keezer problem

I just set up my keezer 5 days ago and went out to find my beer uncarbonated despite my secondary gauges reading 10 psi (which is what it was at before as well)

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/mendozers-keezer-331192/

that's my keezer. My only thoughts are these:

My Kynar check valves aren't letting gas through (although that would be dumb since lots of people use them)
my secondary setup is leaking CO2 (although I don't hear it and with 10 psi coming out of 2 gauges I would hear it)
my tank is empty (except it's not, not by a long shot)
exterior leak at my QD setup (see link) but there's again no audible leak

what's happening?

Your beer has not set under pressure long enough to be carbonated. With the 12 psi set and forget method it can take at least 2 weeks or more to carbonate.

Set and forget typically takes 10-14 days, sometimes longer.

And FWIW most CO2 leaks are slow enough that they're nowhere near audible. Even with a spray bottle full of soapy water they can be tough to track down. Nothing you said indicates a leak, but you probably wouldn't hear it if there was one.

yes i know it was carbonated for 2 months prior to this. I had my tank inside the freezer. So on friday I basically moved it outside. otherwise, it was always under pressure and i was serving it

So your keg of beer lost it's carbonation? How many vol was it carbed to, and what temp do you currently have the beer at? If you pull the pressure relief valve can you hear gas coming out?

yup i completely drained one keg out of gas. they're not full anymore, maybe 2 gallons each. it was always at 10-12 psi. currently my fridge is at 50 (according to my thermometer) but my thermostat has it at 40

Your answer is a little unclear, but are you saying there's no pressure in the keg? If so, maybe the check valves are installed backwards? And I'm not sure what level of carbonation you previously had, or what level you're shooting for, but 10psi at 50° is only 1.9 vol, which is pretty low.

there is nothing driving beer out of the keg, correct. I checked, and I could be wrong, but the flat side of my check valve faces the keg because there's an arrow pointing away. I took that as a sign that liquid goes in that direction.
I was getting good levels of carb at 10 psi at 40 F before so i just kept it at that.

Nothing driving beer out of the keg as in... it is not dispensing at all? You didn't accidentally hook the beer line up to the gas post and hook the gas line up to the beer post or something right?

mendozer said:

there is nothing driving beer out of the keg, correct. I checked, and I could be wrong, but the flat side of my check valve faces the keg because there's an arrow pointing away. I took that as a sign that liquid goes in that direction.
I was getting good levels of carb at 10 psi at 40 F before so i just kept it at that.

Click to expand...

The arrow should point in the direction of flow, not in the direction you want to prevent flow. Assuming you're talking about check valves in the gas line, the arrows should point towards the kegs (the direction you need the gas to flow).

ok i'll switch the valves when i get home. They'll still prevent backflow of liquid though, right?

I don't think so, they're meant to allow flow (gas or liquid) one way. If you hooked them up backwards it means that one way is the wrong way. You'll probably be OK though, no reason for the beer to flow into the regulator if that's still pressurized.

yeah i've never had backflow before the keezer finish, just a precaution to have those there.

mendozer said:

ok i'll switch the valves when i get home. They'll still prevent backflow of liquid though, right?

Click to expand...

Check valves only allow flow (beer or gas) in one direction (the direction of the arrow). The way you have them now they're not preventing backflow, and in fact backflow is the only type of flow they're allowing. By reversing them they'll allow the gas to flow into the kegs and prevent backflow.

ok they're good now. I feel like an idiot, but thanks for the help

I'm a kegging noob, and I haven't heard of using check valves before. Do I need to have check valves? Why do people use them?

BetterSense said:

I'm a kegging noob, and I haven't heard of using check valves before. Do I need to have check valves? Why do people use them?

Click to expand...

They're usually used on regulators on manifolds to prevent beer from backing up into the regulator. Just some cheap insurance.

i use them in the gas lines as cheap insurance because I made my secondary regs myself (see link if you want). So my 1/4" ball valves have no check valves in them. I'm careful to not allow beer through anyways, but again its insurance. Plus i have like 5-6 feet of gas line so if it were to SOMEHOW get past the check valve, I have plenty of time to stop the flow into my regs