evanlee19

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I need some help with 2 items.

1. Leaky Manifold?- It looks like I have a leak in the gas manifold. I sprayed soapy water and there is foam building up around the manifold. There is a picture of it below. How do i fix this? I tried to tighten the bolt, but it wouldn't budge. Do i have to take it apart and then try and reassemble it?

2. Regulator- When I attached the regulator do my 5lb CO2 tank the lower gauge shows 500 PSI. This is just above the "order gas" section. Is it at 500 b/c it is a 5lb tank, or is there something wrong?

Thanks in advance for the help

sudsmcgee

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Put some teflon tape around the airline threads that go into the manifold and then retighten it. It should hold after that.

If you tank is cold, the pressure will go way down. Don't worry about it. All you need is 30 PSI or less really.

kbuzz

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The tank pressure is definitely okay. Mine sits right where yours is until it's empty. Kinda sucks you can't get an accurate reading, but it's fine.

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evanlee19

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Thanks Suds and kbuzz for the response. I took you advice and disassembled the manifold. wrapped on fresh Teflon tape and reassembled. I then submerged in water and was getting bubbles.

sudsmcgee

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That doesn't sound right. Is your manifold cracked? How tight are you tightening it? It should be pretty snug, but not enough to cause damage.

evanlee19

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It's tight. but it doesn't look like the manifold is cracked.

sudsmcgee

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OK, try more layers of teflon tape. It shouldn't leak unless the threads are messed up or something.

johnsma22

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1. Try pulling everything apart and use a teflon paste type thread sealant on top of the teflon tape and see if that seals it. It should. If not, then something is up with how the threads were tapped or something like that.

2. CO2 in a liquid/vapor state has a direct pressure/temperature relationship, as can be seen in the chart below. The pressure will stay the same, at a given temperature, until all the liquid has been vaporized. Once only vapor exists, the pressure in the tank will drop rapidly. The only way to know for sure how much liquid CO2 is left in the tank is to weigh the tank, and subtract the tare weight that's stamped on the side of the tank.

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whitehause

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Yep....re-tape the fittings. Go to lowes,home depot,ect and get the yellow teflon tape. It's for propane, or natural gas lines, and gives a better seal than the white tape. Wrap it around twice so that it threads in with the direction of the threads, not against it.(think of the tape as a nut your threading on the fitting,wraping clockwise around the threads) Your co2 tank is fine, like others have said, mine stays at the low end when in the fridge, but I still get about 12 to 15 1/4 kegs out of my 5lb tank. Those gauges are worthless for telling how much co2 you have in your tank, they only tell you the maximum pressure that's being created at that temperature.

Btw....remove ALL the old teflon tape before you re-tape it! Use a toothpick to get it out of the threads also.

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simonbones

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Man I searched and found this thread because I'm having the same problem. Ever get this resolved? I bought one of these from my LHBS and every single one of the valves leaked like a sieve. The same one is sold by multiple brew stores online. I tightened them all down, still leaked. More Teflon tape, still leaked. The valve itself is cheap (made in china). Just trying to take it off and put it on again wrecked the metal and I can't get my wrench on it anymore. I think the metal is too soft and the aluminum screws the threads up on it, thus unstoppable leaks. I'm thinking of buying the brass looking 3 piece one from MoreBeer instead. Anyone have experience with these?

http://morebeer.com/view_product/16389/102238/Gas_Manifold_-_3_Way

Or is there a better one out there that may cost a little more? Trying to run 3 kegs now off a single line just switching out the connector because it's better than draining my CO2 tank every 4 days with a bullsh!t cheap manifold.