Secondary Regulator PSI increasing

So Christmas time I purchased 2 wye splitters so I could upgrade my CO2 system. I have a primary and a secondary regulator. Since I unhooked everything to attach the wye splitters, I think I have a caused a leak somewhere, or maybe the secondary regulator is just broken. Anyways, after losing a full tank, I want to try and figure this out before I burn through more CO2

I have shutoff valves (4) on each output of the two wye splitters. I hooked up my regulators to the C02 tank and set the first one to about 27-28 range. I set the secondary up to 20 or so. I then turned off the CO2 at the tank. After 10 to 15 minutes I came back and the primary was holding at the 27-28, but the secondary was all the way up to the 50s. I vented it and turned the screw on the secondary all the way to the "off" position. After about 30 minutes the secondary was showing about 10 psi...

so am I leaking from the primary to the secondary? Is the secondary just broken? It probably took about 2-3 weeks for me to leak out the full 5lbs of C02 which I noticed yesterday and then refilled. I also noticed my two original mfl nuts did not have washers, so I will need to get them, but since I was doing this testing with the shut-off valves all off, I took that part out of the equation.

So I let it be overnight in the garage...which did get a little colder last night. The primary regulator pressure has dropped down to a little below 22, but the secondary is now higher than the primary sitting around 27

-Are my numbers/tests skewed because I don't actively have any kegs hooked up? My current situation leads me to believe I may have a leak on the primary somewhere, and the secondary is just broken?
- Any thoughts would be appreciated!

I had a similar problem when I had a 2 regulator setup. It was determined to be a faulty regulator body (long since replaced and working fine now). Mine would increase even with the pressure turned all the way down. This may not be your problem though.

Where are your shut off valves? Is there line in between them and the regulator? I've noticed that my one low pressure outlet has no shutoff valve and only a ball lock connector. If I unhook that one and leave it out the CO2 in the lines expands as it gets warmer and makes it give a higher gage reading. This can happen over a matter of minutes. I would hook it up to kegs at low pressure and cold to test. Control as many variables as you can (temps, pressure settings).


I got a nice laugh out of your avatar too.

I'm pretty confused, because it's impossible for the secondary pressure to be higher than the primary (assuming the keg of beer it's hooked up to isn't at 50 psi)... Sounds to me like one of the gauges is off.

It sounds like your "secondary" body is sticking or bad.


FYI:
I put "secondary" in quotes because if it is a setup like mine, what you are calling a secondary is really just a 2nd primary.

I have a dual body regulator connected directly to my CO2 tank (looks like this: http://stores.kegconnection.com/Detail.bok?no=216) Both regulators can be set to their own pressure independent of each other. This second body is not a true "secondary" even though a lot of people call it that, as is it getting the full output of the tank via the pass through of the first body. A true seconday regulator would be connected to the low pressure port (bottom) of one the primary regulator bodies usually via a hose. In that case, the max pressure the secondary could show would be limited to the pressure on the primary regulator.

Regardless, I think your problem may be as simple as the diaphram on your bad regulator sticking. I don't know how to fix it, but there may be parts available depending on who makes your regulator.

KurtB said:

Regardless, I think your problem may be as simple as the diaphram on your bad regulator sticking. I don't know how to fix it, but there may be parts available depending on who makes your regulator.

Click to expand...

Unless the regulator has a built in compressor to generate additional pressure, it's impossible for it to be reading higher than the primary gas source.

So I called Kegconnection (where I had purchased everything). And they said it sounds like the diaphragm in the second regulator is messed up. They had the part and are shipping it out free of charge since they should break that quickly! I also confirmed like KurtB said, on our setups both regulators are considered "primaries" and can be set to different pressures independent of the other... I did no know that!

Ah so it's a dual body primary, not a secondary. Glad you got it sorted out! Keg connection is a great company.