soda not carbonating, what am I doing wrong

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kkimmes

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I put together an extract and water mix and placed it in my soda keg about 2 weeks ago.
I wanted to get the soda force carbonated quickly for my kids. I have two regulators on my co2 tank, one for soda and the other for my beer.
I put my soda under higher pressure to speed up the force carbonating. I have had it around 40-50 psi for the entire two weeks. I am just beginning to see some tiny bubbles in the soda, but it is still very flat.
What am I doing wrong or missing???????
 
Keg is in keezer at 36 degrees. I can shake, but it still should carbonate on its own, right?
 
Call me crazy but...what will allow the water plus extract to self carbonate? There has to either be a fermentation process and contained carbonation or forced carbonation. Or am I reading this thread incorrectly?
 
Will a small leak cause this issue??? I turned the main valve off at the tank and when I checked back the next day, the pressure dropped to around 5 psi from 25 psi. I am wondering if the soda is not absorbing the CO2 because it is just running out some small leak.
 
I believe that as the liquid absorbs the CO2, the pressure will drop. Thats why a constant pressure is required to carb effectively.
 
I've had this problem for over a year since I switched from Yeast carbonation to C02 and kegging carbonation. I have gotten very flat sodas with microbubbles on the sides.
Primary setup: 5 Gallon corny keg -> 25 feet of hose ->Blichmann beer gun -> bottles
I was trying to mix soda concentrates with water and then add the C02 (30 PSI for 3-7 days) -> failed
I tried mixing concentrate with seltzer water -> failed

I just purchased a carbonation stone-lid to try and gas my water and concentrate mixture in the keg. Has anyone has success or experience doing it this way?
 
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