Leaking keg

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Kjm06

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Can't seem to figure out how my system is leaking. I left for a couple days and I came back and there was no pressure in the keg and the psi was down to 0. The psi only seems to drop to 0 when I drop the pressure down to 4 or lower but I would think there would still be pressure in the keg. Hopefully this made sense.
 
Try mixing up a strong star-san solution. It's good for making bubbles wherever the leak is.

I've seen this happen on mine also. If the pressure inside isn't enough to tighten the seal, it'll leak. Think of a tire on your car, without the pressure inside, the bead doesn't seat against the rim. Could be just about anywhere though!
In my case, I had a bad relief valve.
 
So your CO2 tank got emptied by the leak? Once you get it refilled (if you haven't already), hook everything up, spray the regulator and tank connections with star-san to look for leaks, and submerge all other connections under water (bucket, bathtub, etc.). Once you've found the leak, fix it.

As far as the pressure reading 0 when you turn it down, that can be normal. If you have a check valve with a slightly higher than normal cracking pressure it would behave that way. Mine are supposed to have a cracking pressure of 1 psi, but actually won't open until they have ~1.5 psi.

Are you saying that when you turn your regulator pressure down, the gauge suddenly drops to zero when you hit 4 psi, and then when you pull the pressure relief on the keg there's no pressure? You might need to elaborate a little more about what exactly is going on, as your description isn't very clear.
 
JuanMoore said:
So your CO2 tank got emptied by the leak? Once you get it refilled (if you haven't already), hook everything up, spray the regulator and tank connections with star-san to look for leaks, and submerge all other connections under water (bucket, bathtub, etc.). Once you've found the leak, fix it.

As far as the pressure reading 0 when you turn it down, that can be normal. If you have a check valve with a slightly higher than normal cracking pressure it would behave that way. Mine are supposed to have a cracking pressure of 1 psi, but actually won't open until they have ~1.5 psi.

Are you saying that when you turn your regulator pressure down, the gauge suddenly drops to zero when you hit 4 psi, and then when you pull the pressure relief on the keg there's no pressure? You might need to elaborate a little more about what exactly is going on, as your description isn't very clear.
Click to expand...

My co2 tank is still full. When I lowered the pressure to around 4psi I noticed it dropped to 0 after I arrived back home. It wasnt a sudden drop.

What I don't understand is why my keg didn't keep the pressure even when my regulator dropped pressure. This is the second time this has happened.
 
I still don't fully understand. So you're saying that the regulator slowly stops sending gas to the keg for no apparent reason, and then the keg loses all of it's pressure? And this only happens if you turn the pressure down? If so, it sounds like two separate problems, a leak, and either a faulty regulator or a process issue. What brand of regulator is it? When you change pressure are you adjusting up to the desired pressure, or trying to adjust down from a higher pressure?

Some newer fancy regulators will vent the excess pressure when you simply lower the pressure knob so that it will give you an accurate reading, but most do not. For lowering the pressure on most regulators you need to turn the pressure way down, vent the keg, and then adjust up to the desired pressure. If you have a bad leak and try to adjust the pressure down to 4 psi without venting, it could look like you're adjusting the pressure to 4, when you're actually adjusting it to 0, and then the gas in the keg and lines escapes through the leak.
 
JuanMoore said:
I still don't fully understand. So you're saying that the regulator slowly stops sending gas to the keg for no apparent reason, and then the keg loses all of it's pressure? And this only happens if you turn the pressure down? If so, it sounds like two separate problems, a leak, and either a faulty regulator or a process issue. What brand of regulator is it? When you change pressure are you adjusting up to the desired pressure, or trying to adjust down from a higher pressure?

Some newer fancy regulators will vent the excess pressure when you simply lower the pressure knob so that it will give you an accurate reading, but most do not. For lowering the pressure on most regulators you need to turn the pressure way down, vent the keg, and then adjust up to the desired pressure. If you have a bad leak and try to adjust the pressure down to 4 psi without venting, it could look like you're adjusting the pressure to 4, when you're actually adjusting it to 0, and then the gas in the keg and lines escapes through the leak.
Click to expand...

I think you might be on to something here. I haven't been venting before lowering the pressure on my regulator. I'm pretty sure it's a cheap regulator that came with the kegerator (vissani)

If I am adjusting the pressure down to 0 It would make sense why I'm losing pressure. I have been unable to find the leak though

Thanks for the help
 
Might be a blessing in disguise. Had you not been accidentally turning the pressure off, you'd probably be out a tank of gas by now. I suggest fully submerging every connection you can in a bucket or bathtub full of water to look for the leak. Probably not a good idea to submerge the regulator, so you'll have to settle for spraying it down with star-san and looking for bubbles. It doesn't take much of a leak, so be very patient and thorough. It might only produce a bubble every second or two.
 

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