help! help!

Two helps for two problems I am unsure of how to deal with!!

I have one keg that has a CO2 leak - I am fairly sure it is at the in valve - possibly but not definitely at the poppet. I think I need to unscrew it and lube/reseat the poppet but I am not all that enthusiastic at the O2 intrusion as well as possible contamination. What would you do?

I have another (damn) keg which is foaming. I first thought it might be my tap but after putting a picnic tap on it it is still foaming, practically no beer and all foam coming out at this point, and the flow is obviously restricted. So I assume I have a blockage somewhere. But how do I fix this without totally contaminating the beer in the keg?? It may be hops or something in the post or in the dip tube? I did not dry hop in the keg however - no way really to know unless I open up the keg. I have some thoughts about coating the beer with CO2 and siphoning it all out into an other keg but that seems extreme and risky.

I have all my beer on these kegs right now! I do have a couple carbonating and 3 more fermenting but I am all out of drink me now beer but for these two kegs! Help! Help!

For the first keg, don't worry about 02 contamination. It'll be fine. If you're really worried, give it a blast of co2 before you take it apart, to keep a "blanket" of co2 over the beer in the keg. It'll be ok.

For the foamy keg, it could be restricted, but it could also be overcarbed. What's the temperature and psi it's at? I'm assuming you didn't turn it up to 30 psi and shake it, of course.

Grab your handy dandy sanitizer and get 'er cleaned out, sure you'll have some minor exposure to oxygen but as long as your not violently stirring or shaking your keg you can just CO2 purge the container. I've done this several times with no problems, once I realized I reversed the posts so I just got a small bucket of sanitizer took everything apart, switched posts, threw on some lube and put it all back together. The other time I was unsatisfied with the way my beer was tasting so I dry hopped in it, but then I had some clogs so I had to take it apart. Just remember to sanitize everything, including your arms(if you're going that deep), and you'll be fine. Just my opinion, no lost batches so far.

Yoop said:

For the first keg, don't worry about 02 contamination. It'll be fine. If you're really worried, give it a blast of co2 before you take it apart, to keep a "blanket" of co2 over the beer in the keg. It'll be ok.

For the foamy keg, it could be restricted, but it could also be overcarbed. What's the temperature and psi it's at? I'm assuming you didn't turn it up to 30 psi and shake it, of course.

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No, no shaking! The foamy keg was fine initially and just got foamier and foamier until I disconnected her from the kegerator and attached her to a separate CO2 tank and picnic faucet to check out the problem. I am considering pumping up the pressure really high and then opening the tap and hoping it might dislodge whatever is in the way. Could be messy though!!!

Fixed them both thanks for your help. The foaming turned out to be a little bit of hops stuck in the out tube.

Cheers,
Steve