On Wed, 07 Apr 2010 15:54:20 -0500, Mysterious Traveler wrote:

As long as you are only trying to carbonate something and not
force an explosion, wouldn't only a few PSI be adequate?

Yes. My regulator is faulty. I thought it was the gauges but when I put a
second set of gauges on, I realized the regulator isn't working. It's
always at something over 150 psi.

It's not a big deal, as Coke confirmed by phone all their plastic 20oz to 2
liter PETE bottles are safety tested at the "industry standard" 150 psi and
some are even tested to 250 psi.

I've successfully carbonated, so far, water, grape juice, pinot noir wine,
lemonade, and orange juice. The attempt at carbonated milk and carbonated
yogurt weren't the most stellar of achievements though; neither was the
ice-cream carbonation nor the strawberry fruit carbonation.

But, I keep learning, e.g., here they actually test the burst pressure of a
2l coke bottle (and show a slo-mo video with the pressure counter in the
corner):
http://home.people.net.au/~aircommand/procedures.htm
- Maximum Operating Pressure is called MOP (which is what you do when you
reach it)
- Test 1: 2 liter coke bottle burst at 190 psi (the bottle actually
stretches lengthwise in the slow motion video)
- Test 2: 1.25 liter coke bottle burst at 185 psi (in slow motion you see
the cones on the bottom stretch out to almost cylindrical before bursting)
- Test 3: 1.5 liter coke bottle burst at 175 psi (always the bottom or
sides give out before the cap does)
- Test 4: 1.25 liter coke bottle with duct tape burst at 195 psi (for the
first time, the cap sprunk a leak but the failure mode was the package)

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums...tle-62325.html
- A soda can is able to withstand over 100 PSI
- A 6.5-ounce glass soda bottle can withstand 225 PSI
- A 16-ounce glass soda bottle can withstand 175 PSI
- A PET soda bottle can withstand 150 PSI--the industry standard