BANG! this ever happen to you?

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coyotlgw

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I recently purchased the 3 Gallon Mini Draft System (Reconditioned Keg) from Midwest and finally got a chance to fill it up last night. The instructions and warning sticker seemed to indicate that I should attach the ball lock CO2 fitting to the keg first and then attach the CO2 injector.

After priming and filling the keg I wanted to add a bit of CO2 to seal the lid. I attached the ball lock CO2 fitting to the keg, then I put a CO2 cartridge into the injector and attached it to the threaded post on the latter. When I gave it a little gas, there was a very loud bang and the ball lock CO2 fitting blew apart. I put the thing that looked like a plastic threaded plug back in the fitting and screwed it in tight and was able to successfully pressurize the keg, but still found a bit of broken plastic and a spring lying around.

Specifically, the little part that looks like a gray plastic cork with a flat-head screwdriver hole is what blew out. The injector stayed attached to the fitting and the fitting stayed attached to the keg. I cannot figure out where the screw goes and I know I must be missing part of the piece. Went off like a gunshot ad left a threaded ding in the ceiling. Damned glad I did not get hit.

Mike with their support desk was helpful and said that the fact that I was able to pressurize should indicate that I could continue using the CO2 fitting, but I bought another one just in case.

So has anybody else had something like this or a similarly ballistic experience when kegging?
 
It sounds like you had something wrong with either the gas-in disconnect or the poppet valve. Either that or you didn't have the disconnect fully seated onto the post. You basically put 600lbs of pressure into the fitting and NOT into the keg.
 
OK serious bone-head question.

I attached the brand-new replacement ball lock CO2 fitting to the keg for no real reason and was rewarded with a spray of fresh booze as the keg depressurized.

So I thought that the ball lock CO2 fitting was a one-way valve to keep anything from escaping, yet this seems to not be the case, as I had to totally repressurize.

Other than providing a threaded post to which I can connect my gas, what does this little grey plastic wonder do? as previously stated, the instructions and warning sticker on the little CO2 injector seemed to indicate that I should attach the ball lock CO2 fitting to the keg first and then attach the CO2 injector, but this just adds a layer of fine beer mist to the table and floor.
 
the fittings are not one way valve. The CO2 fitting on the keg has a very short tube which should not reach the beer level. The Beer fitting goes to the bottom of the keg. If you got beer out of the CO2 fitting rather than just a gush of CO2 then one of a couple things happened.

1) you attached the connector to the beer fitting instead of the gas fitting
2) someone assembled the keg wrong and put the long dip tube into the gas fitting
3) you over filled the keg
4) the keg was shaken and there are a lot of foam up to the level of the short tube.
 
The plugs have poppet valves in them. Properly seated, they will hold pressure. The tiniest bit of crud will prevent the poppet from seating.

OP - I have had pressure relief valves go when using a cartridge. It's extremely easy to over pressurize a full keg. If you can post a picture of the 'spare' parts, we can probably tell you where they belong.
 
coyotlgw said:
I attached the brand-new replacement ball lock CO2 fitting to the keg for no real reason and was rewarded with a spray of fresh booze as the keg depressurized.

So I thought that the ball lock CO2 fitting was a one-way valve to keep anything from escaping, yet this seems to not be the case, as I had to totally repressurize.


May have mis-understood. The valve body that is screwed into the keg does have a poppet in there that seals when there is nothing attached. I thought that you got sprayed WHILE the ball lock gas fitting was attached to the keg. When you attach the gas fitting (usually grey) to the keg it will depress the poppet and release all your pressure. If this is what happened then look back at my posting and you should be able to figure out why beer came out of the fitting. If your keg leaked with nothing attached to the gas post then, as David said, it is likely something crudding up the poppet preventing it from sealing.
 
coyotlgw said:
OK serious bone-head question.

I attached the brand-new replacement ball lock CO2 fitting to the keg for no real reason and was rewarded with a spray of fresh booze as the keg depressurized.

So I thought that the ball lock CO2 fitting was a one-way valve to keep anything from escaping, yet this seems to not be the case, as I had to totally repressurize.

Other than providing a threaded post to which I can connect my gas, what does this little grey plastic wonder do? as previously stated, the instructions and warning sticker on the little CO2 injector seemed to indicate that I should attach the ball lock CO2 fitting to the keg first and then attach the CO2 injector, but this just adds a layer of fine beer mist to the table and floor.

Sounds like you connected the CO2 to the liquid side. I did that once also and got the same results
 
coyotlgw said:
OK serious bone-head question.

I attached the brand-new replacement ball lock CO2 fitting to the keg for no real reason and was rewarded with a spray of fresh booze as the keg depressurized.

Done that! Sanitized the keg with star-san and shook the crap out of it.
2 minutes later, not thinking, I slammed the disconnect down onto the beer-out post. Just enough pressure to make a mess.
 
The instructions tell you to put the connector on the CO2 in post prior to threading the charger on because they're worried you'll pull the trigger and blow up the connector (which you found out the hard way already). This happens because the valve on the connector only opens when it's down on the keg post. The problem with those directions is that they assume you're starting with a depressurized keg which I'd never do. You want to pressurize with your large tank first, take it to your party, then put the charger on. I made a little safety mechanism by shoving a block of wood under the trigger so that I can transport it disconnected from the keg without the fear of pressurizing the connector with 500 psi. You'll find you only need to tap the trigger for half a second to pour 5 pints.
 
Thanks for all the great advice, guys :)


dantodd said:
the fittings are not one way valve. The CO2 fitting on the keg has a very short tube which should not reach the beer level. The Beer fitting goes to the bottom of the keg. If you got beer out of the CO2 fitting rather than just a gush of CO2 then one of a couple things happened.

3) you over filled the keg

Most likely this... I had no clue how full to fill it, so I just filled until I thought I would barely have room to get the lid back in. So I just fill to the bottom of the gas tube?

Bobby_M said:
You want to pressurize with your large tank first, take it to your party, then put the charger on.

OK that makes sense. If I do not have a large tank, though, I would just attach the fitting after attaching the gas to is to prevent depressurization?
 
coyotlgw said:
Most likely this... I had no clue how full to fill it, so I just filled until I thought I would barely have room to get the lid back in. So I just fill to the bottom of the gas tube?

I guess you can fill it up as high as you like, just make sure you don't connect an unpressurized fitting to the connector if there is any pressure at all on the keg. You may also have a problem de-pressurizing with the over pressure valve if you fill it too full. I'd leave 1/2 an inch or so of head room to the gas tube but I use 5 gallon kegs I don't know how much that would cut into your 3 gallon batch.
 
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