Regulator for Argon...same as Nitrogen?

[EarlyMorningRiser]

Hi All,

This is my first post!

I'm a wine maker. I've been making wine for about a year and a half now and have made about 36 gallons of wine.

I have finally gotten to the point where I can use gas to push my wine around and to aid in filtering. I use Argon instead of CO2 so as not to carbonate my wine (Argon won't bond with anything).

But anyway, I picked up a small bottle of Argon from a local gas company – they told me I could use a CO2 regulator…so I bought a CO2 regulator - the Double Gauge - CO2 Primary - Premium Series. But guess what, the CO2 regulator does not fit the Argon bottle , both being “Female” fittings – I.e. my argon bottle has internal threads for a “male” fitting to screw “into”.

After some searching around I discovered this website
CGA Valve Fittings - Safety & MSDS | Linde in North America

…where it says that a Nitrogen and Argon bottle use the same fittings.
Nitrogen CGA Valve Outlet & Connection = 580
Argon CGA Valve Outlet & Connection = 580
CO2 CGA Valve Outlet & Connection = 320

So my question is, Will a Double Gauge - Nitrogen Regulator - Premium Series fit my Argon bottle?

Thank you!

-EMR

[EarlyMorningRiser]

Ah ha! It looks like I just need to purchase a Nitrogen to CO2 Regulator Adapter for the CO2 regulator I have. It is half the cost of the regulator itself, but at least I won't lose money trying to ship the thing back

[EarlyMorningRiser]

...though does anyone know if I need to compensate for using lower density argon through a CO2 regulator? I.e. would the gauges on the CO2 regulator read the PSI correctly?

[TAPMAN]

A gauge is a gauge. It doesn't care what gas it is, just the pressure. CO2 is a lot more dense than Nitrogen. Tapman

[surfpunk]

im kind of confused by your question. however argon and NITROGEN will have the same regulator (male fitting) while a CO2 regulator will have a female fitting and not work with either argon or nitrogen (unless you have that adapter that you bought).