sodastream cylinder threads

[Stephen]

Hello,

I have found my old soda stream. It is a Gemini model that I bought about 15 years ago. Am I right to think that soda stream changed the design of the gas cylinders (something to do with a different thread)? If I were to start using it, when my cylinders ran-out would I have to buy a new machine?

I seem to remember reading somewhere about the controversy caused by changing the cylinders. I think there was a suggestion you might be able to either refill the old cylinders (by taking them to BOC) or perhaps getting an threaded nipple adaptor that would screw the new cylinder onto the old machine. Has anyone done either of these?

TBH, is it worth doing? I am sure in "the good old days" you could buy Schwepps concentrates for the soda stream but now you can only get their own brands and sometimes you can taste the difference. I am wondering if it is a gadget that I don't really need?

Thanks, Stephen

[newshound]

I'd have said so, looking at the price of supermarket mixers (even branded ones).

[Adam Funk]

Yes, but I think Sodastream offers some kind of trade-in scheme on old models; at the very least, you can trade the old cylinders to cover the "deposit" on new ones.

I drink a lot of fizzy water, mostly plain, so I like it. Also, you can mix the fizzy water with squash, cordial, & other things besides the official concentrates.

[Tim Watts]

And this makes a mockery of all the greenwash - if eco-fascists were serious, they'd be doing something useful like lobbying for this - you have the water in the tap, so this saves god knows how many ton/miles of pointless water transportation.

[Chris J Dixon]

Friend of mine has a houseful of tqt. He once got hold of an old Sodastream, connected it up to a large CO2 cylinder he also happened to have, and proceeded to gas up 2 litre bottles of tap water, even cheaper than supermarket value fizzy water.

I think he wanted to try oxygen, but the insolubility was a bit of a problem ;-)

Chris

[pamela]

I junked our Sodastream, good and solid though it was, when supermarket own brand fizzy water became ridiculously cheap.

Not worrrying about compatibility of cylinders, reliable suppliers, spare seals, safety and all stuff that was like having a weight lifted off my shoulders. :-)

[Tim+]

Stephen

Well just about everyone else came to this conclusion about 20 years ago. ;-)

Tim

[F Murtz]

You are much better off buying Aldi soda water and using it with the flavour, much much cheaper

[Graham.]

What happened to all those Sparklets siphons, and will 'You know who' give me my 75p deposit back on this non-refillable one?

[Adam Funk]

Try a mix of nitrogen & CO2 to make "creamflow" water.

[pamela]

That's an antique!

[damduck-egg]

The trigger and nozzle are not. They are plastic. The glass part could be much older but really old ones often had some woven metal mesh around the glass part.

G.Harman

[Andrew]

Not everyone has an Aldi in their kitchen, or even in their town or village, so the calculation of 'cheaper' needs to be carefully thought out (which most people can't or won't do)

[Andy Burns]

The price for a Sodastream refill seems to be £10, and that will make 60 litres of fizz, counting tap water as effectively free* that makes it

16p/litre vs LidAldi soda water at 37p/litre according to mysupermarket, factor in a new machine every decade or so ... [*] even if you're on a meter what is it, £5/tonne including taking it away again?

[Chris J Dixon]

Sainsbury's Basics sparkling water 10p/l

Chris

[R D S]

Me too, we used it exactly as you do but I learned that it's cheaper buying the sparkling spring water in bottles from Sainsbury's.

OTOMH £1.60 for 4x2 litre.

And saves the hassle of putting it through the Brita first, our tap water is funky.

[Davey]

We have one of those in storage somewhere... I remember my Grandad making soda water in it, and then the empty canisters became play-things.

[damduck-egg]

Do you mean the small Co2 "Sparklets" Bulbs ?

We found they made excellent Torpedoes after being painstakingly filled with the traditional weed killer and sugar mixture.

We did not allow for metal fatigue so after a couple of runs one exploded rather violently.

This had two consequences, The Pet Ducks belonging to my school chums mother objected with much quacking to find themselves on top of a water spout and departed her pond for ever , the other is a scar still visible on my knee to this day from some shrapnel. I was very fortunate it hit the patella and bounced out again rather than somewhere softer or an eye, Mother believed me that the damaged and bloody jeans were the result of a push bike accident.

G.Harman

[pamela]

I daren't ask how you ignited that mixture.

Words fail me.

[damduck-egg]

Jetex Fuse was the best, also just laying it in a tobacco tin with end removed and the same mixture stuffed around it and lighting that worked .

We thought we had lost the power of speech as well but that was the temporary loss of hearing due to the very loud bang.

It was about 25-30 years later we finally confessed to my mates Mum as to why the Ducks left.

Ironically I'm off to her Funeral in 2 hours time. No sadness really ,she was healthy until recently then things started to fail rapidly.At a family get together said to her daughter two weeks before she reached 90 "I don't really want to be 90 and ill" and died in her sleep that night.

G.Harman