Carbonation problem
The carbonation stone is not behaving
A fouled stone slows everything down and wastes gas, and it can make pressure settings look wrong when they are not.
What you are seeing
Carbonation takes longer than it used to, bubbles look uneven or large, and you are raising pressure to get the same result.
Likely causes
- Product, mineral or cleaning residue blocking the pores.
- In-tank cleaning that cleans the outside of the stone but not the pores.
- Physical damage, or a stone that is the wrong size for the vessel.
Checks to run first
- Run a wetting-pressure test in a jar of water and compare the result with the stone's rating or your last test.
- Look for even, fine bubbles across the whole surface.
- Clean by forcing cleaning solution through the stone, not just around it.
Where FizzWizz helps
FizzWizz can make poor stone performance visible: a cycle that runs slower or less efficiently than usual is a prompt to test the stone.
Where it does not help
It cannot clean the stone. Testing and forced-flow cleaning are separate maintenance tasks.
When to get help
If a clean stone still tests poorly, it may be time to replace or resize it. FizzWizz publishes a step-by-step cleaning guide.