spot is the water output. Which means we aren’t getting any CO2 in the tank to carbonate. So, I question – Am I missing another piece of the puzzle that mixes the co2 and water after the water comes out of this ‘booster’? Or is there some sort of sciencey/voodoo that says I should be using one of these Y shaped or T-shaped hose connectors (that were in the box along with a bunch of other spare parts) to have the water and the co2 merge inline somewhere, with the fact that the co2 is running at 100psi being the factor that prevents all heck from breaking lose and water backing up and ruining my day? Or something else stupid that I’m missing?
