Is my co2 tank full?

[Samped]

What should my co2 tank second gauge read when tis full? I understand one is for current psi (set to 10psi) and when i plug in a new tank of co2 all it says is like 500 or so psi and i assume when its low it goes in the red and says ORDER GAS

But why does it go alllllllllll the way up to like 5000psi?? Is my tank supposed to be that high or low?

I guess my question: what would it read with a completely full 5# tank?

[stn]

If you keep your CO2 tank inside the kegerator, it will read about 500 psi when full. If you keep it outside it should read more like 750-800 when full. I have no idea why it would spike up to 5000 unless you have a faulty high pressure gauge and/or regulator, but I'm sure some of the more expert posters can help you trouble shoot.

[Kudzu]

...I have no idea why it would spike up to 5000...

I believe all Samped is saying is that his regulator guage range goes up to 5000 psi. I do not think he is actually seeing that kind of pressure. I hope not, anyway!

[stn]

I believe all Samped is saying is that his regulator guage range goes up to 5000 psi. I do not think he is actually seeing that kind of pressure. I hope not, anyway!

DOH! Yeah, I see now I mis-read that. Pretty obvious that's what he meant, but it's the end of a long work day. I guess the best advice if he were really seeing 5000psi would be "RUN!".

[Samped]

I believe all Samped is saying is that his regulator guage range goes up to 5000 psi. I do not think he is actually seeing that kind of pressure. I hope not, anyway!

DOH! Yeah, I see now I mis-read that. Pretty obvious that's what he meant, but it's the end of a long work day. I guess the best advice if he were really seeing 5000psi would be "RUN!".

Hahah, yeah.. Its def around 500-700psi but its on the outside of my fridge

It isnt at 5000psi, but I am really new to this so I honestly thought that it would go all the way up the gauge when its full. But I do know that 5000psi is a **** load.

Ok, so basically it doesnt drop very far when its out of gas then.

[stn]

At room temp I would expect your tank psi to be closer to 700-850 when full, but if you are getting ample pressure to your keg then I would not worry about it. A fairly full tank should last a long time (months, not weeks), but in my experience when it gets close to empty, the gauge reading will drop quickly. So there is not a lot of warning. For this reason I plan to get a second tank pretty soon so that I always have one ready. It stinks to run out of CO2 on a Saturday afternoon and not be able to get a refill. At least where I live, it is hard to find anywhere that does refills and is open on the weekend.

But no, you really will never (or at least should never) see your high pressure gauge get anywhere close to 5000psi. Most tanks I've looked are rated at a max psi of 1800, but obviously a normal fill would be well below that.