800psi to 600psi overnight???

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ElevenBrewCo

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So i hooked up 3 corney kegs at 30psi lastnight. I had my 20lb tank filled yesterday so this is my first hook up with this tank. When i hooked up my regulator it had 800psi. i just checked it and now its below 600psi.....

my question is. Do i have a leak or is that just the 3 kegs sucking up all that co2?

fyi:i checked for leaks with a spray bottle and soap and didnt see any bubbles . Just thought that was a lot of c02 just in 16 hours.
 
was the co2 tank in the fridge or outside?

if inside the fridge there is your answer and you are good to go as cold makes the pressure gauge go down dramatically. I freaked out the first time this happened to me took.
 
put it in the fridge.....Where does your high side gauge typically sit at? mines getting ready to hit the red line that says order new gas....
 
what derte said...you cooled your tank down and it caused the pressure to drop. That gauge is pretty useless as you can't watch the needle guage go down as you empty the tank.

My full tank typically drops to the "red zone" as soon as I put it in the fridge.
 
Mine drops nearly 200psi as well.
I just got mine filled, 1000psi at room temp. In the fridge it shows 800psi.
 
ok good. i was getting worried for a minute because i had a leak my last tank so i didnt want it to happen again. Cheers fellas
 
Wow...I am glad I found this. I kegged my first beer on Tuesday night and like you all I was sailing with a full bottle. Hit it with the co2 a few times to clear out the headspace, took the keg off gas and placed keg in the refrigerator to cool so I couldb carbonate the following morning. Next morning I got up, did the accelerated carbing technique and put the keg and co2 in the fridge. Got home from work last night and the tank was reading right above the red area.

Now I thoroughly checked for leaks prior to placing it in the fridge and none were discovered, so I was shocked to see that when I got home. Good to see that the cold impacts that. Do I need to drill a hole and run the gas line through the side, or is it ok to leave it in the fridge?
 
I remember freaking out the first time I put my CO2 in the fridge. Memories....
 
My co2 tank is too big to fit in the fridge....I use a 50lb tank....I've been using it now for ummm hrmmmmm almost a year....and my gauge has barely moved from 900psi where it was when I put the regulator on it the day I had it filled.

I have a 5lb backup too JIC!
 
If you want to know how much co2 is left, weigh the bottle and subtract the tare weight(tw) it should be stamped on the bottle. I do this everytime I get a tank filled just to make sure I'm getting a full 20# fill
 
Yeah, as long as there is any liquid CO2 left in the tank, the only thing that will cause changes in the high-pressure gauge is changes in temperature. Once the liquid CO2 is gone, the pressure reading will start dropping pretty quickly - you need a refill/swap before very long.
 
If you want to know how much co2 is left, weigh the bottle and subtract the tare weight(tw) it should be stamped on the bottle. I do this everytime I get a tank filled just to make sure I'm getting a full 20# fill

How much weight does one factor in for the regulator when doing this? Does that add anything to that base sort of weight?
 
Well, simple enough to take off the regulator and weight it separately. A regulator's probably a couple of pounds, which might be a rounding error with a 50# tank but is pretty relevant with a 5#- or 10#-er.
 
Yeah I suppose, been nervous to remove the regulator from my 5lb tank, worried I won't be able to get it on without a leak or something ;)
 
This was also a shock to me recently. I just kegged my first beer, purged it, did everything right, and the next morning, checked and I am almost to the red line. My first few thoughts were I have a leak somewhere, so I checked and checked, nothing. I ended up reading on here that this happens, and I realized that overnight, the tank cooled down a lot and that's the reason. Thanks to all of you seasoned vets out there teaching us newbies the basics.
 
well i have been checking it and checked again this morning and the needle is sitting at the red line and hasnt moved so i think im ok. This should be a "Kegging 101"

thanks fellas
 

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