Liquid out leak?

Hey guys,

I got my keg system up and kind of running. I fixed some lose connections and some damaged gas in posts that had been leaking. I hooked up 2 kegs and my Co2 level stayed pretty constant for a week. I then connected my beer line to the keg and saw no liquid leaking anywhere, but over a couple hours my Co2 tank mysteriously emptied.

Can Co2 leak through a liquid line that looks fine? Do you think it's leaking elsewhere?

It was just a coincidence that you ran out when you connected the liquid line. It would leak beer, not gas. Spray all your connections down with starsan or soapy water.

I'm unsure what to do now. I replaced all my posts, hoping that maybe I just missed some leak somehow. I pressurized my kegs and sprayed the posts and all over the lid with starsan and I came up with no leaks. I unhooked the gas and left the kegs for 2 days and when I pulled the gas reliefs, they were still fully pressurized. I sprayed every connection on every Co2 hose and saw no bubbling. I greased all my orings with keg lube and hooked the system back together.

Now, 3 days later, I'm out of Co2 again. I'm about to throw all my kegs out and go back to bottling, as this is my fourth tank that I've lost. Where could this leak be coming from? Could it be my regulator? How can I tell if it is?

Submerge everything but the regulator and check for bubbles. It is a far superior way to find leaks. Double check if you have an gasket between your regulator stem and the tank.

I had submerged the hoses after my second tank leaked. I got nothing from it.

My regulator is a taprite regulator. From what I've read I'm not supposed to have a separate gasket besides the built in oring. Is that correct?

If the O-ring is in good shape you don't need the gasket. Did you submerge the keg while attached to the hoses, with CO2 on?

I have not submerged the kegs, as I don't have anything big enough to hold them upright at the moment. I'll have to pick up a trash can after work today along with another tank of Co2.

They should sell colored Co2 for testing the system. It would make life so much easier.

So after submerging the kegs, I found the leak, but I'm a bit confused. I have 3 gas disconnects and 2 of them bubble a bit when connected to any of my kegs. I took them off, but I can't see any difference between those 2 and the third good one. I'll replace them, but is there something I should have seen when I looked at them?

Depends on where the bubbles are coming from? If it is the top around the part that screws off, maybe the internal gasket is bad or not seated correctly. Might just need a bit of keg lube. Or if it is from where it seals around the post/o-ring, it could be that it is not the correct size due to a manufacturing issue.

Glad you found the leak, submerging is really the best method as you just proved.

It's definitely coming from beneath, where it seals to the post. I'm just crossing my fingers that replacing them will do it for me.

I ended up replacing both the disconnect and the orings on the posts. I would have done it more scientifically and only changed one or the other to see what the real culprit was, but I just wanted a sealed system.

I did another dunk test and I saw no leaks. I'm hoping that I've finally got everything under control. Only time will tell.

A week later and I'm out another tank of Co2...

I don't know where this is coming from. I replaced the posts and their orings. I replaced the disconnects to the gas lines. I dunk tested the kegs with and without the disconnects connected. I submerged all of the gas lines and saw nothing.

I then put everything back in my keezer and hooked it back up. I sprayed all my connections with starsan to be sure. Now I am still leaking

When I was almost out, I closed the gas lines, so the only pressure would exist between the tank and my dual regulator. It's the only thing I did not dunk test, so even with spraying the connection, I'm unsure of if it is leaking. I left the tank completely open, and within a few hours the gauge closest to the tank dropped to 0. Then overnight, the second gauge dropped to 0 as well.

I have no idea how to troubleshoot regulators, so I don't know where this is coming from. Anyone have any ideas on what I should check? Would replacing the regulator do any good, or is the issue probably somewhere else?

Do you have shutoff valves in your system? how many?

what I am getting at is this: I would pressurize everything, close all your valves, then close the tank, come back in the morning and check your kegs, if some of them have pressure (I check with the bleedoff valve) there is no leak in that section, after bleeding off the kegs, open the next valve up, you should hear a pressure change, bleed off the kegs again, then open the next one and listen again for a pressure change, all the way back to the tank the section that does not have a pressure change is the area that has problems.

I had a leak between the tank and the regulator, it was annoying but got it fixed and now I dont know what I would do without kegging.

More than likely the leak is within the regulator setup. I'd suggest that you get something like this:
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/COMSTAR-Leak-Seek-4PDD9
Or
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/NUCALGON-Liquid-3CFR3

And then use it to find the leak. Ace Hardware might have it as well. Any place the deals with air conditioning will certainly carry it.

Wishing you success.