This can't be normal...

So I've managed to successfully keg three brews now, after a very long and arduous battle. One has been sugar primed the other two force carbed. The two that were force carbed I noticed something that does not jive with the typical proceedure I see for this task. Maybe my regulator is whacked?

I do force carbing per convention (about 30 psi for 4 minutes) but when I come back to let out some pressure a few hours later all I hear is "pss" and it's empty, not the typical "psssssst" you'd expect to hear from a well carbed keg. Obviously the beer is absorbing all the CO2 fast but I have to re-charge the keg a few times during the following days to keep the pressure up, otherwise I can't even draw on it. I do not believe I have any leaks in the kegs because once the beer reaches proper carb levels and I can remove it from the CO2 it draws fine, without needing any more charging. No foaming issues, no problems.

I'm starting to think that maybe I'm actually hitting the beer with 15 PSI or whatever even though the regulator says 30...what are the odds of this? Do regulators lie? Any ideas?

BTW the regulator is a micromatic if this helps....I did disassemble it last month to clean it after the regulator screw rusted shut but I made sure to sanitize everything before reassembling it.
Dusk

Just to clarify. You are force carbing a non-carbed keg with 30PSI for only four minutes?

If that is the case, it explains your problem. Force carbing involves more than just a one time blast. I'll try to find some force carbing information for you.

I haven't even started kegging yet, but I assumed you need to keep the CO2 connected during the force-carbing process.

And yes, your beer will like to take on a lot of co2. It Will absorb co2 up to whatever volume it can hold at a given temp. If that amount is high, and you don't constantly supply additional C02 for it, it will soak up the gas until the pressure is nearly 0
That's why I am becoming such a fan of carbing at serving pressure. It takes about a week, and the $4.99 for the ball lock connector, and the $0.99 for the Steel T for the gas line was money well spent in my book.

I set my uncarbed beers in the fridge at 40 degrees, and 30 psi for about 3 days. (I don't shake or anything). After three days, I see how it's coming along and either keep it there a little longer, or purge and set it at serving pressure (12 psi for me).

I'm not sure I understand what you're doing, so I just thought it would be easiest to just tell you how I do it. Many of us do it different ways, including the "set it and forget it" of putting it at serving pressure for two weeks or so and then having it carb up slowly.

Not sure if I am getting your procedure correctly. You hit it with 30psi for 4 minutes, then shut off the gas? If so, there is no way that is long enough to carb it. You might be ok if you leave it at 30 for 24 hours, then back it off to your serving pressure, but even then it might take a few more days to equalize.

If I read your post wrong, I apologize!

I typically use the set-n-forget method and it works every time - just set to your serving pressure and leave it for a couple of weeks.

EDIT: Wow I'm typing slow today!

EDIT: Wow I'm typing slow today!

Click to expand...

That's cause one of your fingers is permanently afixed to the shutter button of your camera.

duskb said:

I did disassemble it last month to clean it after the regulator screw rusted shut but I made sure to sanitize everything before reassembling it.
Dusk

Click to expand...

You sanitized the inside of your regulator? That cant be good.

I used the force carb method(30 psi for a couple days) for my first keg but I think I am going to start using the set it and forget it method. Mostly becasue it will force me to wait longer for my beer to "mature".

Ok, if you force carb at 30psi, turn off the gas and the next day the keg has no pressure...you have a leak.

beer will absorb a lot of CO2, but it won't take the pressure down to 0psi. so if there isn't the slightest 'hiss' after 24 hours of not being on gas...you have a tiny leak somewhere in the keg. I'd check the poppets first, then the lid and safety valve.

malkore said:

Ok, if you force carb at 30psi, turn off the gas and the next day the keg has no pressure...you have a leak.

beer will absorb a lot of CO2, but it won't take the pressure down to 0psi. so if there isn't the slightest 'hiss' after 24 hours of not being on gas...you have a tiny leak somewhere in the keg. I'd check the poppets first, then the lid and safety valve.

Click to expand...

I seriously doubt there is a gas leak, as I said once the beer reaches equilibrium I can take the C02 off and suffer no ill fate. Not to mention I've replaced the poppets, gooped everything in keg lube, and was careful to crank the IN/OUT terminals down.

OTOH after reading through these varied posts it appears the reason I'm not getting a full "carb" is because I'm not carbing it long enough and high enough. The information I printed off various websites seemed to imply that you hit a 40 degree container for 4 minutes at 30 PSI and it'll be done in 24 hours. After reading the previous posted link it appears this must be a misrepresentation or something.

Also, FWIW, after going through my first gas leak on a porter that had leaked after forced carbing I tried the set and forget method and it did work fine. If anything I'm trying to get a hand on the different approaches so I'm educated enough to know the difference.

YooperBrew said:

I set my uncarbed beers in the fridge at 40 degrees, and 30 psi for about 3 days. (I don't shake or anything). After three days, I see how it's coming along and either keep it there a little longer, or purge and set it at serving pressure (12 psi for me).

I'm not sure I understand what you're doing, so I just thought it would be easiest to just tell you how I do it. Many of us do it different ways, including the "set it and forget it" of putting it at serving pressure for two weeks or so and then having it carb up slowly.

Click to expand...

BTW I like this idea...I have yet to try it but it sounds doable. I think I was afraid of having that much pressure on the keg for that long. I'm sure my fear is unfounded.

I'll try it on my next batch and report back.

wildwest450 said:

You sanitized the inside of your regulator? That cant be good.

Click to expand...

I do not believe I have seen any weird side effects from it (with the possible exception of what I'm discussing here). It was sort of a neccesarry evil. The screw was so badly rusted that the only way to break the rust free was to hit the bolt with alot of WD40 and coax it...by then I realized I HAD to clean the regulators insides up....they had traces of fluid in it.

Like I said it was the lesser of two evils...

FWIW wise or not three kegs and counting and no problems to speak of.