Force Carbing: Picnic Tap

[cmsisler]

I am currently force carbing my latest ale and was wondering if the picnic tap can be on while doing this or does it have to be taken off after each time I test the brew for proper carbonation?

 

[Twang]

I would recommend taking it off. I lost 5 gallons a while back from force carbing at 30+ with a picnic tap left on. But, I know people that keep it on and never had a problem.

 

[nickmv]

Just leave it off until dispensing time.

Better safe than sorry. I wouldn't want to leave my beer in the hands (or should i say valves) of a picnic tap while 30 psi is being pushed against it.

 

[audger]

picnic taps, like the name suggests, are meant to be used for a few hours at a time during a party or picnic.

leaving them 24/7 pressurized is just asking to have your keg of beer emptied on the floor. sure, some people do it without problems. but do you want to trust your precious beer to a $3 piece of plastic?

 

[cmsisler]

Thanks for confirming my suspicions and no, I do not want to risk my precious beer to a $3 piece of plastic.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I have used picnic taps for years...force carbed beyond 30 psi without isssues. I have heard of more leaks from corny keg seals than picnic taps...sure they are inexpensive, but very reliable IME... OK, sure if you are all thumbs and don't have the picnic assembled properly, then all bets off...

 

[nickmv]

I have used picnic taps for years...force carbed beyond 30 psi without isssues. I have heard of more leaks from corny keg seals than picnic taps...sure they are inexpensive, but very reliable IME... OK, sure if you are all thumbs and don't have the picnic assembled properly, then all bets off...

Problems or no problems, as mentioned above, trusting a $3 piece of plastic to keep your beer from shooting out at 30psi just seems like a risk you wouldn't want to take.

Not to mention, there's no point in having the tap on there unless you're dispensing, and while force carbing, not much dispensing is going to be happening (unless for some crazy reason you take 30psi draws WHILE carbing).

 

[audger]

I have used picnic taps for years...force carbed beyond 30 psi without isssues. I have heard of more leaks from corny keg seals than picnic taps...sure they are inexpensive, but very reliable IME... OK, sure if you are all thumbs and don't have the picnic assembled properly, then all bets off...

i completely agree that you can sometimes get away with it. i have a few picnic taps that will hold 40psi without any problems. i have others that start to leak above 10psi no matter how hard you tighten the cap. ive had one or two that wont hold any pressure without leaking a little. ive had a few that had sloppy tollerances on the plastic thumb tab which held the sealing plunger off the bottom by an extra 1mm, so i had to file them down to get them to work.

the design of a picnic tap is similar to holding your thumb over the end of a garden hose. the rupper piece is pushed down by a spring against the open end of a tube. when you push the handle, it lifts the rubber stopper off the hole. this design, while being cheap and easy to manufacture, and pretty easy to clean, is not a secure design; the more liquid pressure against it, the easier the valve is to open (as opposed to most beer faucet designs which close tighter as more pressure is applied to them).