Slow Leak Before My First Keg

Allright, I bought a keg at my homebrew shop. It was pressurized when I got it home so I assume that everything was allright. I broke it down and cleaned everything and replaced all o-rings except the poppits which I didn't buy replacements for, they look real good anyway. They all have been lubed and my system appears to hold visible pressure (water bath tested). I have a five lb. bottle with 5/16" line running to a grey ball lock connector. I also have a black ball lock running to my tap and I could run sanitizer through my system no problem.

My problem is I have charged to 30lbs. turn off the bottle and wait. The high pressure gauge holds for 10 minutes or so and then drops to zero. I have the 12 point star post on the line in. My line pressure held for a while but when I got up this morning it had dropped to 12lbs. Is this an acceptable loss rate? I'm going to keg a spruce porter tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks for your help,
Pirate

No, you'll go through 5 lbs in less than a week. Time to get out the soap.

Stupid question but I got to ask.....you got beer in the keg??? If not, tighten the regulator nut going to the CO2 tank and/or check that gasket between the 2 of them. Should be a pretty good size piece of rubber with a small hole in the middle.
That gas flows cold, and when it hits the metal, it shrinks just enough to leak a little. Torque down all your hose clamps. If you don't use them, get some.

Nope, no beer in the keg yet. I'm just testing before I keg so I don't run into problems then. I can unhook the ball lock from the keg and the line holds just fine so I know that the problem has to be beyond that. The keg doesn't seem to be leaking, (water bath test).

What is the probability that it is leaking at the union of the ball lock and the post? This would eliminate the poppet as a source of the leak. The O-ring on the outside of the post doesn't appear to protrude much beyond the profile of the post. Could this be the cause of my leak?

You got me, but if you've successfully tested everything else and they hold up fine, it would really be the only place it could be leaking from, save the lid. But you said you tested it and no leaks.

You could always fill up a tub of water and submerge it. You should be able to find the problem pretty quickly

Allright, has anyone else experienced this? My leak is coming from the post. But not from the poppet or the inside O-ring. It's coming through the post itself. There are several cracks in the sidewall and top of the post that I simply cannot see with the naked eye. I put it in a bath again and took a closer look and there were bubbles coming directly from the side of the post. So now I have to get more parts before I can keg. I guess my porter can age some more while I wait on shipping.

I ran to my LHBS to get a new post for my keg, while I was there he has some other Cornies sitting there and he was selling them for 25 a piece. Some were missing some orings but they all looked good except for the syrup in the bottom of them. I ended up getting the three of them for 50 bucks. I'm happy, I have my first keg on tap and I scored three more kegs for a killer price. I also brewed my first wit last night.

Life is good,