Liquid Leaking from Gas Post

On Tuesday, my keg ran empty and I washed and sanitized it and racked my next batch into it. Purged and bumped up the pressure to 30 psi and stuck the keg in the fridge. Ever since Tuesday, there has been a slow leak of liquid from the gas post that will begin to run down the side of the keg after about a day (so pretty slow).

Would liquid leak from the post if some of the brew had gotten into the gas line? I really don't know what else it could be since there's CO2 to keep the liquid away from that post, right?

Thanks for the help!

P.S. The previous batch kept pressure with no leaks for about a month and I didn't do any adjustments on the posts between the batches.

EDIT: Never mind about the post. It looks like the liquid is seeping out from between the rubber 'sheath' and the keg top. The lid itself is bone dry. Is there a seal under the rubber? I was under the impression that the keg was a closed system minus the posts, the lid, and the relief valve.

Did you fill the keg up really full, over the end of the gas diptube?

No. It was probably about 3.8 gallons worth of liquid in the 5 gallon carboy.

You might have a CO2 leak. A small amount of moisture can come out with the CO2, especially under 30 psi. Try tightening the post.

I normally find that if you have o-rings in good repair, you dont need the post to be much more past snug to get a good seal.
I sometimes get a poppit that doesn't seat quite perfectly. A little poke with something will normally get it reseated squarely.

Does the poppit have a nice, non-jacked up o-ring/seal? You may need to replace the thing, and if so, I'd recommend the universal poppits. They rock!

Here's a picture of where the liquid seems to be coming from. Right near the 'IN' text between the rubber and the metal.

From the pic I would expect the leak is under the gas post. Maybe the o-ring under the post got nicked? The only other possibility is you've somehow developed a split, but that's an unusual spot for that to happen - there's no seam near the posts...

Cheers!

Double check the dip tube o-ring for any nicks or imperfections, as day trippr suggests.
You may also have to do some investigation into whether or not you have a leaky weld at the base of the post. It's easily fixed with JBWeld, just hard to troubleshoot since you have to lift the rubber on top.

I still don't get how liquid is getting there, even if there's a leak. Where is the liquid coming from?

Silly question, but that's the side that you have the short diptube on, right?

Yeah, that's the short side. Took off lid and double checked. Since it seems impossible for liquid to come from there maybe the leak is on the liquid post side and it's running under the rubber if the gas side is slightly downhill?

What's the best way to get under the rubber to check things out? Do you just cut circles around the posts?

I have a hard time figuring out how you're getting liquid coming out there. Even if you had a leak on the liquid post side it would come out under the post, unless the post is screwed down tight to the rubber. Then a leak might get forced under there. It would have to be a leaking o-ring on the liquid dip tube for that to happen. (or a crack in the fitting)

Like I said before, a small amount of liquid will come out with the CO2 if you have a leak.

And if you don't believe me, try this:
Remove the disconnect, put your face right above the gas post, and press the poppet down firmly to release CO2. You'll get a small amount of beer sprayed right into your face.

LVBen said:

Like I said before, a small amount of liquid will come out with the CO2 if you have a leak.

And if you don't believe me, try this:
Remove the disconnect, put your face right above the gas post, and press the poppet down firmly to release CO2. You'll get a small amount of beer sprayed right into your face.

Click to expand...

Why would there be liquid in the gas tube of a partially filled keg at all, let alone enough to cause a consistent leak?

Try removing the post and inspect the flange it sits on. They are notorious for small filings of rubber and debris accumulation and may need to be scraped off with a putty knife or something similar to bring it flush again. Inspect the tube where it flares and the o-ring, lube the o-ring replace if out of round or shows any sign of brittleness or a hardness. If that does not work double the o-ring.

This can all be done safely even if filled and carbed.

JKoravos said:

Why would there be liquid in the gas tube of a partially filled keg at all, let alone enough to cause a consistent leak?

Click to expand...

That's actually a good question. I wouldn't think gas flow alone would pull significant moisture up with it from a 5 gallon keg with less than four gallons of liquid in it...

I like the idea proposed earlier than perhaps the Out dip tube got swapped with the gas In tube. That would 'splain a lot

Otherwise...I wonder if it's possible that the leak is actually coming from under the Out post and it's just wandering around under the rubber. Probably a stretch, though...

Cheers!

Last night, I took off both posts and replaced the o-rings. The previous ones were actually pretty bad. Put everything back together and pressurized it. At first, it looked like liquid started forming around the rubber near the liquid post, but that seemed to stop after I started hacking at the rubber with a kitchen knife. No more liquid visible now, but perhaps it's just not seeping up as fast due to the lack of contact with the rubber/metal interface. Well, I'll keep an eye out and see if anything changes, but for now it's looking dry. Thanks guys!