Want to keg my beer, 1 problem/question

Hello I am 2 brews into my home brew career and I want to start using my kegging setup for this second brew now that i feel I have enough of the brewing process figured out. Ive had a full corny setup all the way from the keg co2 regulators etc etc. I haven't cleaned the keg since buying it so I figured i would take it outside and clean it along with all my brewing equipment from yesterdays brewing session. I followed another post on here and put a little starsan in the keg filled it with water and put the cap on, then I agitated it like the post said but when i turned it upside down it leaked bad, so I undid the lid and redone it thinking maybe i just made a bad seal, but I got the same results, it was not water tight at all. Its a reconditioned keg with a brand new o ring. The way Im thinking if its not water tight its not going to be air tight. Right? Or Wrong? Please help, Im not sure if I should try to use this keg or not when i beer is ready to come out of the fermenter next week. thanks for any info.

Can you tell where it's leaking from?? Is it leaking from one of the posts or from the lid?

it was definitely from the lid, but one of the posts looked like it was leaking a little too

Mine will not make a tight seal unless I use keg lube and pressurize it. If you don't have keg lube, get some because you will need it.

Because you reseated the lid, I'm guessing the lid leaked. The lids on corny kegs usually do not seat properly (and form a good seal) until they are put under pressure. Refill the keg w/ water, put about 20lbs of CO2 into the keg, then try inverting again. Actually you won't need to invert the keg at that point. If you have 20lbs of CO2 pressure, you will be able to hear the air leak from the keg. You can isolate the leak by spraying some soapy water (or a mix of water and Star San) from a spray bottle onto the lid and posts.

damn i don't want to chance messing this brew up, its only me second and I can feel that its going to be way better than my first. Maybe I should stick to bottling for awhile. If i do use the keg i will for sure get some of that keg lube that your talking about

I'll try that right now PAHiker, that will be good practice for me anyways being that I have never tried using a keg setup, let alone pressure one

One question & a few thoughts:

Was the keg pressurized before you opened it? Most sellers have some gas in their kegs to demonstrate that they are gas tight. If you had any gas in the keg, you can rule out that you "created" a new leak.

Anytime I buy a new keg, I immediately mark the lid with a sharpie so I know the original orientation of the lid. Sometimes if you reverse a lids direction, it does not seat properly.

Keg lube (and lots of it) is as necessary to kegging as yeast is to brewing. If you don't have keg lube, use mineral oil from the grocery store.

Pressurizing the keg is necessary to see if you have a tight seal.

JBrady said:

damn i don't want to chance messing this brew up, its only me second and I can feel that its going to be way better than my first. Maybe I should stick to bottling for awhile. If i do use the keg i will for sure get some of that keg lube that your talking about

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Oh, this is not a problem! We all have issues with the lid leaking until it's put under pressure. If one of the posts is leaking, though, that may also need a new oring. Take it apart, and clean it well. Then, put it back together, put the water in it, add some co2, and then spray with a star san solution. You can see where it's leaking. Once you add the co2, though, that tends to seal it up.

Hey if I air test it I shouldn't have to use water at all huh? I have dual gauge regulators, I can bring it up to 20 pounds, shut the air flow off and the the pressure gauge should tell me if there is a leak right? Just like testing my Oxygen Acetelyne torch setups for leaks at work right?

JBrady said:

Hey if I air test it I shouldn't have to use water at all huh? I have dual gauge regulators, I can bring it up to 20 pounds, shut the air flow off and the the pressure gauge should tell me if there is a leak right? Just like testing my Oxygen Acetelyne torch setups for leaks at work right?

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Yes. I still use the water, and turn it upside down. But you sure don't have to! It's easiest to spray star san on the top, though, so you can see where it's leaking while it's under pressure. Check around the lid, and around the top of the posts where those poppits are. If there is a leak, the star san solution will bubble right where the leak is. Then you can use some keg lube (or straight mineral oil if you don't have keg lube) on the o-rings wherever it's leaking.

I can't remember if it was pressurized when i got it, but i do remember the company i got it from saying all reconditioned kegs are tested to make sure they hold, I think Im just going to shoot it up with 20 pounds of co2 and see what i get, a big leak should be heard and small leak should show after a few minutes on my gauges. Should I wait to get some keg lube before I even attempt to test my keg?

you've got the idea....

Get some keg lube though no matter what. It helps seal up tiny leaks and keeps the o-rings from drying out (just extends their life a bit)

thanks for all the info everyone, I think I'll hold off on the test until i have the keg lube, hey if it doesn't work out, i've been drinking so much beer lately I bet I have enough sierra nevada pale ale and flying dog snake bite ipa bottles to do two whole batches, lol. thanks again.

One other thing...do make sure to fill the keg most the way with water. Getting an empty keg up to 20 PSI just to test a seal is a terrible waste of gas.

If you fill with water until you only have 3-4 inches of head space, you'll get the same effect, but conserve a bunch of CO2.

good call bier, didn't think of that