Loose keg lid drained my CO2 tank!

2 weeks ago I set pressure at 10 PSI on 2 freshly kegged batches. Come back and they're both at 20. I pour one and it's all foam. Overcarbed.

So I go to bleed the kegs down and reduce pressure on the regulators, and when I do there's a rush of air I can feel and hear through one of the keg lids. Suddenly I notice one of my kegs is down at 0 on the gauge.

I've never used this keg before, but basically, the lever on the lid is not tight. I noticed it when I was kegging but I thought I had gotten a good seal. I replaced the o-ring and covered the thing in half a container of lube. I even did the Star San test with it under pressure and got no bubbles.

With the other two kegs, when I close the lever, it goes down tight and pulls on the lid to seal it better. With this one, the lever is extremely loose and there's only any resistance when I'm closing it but not when it's closed. I can push on the lid and it will tilt slightly. When trying to bleed the other kegs, I can tell there's a good seal because even without CO2 applied I get a small hiss when I wait a few minutes and bleed. With this one, no matter how long I wait, there's no hiss when I pull the pressure release valve. So the lid is not tight enough to prevent a build up of CO2 from escaping.

I also think the welding shop may have screwed me, because the guy there exchanged my tank instead of filling it, and the moment I hooked up the tank after getting it back, the tank gauge was in the "order gas" zone. I have only used this tank on one other keg, and have not been dispensing beer regularly since I hooked it up.

So either my leak is bad enough to empty a 5-pound keg after only 2 weeks, despite no Star San bubbles under pressure, or the welding shop didn't give me a full tank. I don't know which and I don't want to waste another tank of CO2 to find out I'm still leaking.

So, rant now over, what can I do to tighten the keg lid??

I did a writeup on this issue a bunch of years ago. You might want to take a look:

Keg Lid Geometry & Adjustment

Hope it helps you.

I jammed a couple quarters under each foot. It's snug now, but I'll have to wait for the beer to release some CO2 so I can bleed it and test.

I have had a few covers bind on the long side and when you close it you wont see any gasket
I put the cover in a vise and squeeze it a little till a .020 feeler gauge clears the gap all around.
I also use it for 2 gallon of soda water, that I carb at 25psi and then disconnect, then turn upside down to check for leaks

Nope, still leaky. Even after securing it with those quarters and waiting a few minutes there's not even a small puff when I pull on the valve.

There don't appear to be any irregularities in the shape of the rim but there is a bit of a gap on one side...

What's weird is when I cleaned it with oxyclean, I did turn it upside down to check for leaks and nothing came out.

Spent the last hour banging on the keg rim and twisting the feet with a pair of pliers. It fits a little tighter now, but it's still looser than the other kegs. The gap is more uniform too, but I still don't have a seal.

I really hope I don't wind up oxidizing the beer.

Lift the keg up by the lid handle and then put 30 psi in and see if it seals. Also check to see if any contaminant in on or under the o ring and the mating surface on the lip of the keg.

P-J said:

I did a writeup on this issue a bunch of years ago. You might want to take a look:

Keg Lid Geometry & Adjustment

Hope it helps you.

Click to expand...

Can I have you permission to use and duplicate that page please? Very nice walkthrough.

Welp, since I traded my CO2 tank today, I was able to get the lid to seal under pressure, but now I've got a leak out the gas disconnect. It stays sealed when the gas is connected, though, so I'm calling it a draw and enjoying my beer.

Since it was leaking all night it has actually decarbonated quite a bit, so that solved my overcarbing problem.

bernerbrau said:

Spent the last hour banging on the keg rim and twisting the feet with a pair of pliers. It fits a little tighter now, but it's still looser than the other kegs. The gap is more uniform too, but I still don't have a seal.

Click to expand...

You say that the lid is still loose. May I suggest that you try this. Remove the plastic feet on the lid (red in the picture above) and then, using a pair of channel lock pliers, bend the leg toward the center of the lid (that is with the bail open as pictured). You can reposition it to a 90° position relative to bottom face of the lid. This will dramatically increase the lid sealing pressure (tension) when the bail is closed. Be sure to reinstall the plastic feet. As you close the lid bail you should feel strong resistance.

I hope this helps. Please let us know.

Danaldor said:

Can I have you permission to use and duplicate that page please? Very nice walkthrough.

Click to expand...

No problem, you can use it. I figure I put it up on the net for others to see and use.

Thank you very much for asking.

P-J

P-J said:

You say that the lid is still loose. May I suggest that you try this. Remove the plastic feet on the lid (red in the picture above) and then, using a pair of channel lock pliers, bend the leg toward the center of the lid (that is with the bail open as pictured). You can reposition it to a 90° position relative to bottom face of the lid. This will dramatically increase the lid sealing pressure (tension) when the bail is closed. Be sure to reinstall the plastic feet. As you close the lid bail you should feel strong resistance.

I hope this helps. Please let us know.

Click to expand...

I already attempted to bend the legs up with some flat-nose and some locking pliers (don't actually have a channel lock pair but I do live 4 blocks from an Ace Hardware). As I said I got a little bit more tension that way, but I don't have anything good to grip the rest of the bail with and so I can't get much leverage bending them. I slipped and cut myself a few times trying this.

In any case, for now I've been able to seal it under pressure.

bernerbrau said:

I already attempted to bend the legs up with some flat-nose and some locking pliers (don't actually have a channel lock pair but I do live 4 blocks from an Ace Hardware). As I said I got a little bit more tension that way, but I don't have anything good to grip the rest of the bail with and so I can't get much leverage bending them. I slipped and cut myself a few times trying this.

In any case, for now I've been able to seal it under pressure.

Click to expand...

One more option
Change to a fatter O-ring, William's Brewing used to sell them.

Standard on the left



Cheers,
ClaudiusB

Cool, I will look around for fatter o-rings for the lid.

Also, where are you guys getting such pristine, shiny looking keg lids? The ones I got from LHBS and kegconnection were all pretty well-traveled.

Williams brewing does sell the oversize o rings. They are a softer material to seal better. They are $5 I think. to get a new looking lid Use BKF (bar keepers friend) powder to clean stainless and make it look new