Slow reacting regulators

So I'm hoping someone here can help. I've got four primary regulators (overkill, I know, considering I only have four taps), but I'm having the same problem with all of them. They're all reacting very slowly when I try to set the pressures for my kegs. Basically, I'll try to set them to 8-12 psi, depending on the beer, but if I come back a few days later, the pressure will have drifted up to 15-20 psi.

I had to swap out my CO2 tank the other day, and when I vented the pressure to disconnect the tank (I have a 6 ft high pressure hose between the tank and the regs), I saw a bunch of particulate spray out (maybe ice or even dry ice from inside the regs). The regs are mounted inside my keezer and my tank is outside.

Thoughts?

It's been my experience that when the regulators are kept inside the fridge the cold temperature effects the elastomer used for the diaphragms. It makes them slow to react to changes made, and it's easy to overshoot. If I want to change pressure to 15psi, for example, I'd probably set it for11-12 psi and it will "creep" to 15 psi after a day or so. If I set it immediately to 15, it will be at 20 psi by the next day.

Exactly. I dial mine all the way down to zero, then shoot for 8 psi to start. After a few hours (or a day), I make small adjustments as necessary, always slightly undershooting the desired pressure.

You may be right, but I've been using these regs for over a year, and this is an issue that has only cropped up within the last few weeks. Never had this problem before.

I've never had this problem with my regulator in my kegerator. I set my regulator to 12-14 and hours to days later its still at what I set it at. What temperature do you keep your fridge at?

I keep it at 38 F. No changes in well over a year, aside from shutting it off for a few weeks to clean it up and shorten all the gas lines between the regs and the kegs.

They're all nice micromatic regs too.

Well, other issues have forced me to rebuild my regs (several times). There was evidence of corrosion on the internals of my regs. Assuming I've worked out the rest of my problems, I think I'm going to keep a fair amount of desiccant in the kegerator from now on. As long as I can keep the humidity down, I'm hoping I'll be better off.

lombard said:

Well, other issues have forced me to rebuild my regs (several times). There was evidence of corrosion on the internals of my regs. Assuming I've worked out the rest of my problems, I think I'm going to keep a fair amount of desiccant in the kegerator from now on. As long as I can keep the humidity down, I'm hoping I'll be better off.

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Thats why I moved mine out

beaksnbeer said:

Thats why I moved mine out

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And why I never put mine in...

Cheers!