Dead end on CO2 leak

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boredatwork

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I thought I had the problem solved, but then I went on vacation for 3 weeks and when I got back my CO2 tank was empty (again...).

My latest attempt at finding the leak was to stick the keg and co2 tank and regulator setup into a bathtub full of water. I spent a lot of time looking for bubbles in the water but I could not find any.

I filled the 5# CO2 tank two months ago, and since then it was used to fill maybe 24 bottles and dispense maybe 4 glasses of beer. For the rest of the time it was connected to 2 corny kegs in a fridge.

I am starting to wonder if CO2 tank will last either XX number of glasses dispensed, or 2 months of time, whichever comes first. I doubt this is normal for most people, but does anyone else have a problem with CO2 dissapearing after 2-3 months of not dispensing any beer?
 
boredatwork said:
I thought I had the problem solved, but then I went on vacation for 3 weeks and when I got back my CO2 tank was empty (again...).

My latest attempt at finding the leak was to stick the keg and co2 tank and regulator setup into a bathtub full of water. I spent a lot of time looking for bubbles in the water but I could not find any.

I filled the 5# CO2 tank two months ago, and since then it was used to fill maybe 24 bottles and dispense maybe 4 glasses of beer. For the rest of the time it was connected to 2 corny kegs in a fridge.

I am starting to wonder if CO2 tank will last either XX number of glasses dispensed, or 2 months of time, whichever comes first. I doubt this is normal for most people, but does anyone else have a problem with CO2 dissapearing after 2-3 months of not dispensing any beer?
Click to expand...

I do- but I've found a few little leaks around the lid of one of my kegs, once the pressure got lower. It sealed fine when I gave it a shot of co2 at 30 psi, but afterwards it seemed like my co2 disappeared way too fast and I checked again and the lid had a very small leak around it. It drove me crazy!
 
I am starting to wonder if CO2 tank will last either XX number of glasses dispensed, or 2 months of time, whichever comes first. I doubt this is normal for most people, but does anyone else have a problem with CO2 dissapearing after 2-3 months of not dispensing any beer?
Click to expand...

I've got a small leak in my setup. I know what part of the system it is, between the regulator and the T-connector which splits the gas between the kegger and the conditioning cabinet, but like yours it's too small to find. I suspect one of the gauge bodies, but even immersing the whole rig doesn't show anything. So, I'm resigned to pressurizing the system and shutting the isolation valves. Fortunately, I can force carbonate using my other regulator and bottle.
 
boredatwork said:
I am starting to wonder if CO2 tank will last either XX number of glasses dispensed, or 2 months of time, whichever comes first. I doubt this is normal for most people, but does anyone else have a problem with CO2 dissapearing after 2-3 months of not dispensing any beer?
Click to expand...

It won't empty by just sitting there. I have a tank from my grandpa that he's had for years (more than 10). It still has plenty of Co2 in it.

Normally when I hook up a corny I'll spray the lid/relief valve with star-san to check for leaks. I'll also stored my cleaned kegs with some star-san and a bit of pressure (2-3 lbs) and if they have pressure when I pull them out to fill them I know they'll be good. If not then I know I may need to mess with them a little to get a good seal. You may also want to spray star-san on all the connections between your tank and kegs. If that doesn't spot your leak you can get actual leak-testing stuff for gas lines, that should do it (I've never had to go buy that stuff though).
 
Did you actually submerge your regulator?

To find leaks, I use dishsoap mixed with water and spray it on the connections. Same idea as the star-san idea above. And just to weed out the easy stuff, you do have that plastic washer between the tank and regulator, right?
 
Mine did the same thing this weekend. Happened once before. I've done the star san thing before and could not find any leaks. Frustrating...
 
Upon inspection, the black part on a few popets looked almost crushed on one side, so I replaced the popets and hope that fixes my leak that I can't find. Has anyone found that to be the source of their leaks?
 
a popet valve will only be a leak issue if the QD is disconnected. I have one keg that leaks from the gas in popet, but as long as I keep it hooked up, it is a nonissue. Same with having a beverage line connected to the liquid out.
 
Arkador said:
a popet valve will only be a leak issue if the QD is disconnected. I have one keg that leaks from the gas in popet, but as long as I keep it hooked up, it is a nonissue. Same with having a beverage line connected to the liquid out.
Click to expand...

I think that's my problem - I have 6 kegs in the keezer and only 4 taps and 4 gas connects, so they get disconnected and moved around occassionaly.

If you have the gas connected but manifold shut off, will it still prevent it from leaking there?
 
I believe so, the shutoff on the manifold seals both directions.

I upgraded to be able to put gas on every keg in the keezer to avoid replacing popets. I will eventually need to replace them if i wan to condition a keg outside of the keezer some day. Mabye when i find popets on sale.
 
I find a little lube over top a pesky poppet work wonder to keep it seal prior to tapping.

And another tip on sourcing out pesky leaks. I find that StarSan or Soap can be misleading sometimes. Wrap the outside of the chimes with masking tape or duct tape to create a bowl. Close and pressurize the keg. Fill the "bowl" with water and look for a tel-tale stream of tiny bubbles. Works everytime for the really slow leaks. I learned that trick here too.
 
I use a leak detector for propane and ng leak testing... it works very well. Never tried one for CO2, but after losing a few tanks it might pay for itself to buy one of these Beer CO2 Gas Leak Detector

Might have to buy one just to have another gadget to play with.

If you have some brew buddies you could split the cost.

edit - Yikes, misread the cost at first glance, might be holding off on buying one of those but maybe your local welding supply company has one they can rent or loan to you.
 
I had a repair man leave a spray bottle of leak detector solution at my place once. I find that that works lots better than any soapy water solution I could mix up.
 
bored,

I can almost guarantee you it's the relief valve on the top of the Corny that's causing you problems. The little rubber seal starts to stiffen as it ages. Initially, as you pressurize the keg, the seal will work fine, but as it sits for a while, the gas begins to squeeze by.

Fill the corny with water, leaving about half a gallon of head space. Pressurize the keg to your normal serving pressure, and leave it for an hr with the gas connected. After waiting, *then* spray a strong mix of dish soap and water into the relief valve assembly at the top of the lid. you may even be able to hear the hissing as it leaks.
 
Ive tried dish soap and starsan to no avail, but I may try it again paying special attention to the relief valve.

I like the idea of pressurizing the keg and then checking it after some time. At the least if I could figure out if it is the keg of the regulator assembly that would be helpful.

I also just read in another post that someone just turns off the CO2 supply when they are not using it. At the least thats a no-brainer until I can figure this out. Its pretty miserable to have to go refill a CO2 tank when you didnt get anything useful out of it.
 
GilaMinumBeer said:
I find a little lube over top a pesky poppet work wonder to keep it seal prior to tapping.

And another tip on sourcing out pesky leaks. I find that StarSan or Soap can be misleading sometimes. Wrap the outside of the chimes with masking tape or duct tape to create a bowl. Close and pressurize the keg. Fill the "bowl" with water and look for a tel-tale stream of tiny bubbles. Works everytime for the really slow leaks. I learned that trick here too.
Click to expand...


I know this thread is old. This trick is great!!! I have had a feeling that I had a slow leak for the past weak or so. So I looked at all my regs, connections and qd's. Nothing I always do the starsan thing before I even place a fresh keg in my kegerator and I was sure that could not be it. I did this trick and BINGO two little streams of bubbles start coming out from around the pressure relief valve. Changed the lid from another keg untill I can get a new vale and it was good to go!!!! Great tip!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
GilaMinumBeer said:
I find a little lube over top a pesky poppet work wonder to keep it seal prior to tapping.

And another tip on sourcing out pesky leaks. I find that StarSan or Soap can be misleading sometimes. Wrap the outside of the chimes with masking tape or duct tape to create a bowl. Close and pressurize the keg. Fill the "bowl" with water and look for a tel-tale stream of tiny bubbles. Works everytime for the really slow leaks. I learned that trick here too.
Click to expand...

I'm not one to bump old threads (Who am I kidding? Of course I am!) but I just tried this method and I found my leak right away. It was from the gas side o-ring on my second keg. This saved me tons of time and required nothing more than some duct tape and a watering pitcher. Thanks!

I'm also going to get some lube for my posts. I have a feeling the leak came from cramming the ball locks and could be easily avoided with some of that.
 

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