co2 on or off

[smitty8202]

so i legged my second beer. put it in the keg last night put about 20 seconds of 30 psi on it purged it did it again and set to 30 psi for 24 hours. purged it and set it to 8 psi. so my question is once the pressure is on the keg do you turn the tank off or leave it on or does it even matter. i have a bavarian here in the keg.

 

[chawn]

I would keep the pressure on unless you are convinced that it's fully carbed.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

I have 5-10 kegs on gas at any given time. I just leave the bottle on. If your system is leak free then there is no problem with leaving it on all the time.

 

[djonesax]

I usually put my new kegs on 30 PSI for 2-3 days until it is close to the carb level I want, judging by taste. I don't shake it for no reason other than its a PITA. Then I bleed the pressure off and back it down to serving PSI. I leave my tank on, but I am also confident that I don't have any leaks.

 

[wilserbrewer]

IME, warm beer into the kegerator will take slightly over 36 hours at 30 psi to carb. Your serving pressure of 8 psi seems on the low side to me, especially if the beer is on the flat side.

Gas valve should be left on...unless you suspect a leak in the system. Gas valve should also be ALL the way on to a firm lock in the on position, otherwise you are relying on the valve stem seal and not the main seal in the valve. I recently learned that protocol for gas valves is either all the way on, or all the way off, not just open partially.

 

[gnef]

In my opinion, the wisest method is to keep the tank off while you are not there, and disconnect the gas lines. I had a number of setups that were leak free for 1-2 years, and then developed leaks. The only way I found out was an empty CO2 tank.

Now I don't trust any gas setup, and I only have kegs on the gas when I am there, and then I disconnect everything and turn off the tank valve.

If you are in a rush to get this carbonated, that is a different story, and I usually do the shake method (set pressure for proper volumes at the beer temp, put keg on it side, stand on it and roll it back and forth), then it goes into the walk-in.

If you have time, just regass it in the morning and in the evening until it equalizes at the volumes you desire.

 

[wilserbrewer]

In my opinion, the wisest method is to keep the tank off while you are not there, and disconnect the gas lines. I had a number of setups that were leak free for 1-2 years, and then developed leaks. The only way I found out was an empty CO2 tank.

Now I don't trust any gas setup, and I only have kegs on the gas when I am there, and then I disconnect everything and turn off the tank valve.
.

I think I'd spend half my life reconnecting my gas lines and turning the gas back on if I removed the lines and shut the gas off every-time I wasn't there.

Not a fan of shaking kegs either, but different strokes I guess.
Happy kegging!

 

[wardens355]

If you plan to drink the beer now, leave the CO2 connected so it doesn't start losing carbonation once you start putting a dent in it.

 

[JustLooking]

In my opinion, the wisest method is to keep the tank off while you are not there, and disconnect the gas lines.

Kind of like unplugging all the lights in your house and taking out the bulbs cause your house might burn down if there's a short.

 

[gnef]

Well, I guess I should say my setup is probably different than almost all of you. I have 14 taps, two 50# CO2 tanks, and five 20# tanks. I keep the 50s on the walk-in, and I do not want to refill that one due to leaks. The current on I have been using for around 9 years now (yes, well past the hydro, so I will need to get it retested when it needs to be refilled). Because I serve 14, I don't keep the gas connected anyway because a manifold that large is prohibitively expensive.

I also have around 5-6 primary regulators, and multiple secondaries, and a couple of manifolds. With that many fittings, I know I've got leaks. When my setup was smaller, with just a single regulator and manifold, I found all leaks and sealed them up, only to find a leak about a year or two later. Now with so many, I don't have the energy to find all the leaks, so I know I've got leaks. It doesn't matter to me though, because I don't keep the gas on.

The biggest thing I am trying to convey is, a leak only matters if the tank is on. If the tank is off, a big leak will be obvious and easy to fix, and a slow leak won't matter at all. So I prefer to play it safe and turn off the tank, and that is what I recommend to everyone. I know way too many brewers here on this forum and others, as well as in the club that have lost tanks due to leaks because they kept the gas on. If you never want to lose a tank to a leak, don't leave the tank on.

 

[mikescooling]

I used to have corny kegs too, and they leaked sometimes. They have 3 poppets and 12 O-rings. I've not had a leak with sanke kegs, they are tanks. I do leave my gas on to all hooked up couplers.

 

[wardens355]

The biggest thing I am trying to convey is, a leak only matters if the tank is on. If the tank is off, a big leak will be obvious and easy to fix, and a slow leak won't matter at all. So I prefer to play it safe and turn off the tank, and that is what I recommend to everyone. I know way too many brewers here on this forum and others, as well as in the club that have lost tanks due to leaks because they kept the gas on. If you never want to lose a tank to a leak, don't leave the tank on.

I think the lesson should be leak test your gear before you use it, then you don't have to worry about this. If you have leaks, you are still going to lose gas while you are actively carbonating. And the leak does matter if it isn't between the disconnect and cylinder, but at the keg itself, as you will never be able to carbonate properly. It really isn't that difficult to diagnose a leak, rectify it, and then not have to worry about always opening and closing your cylinder valve to carbonate/repressurize.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Kind of like unplugging all the lights in your house and taking out the bulbs cause your house might burn down if there's a short.

When I leave my house for the day I hit the main disconnect in the panel. When I leave for vacation I have the power co turn off the power at the transformer.






NOT!!

Take some time up front and keep the system maintained. You clean your fermenter before you santize but can't track a small co2 leak?

 

[Natdavis777]

I always leave the gas on and I typically run 3 kegs at the same time.

 

[crane]

I think the lesson should be leak test your gear before you use it, then you don't have to worry about this. If you have leaks, you are still going to lose gas while you are actively carbonating. And the leak does matter if it isn't between the disconnect and cylinder, but at the keg itself, as you will never be able to carbonate properly. It really isn't that difficult to diagnose a leak, rectify it, and then not have to worry about always opening and closing your cylinder valve to carbonate/repressurize.

+1. A spray bottle of star san is great for detecting leaks. After loosing 2 tanks of CO2 I started checking every keg when I initially seal and purge it, as well as each time I connect one to serve it. I've found and fixed a number of leaks this way and haven't blown threw anymore tanks of CO2.

Fix the root cause of the problem instead of putting a bandaid on it.

 

[gnef]

Yes, if your keg leaks, you definitely need to fix that.

All I am saying is you should never lose a tank of CO2. The only way to ensure that is to turn off the tank valve when you aren't using it.

Yes, having a leak free system would be great, but when you have as much equipment as I do, it isn't worth my time to find it, especially when leaks seem to appear again later on (especially with how much equipment I have).

If you are ok with losing a tank, then we just have different priorities. These are lessons I've learned from experience, and from observation. You are welcome to take the advice or not, especially if you have a more limited setup that is simpler to control. I have just under 100 kegs, so there are things that I have to do to make things practical that most other don't have to worry about.

 

[smitty8202]

Great input guys thanks for the advice.