do i have a co2 leak

Long time bottler, first time kegger

I kegged last night. I have a 20lb tank. Set it to 30 psi and put it in the fridge.

12 hrs later i checked on it and noticed the high pressure gauge (this is the one that tells me how much gas is in the tank, right?) has gone from 800- 500 overnight.

This seems like a lot to drop in 12 hrs. I checked for leaks twice now with a spray bottle of star san and cant find any on the lid, disconnect on keg and connections on regulator.

Do I have a leak? Or is it normal to drop that much?

The pressure will drop when the bottle is cooled in the frig. You still have the same amount of CO2. It just shows a lower pressure from the cold.

phew! Thanks for the quick response.

Ya, that high pressure gauge is pretty useless. Its the move to the cold that caused the pressure drop, as long as it stays cold it should stay pretty consistent. It won't really go down again until you have hardly any CO2 left.

Why do they even put those gauges on regulators? Just gets in the way, IMHO.

Does anyone sell a cap with which to replace the gauge?

Franc103 said:

Why do they even put those gauges on regulators? Just gets in the way, IMHO.

Does anyone sell a cap with which to replace the gauge?

Click to expand...

They are useful if you use them correctly. It simply reads the pressure in the tank. If you put it in the fridge it will obviously drop, pv=nrt. If you keep the tank at approximately the same temp (either in the fridge or out, not switching) it does give you an idea of approximately how much gas is left.

If you want to pay money remove functionality, the ports on the regulator are 1/4" npt, so you just need a 1/4" npt plug. Your high pressure side may be left hand thread.