Our Competition

One of the great things about our great country is the freedom to innovate, manufacture, and compete in the world marketplace.  Need creates the opportunity; Competition demands innovation; Innovation ultimately rewards the Customer with a better product at a fair price.

Sadly, competition also breeds the opportunity for the less scrupulous to make a fast buck, at the expense of the unwary or uninformed consumer. 

You've seen the TV ads for "Miracle Bracelets" that allegedly tap into your Energy Aura; or the $250,000 inheritance left for you in a foreign bank which can be yours if you send in your Social Security Number.  Common sense tells you the statements are questionable, and possibly a SCAM!

Unfortunately, with Consumer Products, you have to delve in a bit deeper than just listening to the claims.  You need to identify the well built items from the junk; the safe items from the potentially dangerous or unhealthy-healthy.   As you travel the Internet in search for product information, you will inevitably run in to the occasional Snake Oil Salesmen presenting themselves as experienced practitioners of their craft.  Another phenomenon of the Internet is the YouTube deluge of instructional videos.  Our competitors have chosen this platform to promote their wares; after all... a video supposedly adds credibility...; maybe... ; we don't think so.  Instead, we prefer the higher road which is paved with facts, customer testimonials, and credibility based on REAL consistent performance.

In this Competitive Analysis, we will attempt to give you a straight forward Engineering viewpoint and in-depth comparison of our competition's products.  We will also compare them to our products from both a design perspective as well as safety and value for your Dollar.

This analysis should NOT be seen as trying to bash or degrade our competition.  Instead, its purpose is to inform and highlight the quality and safety differences between CO2Doctor and the competition; differences based on FACTS not conjecture.  Ultimately, it is YOU as the Customer that must pass judgment, hopefully based on your analysis of the facts once the information is presented.  We urge you to judge wisely and avail yourself of this new powerful medium we call the Internet for your research.

THE COMPETITION IDENTIFIED

First, let's go over the facts as to who's declared themselves as our "Competition", based on their product offering and Internet presence.   Links are highlighted, underlined, and listed in BOLD type for relevant links to documents or web pages.

Our first competitor operates out of a San Antonio Texas apartment.  All our competitive research indicates that none of our competitors have any manufacturing infrastructure; customer service protocol; or substantive engineering knowledge of CO2 or mechanical design.  These competitors trade both on eBay as well as hastily slapped together websites with zero technical content and only an "add to cart" button.  We assume that they are interested in your money and not educating the customer on their product features or product safety.

One competitor goes so far as to use the name Sodaclubrefill as a play on OUR former eBay name Sodaclubrefills (ours had an "S" at the end).   We assume this was an effort to confuse the prospective buyer into thinking they are trading with a legitimate established business as ours.  We have since changed our eBay and website name to CO2Doctor since it is less likely to be spoofed.  Additionally, we don't want to be confused with our competitor nor inherit his questionable reputation.

This competitor's entry into the arena of Soda Machine products was an opportunity they saw when we (Sodaclubrefill.Com) first entered the market with our CO2Dapter™ product in early 2008.  In pursuing this quest, he contacted Custom Products, an Arizona based  Paintball Sport accessory manufacturer with whom they had previously conducted business in their other Paintball enterprises.  Our competitor, not having any manufacturing or design capability, persuaded Custom Products to re-thread their "Paintball ASA Adapter" (used on Paintball Guns) so they could sell it as a Sodastream carbonator tank thread adapter.

In their quest for a quick buck, our competitor didn't apply any engineering expertise; safety precautions; or design considerations into this copied / re-manufactured product.  Key items not considered were: Safety; Durability; Performance; and Ergonomics.  Additionally, they didn't take into account that Sodastream utilizes a booby-trapped anti-refill design in their Carbonator valves, a major flaw in their product offering.  In spite of this, they hastily rolled out two products, all based on the same re-threaded Paintball Adapter.  Their products, then and now, consist of a carbonator tank Thread Adapter so you could allegedly refill your Carbonators at Paintball and Sporting Goods stores, and a Fill Station to refill the carbonators at home.  More specifics on these products later on this page.

Our second competitor is a bit more elusive since they recently entering the competitive arena by selling on eBay under the name "zbx0".   They also trade under the website name of thriftyscrimper (apparently in and out of business), a somewhat odd website with only two products, a Soda Machine Conversion Kit (remotely imitating our FreedomOne™ product), and a "Roll Your Own Cigarette" product video that supposedly saves you money by rolling your own cigarettes.  Needless to say, it is an odd combination and we see no correlation of expertise between CO2 and Cigarette Rolling.  A visit to their website reveals that it is a link to a  commercial "sell your stuff" third party site.

Not unlike our first competitor, "zbx0" has NOT applied any known Engineering or Safety principles in their product design which can at best be described as a dangerous and unhealthy attempt to make that quick and elusive buck.  More on their products to follow.

The Technical Stuff

Now, for the "Technical" meat of the comparisons.  Let us first establish some facts about Carbon Dioxide (CO2):

Those are just some of the important facts to keep in mind when reading the following comparisons, especially when comparisons are made on materials ratings and type of materials used by our competitors.

Our First Comparison

On eBay and on their website we've found this competitor's advertisements with the following blatantly deceptive and misleading claims on the benefits and suitability of their products.

Our Competitor States: "All of our products have been professionally engineered using the latest CNC metal milling machines.  Each adapter is made from the finest 6160 Aerospace aluminum, and then hard-coat anodized to prevent corrosion and save the clean, crisp flavor of the CO2 from the harsh metal taste found when using standard brass fittings."

We State: NOT SO!  "Engineered"... Hardly!   Their adapters are re-threaded, thin walled aluminum Paintball refill fittings used to mount on Paintball Guns.  Our competitor does NOT manufacture them and they are NOT designed to be used in the home or for use in conjunction with Soda Machines.  ALCO2JET CO2 Carbonator Tank threads are much wider and thicker than the Paintball Tank threads his adapters are intended for, therefore when re-threaded as his, they leave a dangerously thin metal wall structure. Please look at their own photo and see for yourself, would you trust over 3,000psi CO2 to their adapter?  We wouldn't.

THEIR THREAD ADAPTER

OUR CO2Dapter-II™ THREAD ADAPTER

Which would YOU trust?

Our Competitor States: "We use the finest Aerospace Aluminum" and that supposedly, aluminum keeps the CO2 from getting a harsh metal taste like Brass would give.

We State:  NOT TRUE!  Most of the tank valves in the world, including Sodastream's are made of Brass.  Brass is the industry standard!   Technically speaking, CO2 is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas in which neither Brass or Aluminum metals are soluble.  Please note the hypocrisy and misleading statements about Brass allegedly leaving a "harsh" taste, when in fact they use Brass Valves and fittings throughout their own Fill Station product.

HOSES: Our competitor uses a very short 4" hose which prevents the weight verification of the now filled Carbonator Tank.  While weighing is not absolutely necessary, weighing does offer the customer the ability to verify that the tank is full and that they are not merely standing there waiting on a tank to fill from a potentially EMPTY donor tank.  Additionally, the stress and constant flexing radius of a 4" hose will inevitably cause premature and dangerous failure of the crimped-on connections.  In comparison, our FillStationPro-II™ comes with a 24" 4,500psi rated flexible hose that is available in optional longer lengths and coiled hose design.  Theirs is NOT.

BALL VALVES: Our competitors use 600 WOG Ball Valves to control the flow of the liquid CO2 into your Carbonator.  Remember the above facts on CO2 PRESSURE and HARSH ENVIRONMENTS.  A 600 WOG Valve is ONLY RATED AT 600psi, that is 2,400psi LESS than what it SHOULD be rated!  While Ball Valves are pretty rugged, under these high pressure conditions they WILL NOT LAST.  Our own experience and testing has proven that; and that's why our new FillStationPro-II™ is rated at 4,500psi.   Unlike the competitor's Fill Station, ours can be easily rebuilt by the customer using basic tools and replacement o-rings that are readily available on our Ordering Page.

In the interest of fairness, most inexpensive hobby grade Fill Stations use the 600 WOG Ball Valves.  Our very own early 2008 design used Ball Valves with custom made High-Pressure seals and Teflon valve seats.   After some failures and in-house product life testing, we quickly stopped using them.  Even with the custom High-Pressure seals and seats, they would still fail.  To us, failure is NOT acceptable!  600 WOG Valves when used in High-Pressure Gas environments just don't last.

THREAD SEALANT:  ALL of our thread sealers are Non-Toxic and approved for use in equipment and appliances associated with Human Consumption and High-Pressure Gases.  NONE of our competitors offer this, NONE.  This is very important because sealants not rated for use as stated can be harmful if ingested via your carbonated water.

Additionally, effective 8/17/2010 ALL of our FillStationPro-II™ and FreedomOne™ products ship with a Contaminant Particle Filter to keep out any particles or foreign matter out of your sodas.  NONE of our Competition offers such a feature... NONE.  We care about your health and safety.  It does not do the Customer any good to save money, only to ingest potentially contaminated sodas.

Our Competitor States: "Because we believe in the quality of our products, we are proud to announce a 7-day, money back, trial offer. If, for any reason, you are not satisfied with our parts, simply return the parts in full working order within 7 days to receive your full refund. Don't settle for cheap, homemade brass imitations."

We State:  Sadly, we get inquiries from Customers who wrongfully assumed that the product they purchased from our competition on eBay is made by us.  Then we have to break the unfortunate news to them that it is from an impostor and NOT us.  These Customers routinely write us with the stories of how they either NEVER got their order; how the product DOES NOT WORK; or how our competition does not respond to emails requesting support or delivery status on the products they purchased.

Our Competitor States:  "Our adapters are shipped ready to use. No adjustments and no extra tools are required to operate! Simply open the package and begin using. Drink your favorite soda's without the worry of running out of CO2! The infamous double-valve problem has been defeated with our system. We can even remove the second valve all together allowing you to refill faster than ever before."

We State:  Funny they should claim that... That's why most of their customers can't get their products to work!  Not all ALCO2JET Carbonators have the same internal valve design.  The older style pin valves were much more forgiving whereas the new Flat-Top style valve are nearly impossible to refill.

To "allegedly" fix the Booby-Trap problem, our competitor published a YouTube Video on how to "remove" the Sodastream Anti-Refill Booby-Trap.  This Video presents a real quandary for us... on one hand, it wrongfully fools the Customer into believing that it is an easy task... on the other hand, our sales of the FreedomValve™ have almost DOUBLED because unsuspecting customers try the modification in good-faith, only to destroy the valve in the process, eventually necessitating the Customer to come back to us for a replacement FreedomValve™.  You see, if the valve is destroyed in the modification process (and there's a better than 90% chance it will), it becomes SCRAP since there are NO SPARE PARTS available anywhere, not even the factory!  We know this from our own experience since we used to offer a modification service to our clients.  Because of the high failure rate in the modification process, we designed the non-booby-trapped FreedomValve™.

The photos below are unedited-edited photos of our competitor's thread adapter sold as part of their CO2 Fill Station.  Recently, a Customer sent this to us to see if we could help him since repeated attempts to contact our competitor failed, including repeated eMails seeking answers and support.  To make matters worse, this Customer was on his Yacht on a remote Caribbean island when the CO2 Fill Station and Adapter failed, leaving him without any way to refill his carbonator tanks.  We agreed to help him since they wouldn't even respond to their pleas for help.

Please note the inner seal failure (crumbled o-ring at the back wall of the adapter), and the 4" Hose.  Additionally, this adapter would not properly screw on and seal correctly on his Carbonator tanks.  Also notice the "CP" (Custom Products brand) logo on the side of the adapter.  Good for Paintball Guns... NOT so good for reliable and safe home use.

After we received the Customer's defective Fill Station for repairs, we replaced the competitor's adapter with our CO2Dapter-II™ Fill Head and added a 24" 4,500psi rated High Pressure Hose.  Turn around time was 24 Hours, and the customer is now back to sailing the Caribbean.  This is typical of the seemingly endless situations where our unscrupulous competitors have failed their customers.

Second comparison, "ZBX0", a.k.a. ThriftyScrimper

Thanks to a VERY unhappy former customer of this competitor, we now have a better idea of who he is and what he is selling.  Up to now, we really didn't have much information on this competitor other than there's no established industry presence other than selling on ebay or his thriftyscrimper website.  He does NOT have any support, or manufacturing infrastructure in place since his place of business is a home in Nahant Massachusetts where he sells an odd mix of Soda Machine conversion kits and Cigarette Rolling Instructional Videos.  Certainly not what we would consider a focused marketing approach.  In all fairness, this is probably just a hobby to him.   Nothing wrong with that since hobbies have over time given the start needed for great companies to flourish like Dell and Microsoft.  The difference is that Dell and Microsoft were serious about servicing what they sold and standing by their products.

This Competitor really has only one CO2 related product; a "Kit" that will convert your Sodastream Soda Machine to use an external CO2 Tank.  The concept is a very poor imitation of our FreedomOne™ CO2 System.  Below is a picture of their system as published on eBay and on their ThriftyScrimper website:

WHICH WOULD YOU RATHER USE?      

ZBX0/ThriftyScrimper's system consists of a 36" Automotive hose (UNSAFE in Human Consumption products); CGA-320 CO2 Tank Fitting; two Garden-Hose Washers; common plumber's Teflon Tape (NOT High-Pressure Rated); and a cast bronze plumbing coupling that has been re-threaded to accept a sacrificed Sodastream Carbonator Tank Valve.  While basically functional, there are HUGE major health issues and hazards with their product.

Our suspicions on the quality of his product were confirmed when a very angry customer of his shared his experiences on our Customer Forum and then sent us pictures of the system he purchased and then immediately returned due to the quality. We want to be very clear on this, we DID NOT solicit or compensate this person in any way for their submission.

MAJOR HEALTH RISK WARNING:  Our Competitor uses an Automotive / Hydraulic grade Rubber Hose to connect his system together.  This practice is absolutely UNSAFE and presents MAJOR Cancer Health Risks.  Automotive / Hydraulic grade Rubber Hoses like the ones he's using contain LEAD and TALC, both of which have known health risks for Cancers; Leukemia; Learning Disabilities; and Blood Disorders, especially to children.

With so many unsavory elements in our daily diet, adding unnecessary health risks in exchange for cheap soda is probably not a good idea with ZBX0's/ThriftyScrimper's product.  That is why we take the extra precautions to ONLY use materials that are deemed safe for human use and consumption in all of our products. 

Salvaging of a Carbonator Valve as suggested by ZBX0 for use with their product is something we DO NOT advocate unless you are mechanically inclined and your budget is tight, since removing the Sodastream valve can be difficult.  Valve removal typically requires the use of a large Vise and a large Wrench, as well as a lot of brute force to successfully remove it.  Additionally, the quality and durability of the Sodastream Valve is not very good since it is designed to be a "throw-away" device with no consumer or factory replaceable parts.  Since no parts exist other than the industry standard external safety burst disc; when the valve fails (and it will); there are no means to repair it.  So... you wind up sacrificing yet ANOTHER "Licensed" Carbonator to the tune of over $40+ Dollars.

Unlike the ZBX0 product, with ours you DO NOT need to sacrifice a Valve because we provide you with our own 100% compatible FreedomValve™.   We designed our valve with a high quality non chemically reactive Silicone seal; does NOT have any booby-traps; is easily rebuilt or repaired with our spare parts; and will last YEARS longer than the Sodastream valve.  With our FreedomOne™ CO2 System, no extra pipe joint compound or washers are needed.  We supply EVERYTHING you need except for your Paintball or Commercial CO2 Tank. 

Our FreedomOne™ CO2 System is available with 24", 36", 48", and 72" Hoses as well as Coiled Retractable hoses, and longer custom lengths for a more professional looking installation.   ZBX0's kit is only available in a 36" Hose length and the hose is so stiff that installing it in your machine will be as difficult as wrestling with a six-foot snake.  Not very appealing to they eye as this industrial behemoth adorns your kitchen countertop.

COMPARISON CHART

In conclusion, we feel that an Informed Customer will never suffer from Buyer's Remorse if they truly feel that the products or services purchased have met their expectations of quality; performance; and value.

We hope that this Competitive Analysis has served to inform you on the choices that are available and how they compare to our product offering.  Our goal was NOT to disparage our competition.  All of our comparisons have been made with 100% technically and factually accurate information.  Unfortunately, the facts presented here may appear to some as a character attack or disparagement of the competition.  We assure you that is NOT our intent and we apologize to you if you have interpreted these comparisons in that manner.  These are indeed the facts and it is now up to YOU, the prospective Customer, to decide on the validity of what has been presented and whether or not it has assisted you in the decision making process.

Please consider the technical merits of our comparisons and not any perceptions of personality or political views and correctness.  After all, you are about to decide on where to spend your hard-earned money.  When doing so, please remember the key areas we have focused on...

Thank You for taking the time to Shop and Compare!

Disclaimers - Terms and Conditions for Sale and Product Use

The names: Primo, Flavorstation 100, Flavorstation 500, Sparkler, Soda-Club, ALCO2JET, and Sodastream USA are owned and trademarked by their respective owners.  CO2Doctor.com is NOT affiliated with Soda-Club or Sodastream USA, nor do we endorse or claim ownership nor rights to any of those Trademarks or product names and they are solely used on our Website to identify their respective marketed products which are marketed by their respective sales organizations.

CO2Doctor.com, nor its owner(s), operators, or affiliates endorse any products nor claim any suitability for use other than as specifically stated in our online product information. All use of our products are solely at the Owner(s) / Buyer(s) risk and they bear the sole responsibility for adhering to their proper use and observation of safety precautions. No other warranties are expressed or implied and none are given or to be assumed. Any use or licensing violations rest solely with the product user and not the website, CO2Doctor.com, or its Owner(s) / Operator(s).

By Ordering and Using any products or services from CO2Doctor.com, you hereby attest that you legally OWN the ALCO2JET CO2 CO2 Tank to be refilled as well as any Valves or associated hardware for said Tank that is claimed to be "Under License" by Sodastream USA or its enterprises.  By reading these terms and purchasing any of our products you hereby agree to hold CO2Doctor.com, its Owner(s) / Operator(s), and affiliates fully harmless and agree to indemnify the same for any and all losses as a result of legal action brought on by the improper or illegal use of our product(s).  CO2Doctor, LLC reserves the right to refuse any sale or service to anyone for any reason.  Please read and agree to our terms and conditions prior to the purchase or use of our products.   Thank You.

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