CO2 Pressure Reduction a Leak or Just Carbing

*edit* bolded actual question in case someone doesnt want to read it all*

I posted this thread a little bit ago wondering about having a gas tube that is a little larger than the quick disconnect and since then I have been scared to leave my tank on and loose all of my co2 from a leak:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/quck-disconnects-gas-hose-size-difference-99294/

I went through the system yesterday putting soapy water on the connections and found a small leak that I think I was able to resolve. I am still scared to leave it on so I have been opening it to fill the tank, letting it sit for a several hours (possibly 12 or more) and then opening the tank again to get back up to pressure, etc.

My concern is that the last night i set it to 12 PSI and turned the tank off. I then came down this morning on the way to work ant it was at about 10-11 PSI. Is this a leak of just the beer using the co2 for carbonation?

Should I just get ballsy and let the tank stay open or is there more I need to look at before I do?

ohh and the beer has only been carbing for 3 days at 11 - 12 psi.

I would say the beer could be carbonating still. most leaks would have leaked more.

I do the same thing and Chicken is right at only 3 days and 11-12 psi the beer is still absorbing CO2 so your pressure will continue to drop

I'd say jack the pressure up to 20-30 psi for a week (I use 30 psi) there's very little co2 in a cornie full of beer and also just turn it on and back off once or twice a day to make it a little easier on yourself

I set the tank to just a hair below 30 about an hour and a half ago ... possibly more like 2 hours ago.

The gauge is now showing 28 PSI. Could that also be from the carbonation of the beer? I will also report back in the AM what the pressure is reading.

I just spent 45min checking and fixing a few small leaks.

Spray soap and water on each joint 1 at a time and just listen for 10-20 seconds, stick your ear right up to the joint if you have to. I found 1 leak tonight that I couldn't see any bubbles but could hear it. If you take the time to make sure there's no leaks then you'll feel better about leaving it on. I have 2 hose clamps on some of my fitting just for extra security.
Sometimes checking for leaks is easier at higher pressures aswell!

Good luck

So this morning when I went to check the pressure it had dropped from just a hair below 30 when i first did it (it was 28 when i went to bed) to just a little above 20.

Whatcha think... leak or just absorbing CO2?

Absorbing.

Disconnect the line from the keg, pressurize it and shut the tank off. If the pressure is down in the morning, you still have a leak.

why the HELL cant i think of that. I have bent over backwards trying to determine the best way to tell.. of course.. pull the freaking keg out of it...

thanks David.

I dropped the regulator from 30 to 10, purged the keg, refilled it and then disconnected the quick disconnect. In about 3 hours it dropped a hair. Maybe 1/2 psi tops if i had to guess.

I will look at it again in the morning and hopefully it wont go any further. I would really love to be able to hook this up and stop worrying about it

Regulators take time to stabilize after you set them. Checking in the morning is a good plan

and that is exactly what happened to it. It was dead on where i left it. I feel so much better now I will hook up the tank, leave it on and just check on it to make sure it is not dropping too far.

Now if my F'ing beer would carb that would be nice I had it 3 days at 10 PSI, then 1 day at 30 (as seen above) and now another day at 10 and it is still not nearly carbed. Not even any sign of head at all. I will let it sit for another week and see how that does... i would think that I would see something by now though.

Maybe I need to up the serving pressure to 12. I do have 10' lines.

I guess the other thing is that maybe the beer in the lines is all that is making it to the glass. That would be outside of the keg while it is carbing... maybe i need to pull more than a pint to really tell.. hmm

I think the above is exactly what was up with the carbonation. I pulled another pint today and it had some carbonation. It was a relief to see for sure.

So how did the carbonation end up? I'm chasing a leak right now, keg is disconnected and I'm watching my regulator. Grrrrr

flawless! In the beginning i did have a small leak. The best thing was to take the keg out of it. Set it to twleve PSI with the keg in place. Remove the QD and turn the tank off. If pressure drops you have a leak. Remeber the pressure takes a little bit to adjust completely when you open the tank... so what i did was turn the tank off look at it at 2 hours and then again the next day. pressure was different at 2 hours but didnt move a single bit the remainder of the time.

Good luck.

Definitely something in the connections! Lost all the pressure in a few hours. I've sprayed everything with Starsan and no bubbles. Guess I will try some soap to see if I can narrow down the possibilities. Thanks for the help.