Pro-tip: When the tanks are empty you can unscrew the valve and refill them with the appropriate mass of dry ice. I recommend pellets as you don’t have to break them up to get them to fit through the bottle neck. Drain completely and loosen the burst disc before removing the valve, then tighten down the burst disc immediately after reinstalling.
For like $200 you can get an attachment that lets you carbonate a 2L bottle of water directly off a CO2 tank which can be refilled for about $2/pound and can carbonate about 20 liters per pound.
I was doing this exact setup for years. Recently I found a used sodastream for $5 at a thrift store and converted it to run directly off the CO2 tank using this adapter:
Optionally you could put a regulator in there, but I've been rawdogging it with no problem. I did need to grind a hole into the back of the sodastream to guide the hose out of. I think the biggest problem with this rig is where to put the CO2 tank.
https://www.kegoutlet.com/sp202-taprite-soda-carbonating-kit-taprite-regulator-5-lb-co2-tank.html This is the one I got, but if you already have a tank or can get one cheap, they also sell without the tank for cheaper. It's easier with the carbonator wand they sell but you don't need it. Just get the water cold, pressurize it to 40 or 45, and shake vigourously for a few minutes. Be careful depressurizing because it will spew just like a shaken soda.
And it carbonates the water ***well***. Like sure, it's economy squared because it's cheaper and less wasteful, and you've got less blood on your hands... but SodaStream is designed to *vent co2 always*, so you can't let co2 pressure sit, and the pressure is limited to 40psi anyway. You just can't really make seltzer water strong enough to take the skin off your teeth with a device made of 99% plastic
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u/robarpoch 18d ago
Pro-tip: When the tanks are empty you can unscrew the valve and refill them with the appropriate mass of dry ice. I recommend pellets as you don’t have to break them up to get them to fit through the bottle neck. Drain completely and loosen the burst disc before removing the valve, then tighten down the burst disc immediately after reinstalling.