Corny Keg leak or normal maintenance?

Every couple of days or so I have to open my CO2 tank valve to let some more pressure into my corny keg -- I can hear the pressure start and it last for a few seconds. I am holding the tank at about 10-14 psi..

Is this normal CO2 maintenance and leaking that will always occur, or do you think I might have a more substantial leak?

I did the soap test and found no leaks in the o-ring, and none in the connections, though those are harder to test.

Thanks for the info.

Sure it's not just co2 being absorbed into the beer? If you have the co2 off and the temp drops it will absorb more.

Also of course if you actually dispense any beer with the tank off then turn the tank on it will do that as well (though I'm sure you know that. lol)

Otherwise, if it is leaking, also check where the gas hose meets the connectors and regulator.

egerrish said:

Every couple of days or so I have to open my CO2 tank valve to let some more pressure into my corny keg -- I can hear the pressure start and it last for a few seconds. I am holding the tank at about 10-14 psi..
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Yeah, if you're not tapping the keg between those days, you should have minimal CO2 going into that keg. IF your beer was stabilized at 14-15 PSI, then it shouldn't be absorbing any more CO2. If you’re beer was never fully carbonated up the to 14-15 PSI, each time you blast it, that CO2 will get absorbed into the beer (out of the headspace).

well typically I'm leaving the CO2 tank on while dispensing the beer and then turning it off after dispensing is done to retain head pressure.

the temp of the fridge is pretty constant at the mid thirties.

I didn't have a beer since Saturday night, and I opened the CO2 valve today (same temp, co2 was on when I dispensed beer) and quite a bit of co2 went into the keg.

I guess I should probably check again for leaks -- although I checked all possible connections and I didn't find anything before.

Pull that keg out and set it on a folded towel and just douse that keg (with hose connected) with soapy water. Make sure the gas is on.

If you've got a leak, it's obviously somewhere between that valve and the beer.

I still suggest that if you don't find an obvious leak, that it's just a case of added CO2 continually being absorbed into the beer (causing the headspace to be lower PSI and draining off your tank when you open the valve.)

Ok, I will try both. Once again, I appreciate all of the help.

When you check the orings etc, also check the gas relive valve. Sometimes they get a bit loose. Some are easy to tighten with the lid on, some you have to take the lid off to tighten.

Once you are certain that you don't have a leak, you can leave the CO2 on at all times. I never turn mine off, or even down... I set it to 10-15 psi depending upon beer style in the keg, and let it there to carbonate, let it there to serve, let it there to wait until I pull my next pint.

Works just fine if you have a balanced system and no leaks...

egerrish said:

well typically I'm leaving the CO2 tank on while dispensing the beer and then turning it off after dispensing is done to retain head pressure.

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Just a little confused by this line...there's no need to turn off the CO2 after dispensing. I kind of think you never hit 15psi worth of CO2 volumes so its still absorbing gas. 15psi would be pretty carbonated.

Probably true. but since it's my first keg, I just wanted to to see if I was having any issues with leaking before I left it on all of the time. I checked it again the other day and there didn't seem to be any leaking, so now I'm leaving it on.