Keg Sealing Problems

I got a hold of some corny kegs the other day. I have an issue with sealing a couple of them. They will seal at higher pressures, say around 20psi but when I drop to a lower pressure they leak. I can here a slow leak and the CO2 tank running. Does anyone have any tips.

I have cleaned the sealing surface, and the o-rings are in good shape.

I don't want to serve my beer at 20psi.

Can you tell where the leak is? Let's start there,.

you might want to give some keg lube a try

Jester369 said:

you might want to give some keg lube a try

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Is that just food grade grease or a specific product?

mr x said:

Can you tell where the leak is? Let's start there,.

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Yea at least on this Keg it is coming from the o-ring seal. I have two others that instead of having a welded seam for the pressure relief have a plastic nut. They are leaking from the nut.

So out of 5 kegs I have:
2 that seal.
1 that leaks from the o-ring at low pressure.
2 that leak from the pressure relief valve seam.

There are a few products you can use for keg lube. Check some of the big online HBS suppliers. I use Dow Corning 111.

I'm having a hard time picturing your relief valve.

mr x said:

I'm having a hard time picturing your relief valve.

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I have 3 of these kind.
of those 3, 2 seal well and one leaks around the o-ring. I will try the keg lube. Perhaps a new o-ring.


I have 2 like this that both leak from the pressure relief valve. It appears to be a plastic valve that has a plastic nut on the underside of the lid. The other ones (first picture) are welded to the lid. They also have a lever instead of the pull ring.

I picked up one of these that leaks too. In fact the nut was half way sheared off when I got it but completely sheared when I tried to tighten it. There is an o-ring between the nut and the inside of the lid.

I will have to take it apart and see. The nuts are in good shape but I wasn't sure if they came apart or not.

First the bad news those old firestone plastic pressure relief valve replacement are virtually impossible to find.

The rubber grommet inside the valve may need replacing and you may be able to find and replace those. I have some like it but since none of them leak I have not taken them apart So I guessing that it's doable but I have pulled the grommet out of other types.

If you can't fix the pressure relief valve you can always remove them and replace them with a nut, bolt and metal washers with a rubber washer sandwiched in between on the inside to hold the pressure. (use a stainless steel nut, bolt and washers)

The lid that leaks may possibly be remedied by:

the addition of keg lube or try rotating the lids 180* sometimes that helps. Also try grabing the pressure relief valve and hold the lid in place while at the same time latching the bale lever.

Apparently this happens a lot I had one do me the same way last weekend. Also ramping the pressure up higher than usable for brewers is a way a number of sellers fool people into thinking they've bought a keg that hold pressure.

abracadabra said:

the addition of keg lube or try rotating the lids 180* sometimes that helps.

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+1...I have to do one or the other all the time...

I forgot to add that you may need new feet on the bale lever.

abracadabra said:

I forgot to add that you may need new feet on the bale lever.

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also put a penny or dime (depending on how bad/loose the bale levers are) under the feet when locking to give you a little extra pressure on the lid seal. I've never done this but read it somewhere.

soon as you lube up you'll prolly not have issues unless your orings have a rip or a cut in them possibly or not seated right.

I tore my plastic pressure valves apart with the first cleaning of the kegs I just run sanstar through them when kegging and call them clean after and before a batch. so far so good.

abracadabra said:

First the bad news those old firestone plastic pressure relief valve replacement are virtually impossible to find.

Apparently this happens a lot I had one do me the same way last weekend. Also ramping the pressure up higher than usable for brewers is a way a number of sellers fool people into thinking they've bought a keg that hold pressure.

Click to expand...

I found a place that sells them on the web. But I don't want to spend $12 for new valves when I can buy corny lids for them for $10. I will see if I can find the gasket the goes in between.

I am going to take a co2 bottle with me when I buy kegs from now on! I buy them from the LBS but you never really know what you are getting til you get them home, cleaned and ready to fill and they won't seal!

Sloppy Sam said:

I found a place that sells them on the web. !

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Where?

I don't blame you $10 is a steal

http://stores.kegconnection.com/Cat...ants,+parts+and+accessories:Replacement+Parts

I misquoted the price. $14 for corny lids. $11 for firestone, which I don't really want to buy because I am already having trouble with them as they are. But again. That is almost the price of another keg. I think I will take these back and swap them for ones I can get to pressure test.

This has been a learning experience for me. A lot of the guys selling kegs, are not testing them, or doing anything to fix them up. They just want to sell the kegs. New keggers Beware. Test them at the store before bringing them home.