Can't find the leak

[OkanaganMike]

I'm brand new to kegging and kegged my first 2 batches yesterday. I put them at 30 psi for the first day or so and have checked all connections with soapy water. Had a leak coming out of the valve directly below the regulator so I removed it as I'm using a manifold.

Before I go further here's a run down of my system.
20lb CO2, single regulator with dual gauges, plumbed into a 4 way manifold and all lines plumbed for kegs with 4 gas in QD but only have 2 kegs hooked up.

The second gauge shows the amt left in the kegs and it seems to have dropped about 100psi overnight. Like I said I soaped the heck out of all connections again this morning and there's no sign of a leak. Could it be coming out of the reg somehow?

 

[fun4stuff]

I'm brand new to kegging and kegged my first 2 batches yesterday. I put them at 30 psi for the first day or so and have checked all connections with soapy water. Had a leak coming out of the valve directly below the regulator so I removed it as I'm using a manifold.

Before I go further here's a run down of my system.
20lb CO2, single regulator with dual gauges, plumbed into a 4 way manifold and all lines plumbed for kegs with 4 gas in QD but only have 2 kegs hooked up.

The second gauge shows the amt left in the kegs and it seems to have dropped about 100psi overnight. Like I said I soaped the heck out of all connections again this morning and there's no sign of a leak. Could it be coming out of the reg somehow?

The gauge indicating amount left in keg is not accurate. The best you can use it for is binary- is tank empty or not empty. You may not have a leak. One thing you can do is weigh your gas tank to see how much gas your losing. You can expect lose a bit of co2 though particularly in the beginning as co2 dissolves into kegs. It'll go down slower after they're carb'd.

 

[OkanaganMike]

The gauge indicating amount left in keg is not accurate. The best you can use it for is binary- is tank empty or not empty. You may not have a leak. One thing you can do is weigh your gas tank to see how much gas your losing. You can expect lose a bit of co2 though particularly in the beginning as co2 dissolves into kegs. It'll go down slower after they're carb'd.

Sort of what I was thinking and why I threw it out there. I noticed when I connected it all up the other day for cleaning and a dummy run that I've got some learning on the pressure etc and how it works. Good idea about weigh the canister. Running down to do it now and see what happens during the day. I just hope I don't piss away a hole 20lb'er on the first day.

 

[fun4stuff]

Sort of what I was thinking and why I threw it out there. I noticed when I connected it all up the other day for cleaning and a dummy run that I've got some learning on the pressure etc and how it works. Good idea about weigh the canister. Running down to do it now and see what happens during the day. I just hope I don't piss away a hole 20lb'er on the first day.

Some tanks have stamped on them how much they should weigh empty. Or you could try and google to see how much a typical 20 lb tank should weigh empty. Then the difference should be your amount of CO2- close to 20 lbs. If it is really low, say 10-15 lbs, then you definitely have a leak. Or you can keep track of the weight over the next few hours. I'm loosely basing this on the fact that my 5 lbs tank lasts me several kegs (guessing 4-8 depending on how many vol CO2 I carb to). So that 20 lb tank should barely decrease with carb'ing only 2 kegs.

 

[stlblues5010]

Something you could try: would be to disconnect your gas in QD's, shut off your tank, and let it sit overnight. If your pressure drops off then you have a leak in your system, if it doesn't drop but you are loosing it when connected, it could be a keg.
If it's in the system you can isolate it by shutting off the tank and dialing your regulator back to 0 and see if your bottle pressure gauge loses pressure, if so it's between the bottle and regulator. If not it's between the regulator and QD's.
To test your kegs: If you know you have good carbonation of your beer (not absorbing anymore). Disconnect your keg let it sit and either pull the pressure relief valve or press the "IN"* post on the keg and see if you still have pressure.
Did you use teflon tape on all the connections? Is the round seal between the regulator and bottle good? Not cracked from over tightening it.

*personal experience pressing out post makes a BIG mess.

 

[Osborne]

I had a leak issue a little bit ago, I got so frustrated brushing soap and spraying StarSan without any results I almost threw in the towel and called it quits.

Thanks to everyone on the forum I was able to solve it easily. Here's what you need to do:

Get a Rubbermaid container, open all valves and crank it to 40 PSI. Fill the Rubbermaid container with water and dunk your entire system. Make sure not to get the regulator wet!!! I was able to find and fix the leaks instantly that had been giving me trouble for a couple months.

Edit. If you wanna trouble shoot the regulator close all valves that leave the regulator to go to the rest of the system, and crank the PSI to 40, and close the valve on your CO2 tank. If there is loss of pressure than its a leak in your regulator.

 

[OkanaganMike]

Thanks guys, thats some great advice! I think fun4stuff nailed my worries by having me weigh it out. Grab the low hanging fruit first and start with the easiest.
It weighed 45lbs this morning with the regulator, QD, and what ever little bit of hose influenced it on the scale. Just weighed it again now and its still at 45lbs after sitting all day at 30psi. I've dialed it down to 12 psi, purged and think he's right about the secondary not being much good for anything. (If thats what he said,not sure what binary is )

I used teflon on everything except the the main connection to the tank itself. I really like your isolation suggestions as well as the dunk and see what bubbles test.

 

[user 4295]

The reason the tank gauge is not an accurate indicator of how much CO2 you have left in the tank is due to the fact that when CO2 is pressurized it exists in a liquid/vapor state. CO2 in a liquid/vapor state has a direct pressure/temperature relationship. The pressure on the tank gauge will remain exactly the same, at a given temperature, until all the liquid has been vaporized. Once only vapor exists, the pressure in the tank will drop rapidly with use. You can see on this chart why the pressure in the CO2 tank drops when you put it in the fridge.

As was already stated, the only way to know how much CO2 is left in the tank is to weigh it, subtract the Tare weight, which is stamped on it somewhere, and the difference is how much CO2 is left.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1458535745.467980.jpg

 

[OkanaganMike]

The reason the tank gauge is not an accurate indicator of how much CO2 you have left in the tank is due to the fact that when CO2 is pressurized it exists in a liquid/vapor state. CO2 in a liquid/vapor state has a direct pressure/temperature relationship. The pressure on the tank gauge will remain exactly the same, at a given temperature, until all the liquid has been vaporized. Once only vapor exists, the pressure in the tank will drop rapidly with use. You can see on this chart why the pressure in the CO2 tank drops when you put it in the fridge.

As was already stated, the only way to know how much CO2 is left in the tank is to weigh it, subtract the Tare weight, which is stamped on it somewhere, and the difference is how much CO2 is left.

View attachment 345860

Makes sense as it was in the fridge when I started to become alarmed at the quick drop.