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If you're willing to get your hands a little dirty, there's an alternate option that doesn't involve buying into a razor blade business model. At a welding sup

If you're willing to get your hands a little dirty, there's an alternate option that doesn't involve buying into a razor blade business model. At a welding supply shop, they'll sell you a 5lb tank of CO2 (around $60 initially, then $15-20 for each refill thereafter). If you then go to a homebrew supply store, you can buy a CO2 regulator (~$70, depending on quality), the appropriate tubing and a ball-lock adapter (< $10), and a carbonator cap ($15, something like http://morebeer.com/view_product/18250/ http://morebeer.com/view_product/18250/). That setup'll let you take any plastic soda bottle (1-liter, 2-liter, whatever) and carbonate it directly. I have a CO2 tank for kegging my home-brewed beer and soda, and I frequently use my carbonator cap to make small test batches of soda before mixing up a full five gallon batch in a keg. A 5lb tank of CO2 will last for 15-20 5-gallon kegs of beer. There's no easy apples-to-apples comparison (soda is more highly carbonated than beer, and I'm not sure of the effect on efficiency from carbonating such small batches), but any way you work it paying $15-20 for a refill is a much better deal than paying for SodaStream cartridges.

Luc 14y ago
Do you worry about the CO2 not being food-grade (e.g. contaminated with lubricants or whatever), or is that not an issue?
- lazerwalker 14y ago
  Any welding supply shop you might go to is going to have food-grade CO2. You can also easily get it from scientific lab suppliers or any number of other places, and I've shopped at homebrew stores that have refill programs (you drop off your empty tank, and once a week the welding shop picks 'em up, refills 'em, and returns them to the store). Food-grade CO2 is dirt cheap and readily available.
  - peapicker 14y ago
    Or if you're really lucky, like me, your local homebrew supply shop will fill up your CO2 tank while you wait....
- URSpider94 14y ago
  Go to your local soda supply, they will almost certainly be glad to set you up. In the Bay Area, Carbonic Service in Santa Clara are GREAT -- if you walk in and tell them you want to make soda, they will hook you up with a 5 lb tank and a fill, and a pre-made-up combo with tubing, regulator and ball-lock valve, along with the screw-top adaptor for the 2L bottle.
- jdminhbg 14y ago
  I get CO2 for a kegerator for approximately the same prices OP lists above from a beer distributor; party supply stores also stock it. Available all over the place.
- noonespecial 14y ago
  Welding CO2 has to be very pure as a general rule in order to avoid contaminating the weld. The gas is used as a temporary shield to keep the weld clear of oxygen and other contaminants. Lubricant in this situation would be a disaster. What you're thinking of is the CO2 used for propulsion in gas driven guns like BB's, pellets, and paint-balls. This gas often has synthetic oil mixed in to keep the moving parts of the guns lubricated. TL;DR: Welding shop good, paint-ball shop bad.
- johnrgrace 14y ago
  There isn't really "food grade" CO2, just CO2. I bought a CO2 delivery service business in college that was a sideline of my friends dad's business. He was buying tankercars of CO2 for welding to get a lower price and then selling his "cheap" CO2 to bars.
rickdale 14y ago
Anyone that lives in state with medical marijuana can go to their local growshops and often get all the C02 stuff there. Where I live there are more grow shops than C02/welding supply stores. Just another tip.
- lazerwalker 14y ago
  Yeah, that's an awesome point. I've heard there are also paintball shops that will do CO2 refills, although I haven't tried it myself.
dot 14y ago
Some places sell the whole kit: http://stores.kegconnection.com/Detail.bok?no=246 http://stores.kegconnection.com/Detail.bok?no=246
maratd 14y ago
> but any way you work it paying $15-20 for a refill is a much better deal than paying for SodaStream cartridges. I get a discount for trading in my old cartridge? A single cartridge lasts me 3 months. We make 2 bottles per day. The standard price is $15, I always buy them at Bed Bath and Beyond with a 20% off coupon ... which makes them $10. Ten bucks for 3 months isn't bad.
owenfi 14y ago
A guide I made with some photos available here: http://snapguide.com/guides/make-a-pseudo-soda-stream/ http://snapguide.com/guides/make-a-pseudo-soda-stream/

Luc 14y ago

Do you worry about the CO2 not being food-grade (e.g. contaminated with lubricants or whatever), or is that not an issue?

lazerwalker 14y ago
Any welding supply shop you might go to is going to have food-grade CO2. You can also easily get it from scientific lab suppliers or any number of other places, and I've shopped at homebrew stores that have refill programs (you drop off your empty tank, and once a week the welding shop picks 'em up, refills 'em, and returns them to the store). Food-grade CO2 is dirt cheap and readily available.
- peapicker 14y ago
  Or if you're really lucky, like me, your local homebrew supply shop will fill up your CO2 tank while you wait....
URSpider94 14y ago
Go to your local soda supply, they will almost certainly be glad to set you up. In the Bay Area, Carbonic Service in Santa Clara are GREAT -- if you walk in and tell them you want to make soda, they will hook you up with a 5 lb tank and a fill, and a pre-made-up combo with tubing, regulator and ball-lock valve, along with the screw-top adaptor for the 2L bottle.
jdminhbg 14y ago
I get CO2 for a kegerator for approximately the same prices OP lists above from a beer distributor; party supply stores also stock it. Available all over the place.
noonespecial 14y ago
Welding CO2 has to be very pure as a general rule in order to avoid contaminating the weld. The gas is used as a temporary shield to keep the weld clear of oxygen and other contaminants. Lubricant in this situation would be a disaster. What you're thinking of is the CO2 used for propulsion in gas driven guns like BB's, pellets, and paint-balls. This gas often has synthetic oil mixed in to keep the moving parts of the guns lubricated. TL;DR: Welding shop good, paint-ball shop bad.
johnrgrace 14y ago
There isn't really "food grade" CO2, just CO2. I bought a CO2 delivery service business in college that was a sideline of my friends dad's business. He was buying tankercars of CO2 for welding to get a lower price and then selling his "cheap" CO2 to bars.

rickdale 14y ago

Anyone that lives in state with medical marijuana can go to their local growshops and often get all the C02 stuff there. Where I live there are more grow shops than C02/welding supply stores. Just another tip.

lazerwalker 14y ago
Yeah, that's an awesome point. I've heard there are also paintball shops that will do CO2 refills, although I haven't tried it myself.

dot 14y ago

Some places sell the whole kit: http://stores.kegconnection.com/Detail.bok?no=246 http://stores.kegconnection.com/Detail.bok?no=246

maratd 14y ago

> but any way you work it paying $15-20 for a refill is a much better deal than paying for SodaStream cartridges. I get a discount for trading in my old cartridge? A single cartridge lasts me 3 months. We make 2 bottles per day. The standard price is $15, I always buy them at Bed Bath and Beyond with a 20% off coupon ... which makes them $10. Ten bucks for 3 months isn't bad.

owenfi 14y ago

A guide I made with some photos available here: http://snapguide.com/guides/make-a-pseudo-soda-stream/ http://snapguide.com/guides/make-a-pseudo-soda-stream/