Just FYI...Force Carbing w/ Picnic Taps on

[DogFace_Brewing]

So I learned a lesson today....well 2 days in a row actually.

I was force carbing 2 kegs. Had them in the Keezer at 30 PSI and let them sit over night. Woke up to beer all over the Keezer floor!! Cleaned up re checked all seals and carbed for another 24 hours....BEER ON FLOOR AGAIN!!!

Not thinking....the problem was that the force carbing PSI was to high for the picnic taps to handle so they opened up slightly leaking beer out of them.

I have double checked them at normal serving PSI and they are fine, but when you hook them up to a keg at 30 psi, they leak.

Anyone else run into this? I am now force carbing with no taps on until the Perlicks show up!!

 

[a10t2]

I've never seen that. You could have bad or worn faucets, or the regulator could be reading lower than the actual gauge pressure.

 

[chefchris]

yup, it's happened to me twice. If I'm setting the PSI to higher than the serving pressure, I take off the beer out line.

 

[DogFace_Brewing]

yup, it's happened to me twice. If I'm setting the PSI to higher than the serving pressure, I take off the beer out line.

Glad to see I am not the only one who had this happen I know once i get my real faucets I don't have to worry about his anymore. I think Perlicks can handel 30 PSI without opening LOL

 

[DirtBagRob]

I was sanitizing my first keg in the kitchen because I didn't have any faucets on my kegerator yet. I hooked up co2 and a picnic faucet to run a little sanitizer through the dip tube and post. As soon as I turned the co2 past 20 psi the pinic faucet started leaking. I lowered the pressure below, 20 and the leak stopped. Good lesson learned accidentally.

 

[chefchris]

Glad to see I am not the only one who had this happen I know once i get my real faucets I don't have to worry about his anymore. I think Perlicks can handel 30 PSI without opening LOL

I have the perlicks, it leaked from the beer out posts. I've had them lead from the line, too. I went to the set it and forget it method as it's not worth losing beer over.

 

[fxdude]

Have set mine to 30psi with no problems on the perlick faucet. Good to know about the picnic faucet, thanks for the warning.

 

[david_42]

I've got a old party tap on my soda water holding 40 psi. On the other keg, the new party tap I put on the porter leaks at 5 psi! Either way, I don't put a tap on until the keg is carbonated.

Note: this is at my second house up in Oak Grove. Haven't build a kegger for here yet, too busy with home repairs.

 

[FenderSteve]

My first keg leaked everywhere because the picnic tap couldn't handle anything near 30 psi. Good to know it wasn't just me!

And goodbye picnic tap!

 

[MrFoodScientist]

I've been doing some tests on soda and force carbing at 50psi with the picnic tap on (I can't seem to get them on after pressurizing, so taps on first, then pressurize).

No leaks yet after 2 weeks at 50 psi.

This is good to know, though, in case that tap starts to leak. If people are having trouble at 30, I wonder how long mine will hold at 50.

 

[DogFace_Brewing]

I think some will leak at higher pressure and some will not. All depends on quality of the picnic tap. Just wish mine didn't leak at 20+ psi but no worries...taps off until serving time that's all

 

[kellynm]

I'm getting ready to keg my first batch using a sanke coupler w/ picnic faucet. I am trying to find out what size the nut is for the beer line connecting to the tap, so I can just isolate the beer out all together. Would that work and does anyone know what size swagelock fits? Thanks all!

Update: Looks like I found it!
Beer Port 7/8"-14 Thread (U.S. Beer Industry Standard)

from
http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/keg-taps-couplers-pid-7485E.html

Update 2: This is exactly what I need!!!

http://www.kegworks.com/product.php?productid=16760&source=nextopia

 

[Thefloyd1970]

Mine leaks at 30psi too.

 

[shortyjacobs]

Picnic taps are negative seals. The plunger works AGAINST the beer pressure to stay shut. This means if you have a crappy spring in your picnic tap, one that isn't strong enough, the tap will open like an emergency relief valve on a water heater or keg or regulator.

Perlicks are positive seals. The more pressure in the keg, the more the plunger is pushed against the gasket. This means, theoretically, the higher the pressure, the more firmly the Perlick will seal.

Crappy news about lost beer though .

 

[Aunt_Ester]

Picnic taps are negative seals. The plunger works AGAINST the beer pressure to stay shut. This means if you have a crappy spring in your picnic tap, one that isn't strong enough, the tap will open like an emergency relief valve on a water heater or keg or regulator.

Perlicks are positive seals. The more pressure in the keg, the more the plunger is pushed against the gasket. This means, theoretically, the higher the pressure, the more firmly the Perlick will seal.

Crappy news about lost beer though .

I wish I had known. My entire set up is brand new. I have 5 feet of in/out lines each on my 3 gallon keg and the picnic tap leaks at 10psi. I can't leave the tap on the keg

 

[Burgs]

Perlicks will leak really, really easily if you forget to tighten them after cleaning... I learned that this weekend. Hooked the connection to the keg and beer shot through the holes in the faucet ring... all over the collar... dripped down into the keezer. Was awesome.

 

[Aunt_Ester]

I learned from the following thread that the screw top was a half turn loose.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/picnic-tap-issue-new-kegging-253944/index2.html

 

[BasementBrewmistress]

Thanks for sharing. Haven't had this happen w/ the picnic taps, but better safe than sorry...will remove them for future force carbing.