Keg lid not sealing @ low psi...

[PistolaPete]

I have noticed my corny keg lids sometimes start to leak gas at lower a psi. This usually happens when I am about to fill bottles from a keg and have turned down the psi to about 2-4. Any ideas of why this is happening and what to do about it?

 

[prandlesc]

You might try replacing the ring/gasket. Old gaskets harden and it may keep them from sealing. Using a keg lube on them also helps in sealing and conditioning the gasket, making it last longer.

 

[vinylrooster]

I have noticed my corny keg lids sometimes start to leak gas at lower a psi. This usually happens when I am about to fill bottles from a keg and have turned down the psi to about 2-4. Any ideas of why this is happening and what to do about it?

Not sure there is much you can do about it. It's simply a matter of the force being applied to the large o-ring that makes the seal for the lid. Obviously, higher pressure will cause a tighter seal. I wouldn't worry too much about the minor leaks while you are filling bottles, just remember to turn the psi back up after you are done filling to get a good seal.

Also, it never hurts to throw a new o ring on the lid to see if you can get a better seal.

 

[gdbrewer]

Just adding to the previous comments, when you first keg your beer, hit it with about 30-35 psi of co2. That will seat the lid. Then you can purge and the lid should stay seated.

New gaskets and lube won't hurt either.

Edit: I say "should", but not guaranteed!

 

[Tangelo]

Funny, I have the opposite problem with a couple my kegs. They won't hold high pressure. They always leak to ~4 psi. Dispute my best lube efforts, same result. Frustrating.

 

[vinylrooster]

Funny, I have the opposite problem with a couple my kegs. They won't hold high pressure. They always leak to ~4 psi. Dispute my best lube efforts, same result. Frustrating.

Tangelo, I think your problem might be more of a conventional leak while the original poster's problem was an issue with not seating the o-ring properly. anyway, if I were you, I would do one of two things:

(1) Fill a spray bottle with starsan (or dilute dishwashing soap--anything that will bubble). Then charge up your EMPTY keg to 30-40 psi and spray down all of the areas that could potentially leak. Look for bubbles and figure out where your leak is coming from. If this doesn't work, try this:

(2) Fill your bathtub with normal water. Charge your empty keg up to 30-40 psi and submerge the entire keg in your bathtub. Look for bubbles and find the source of your leaks.

Good luck!

 

[stpug]

I have one keg (out of 9) that is a pest at serving pressure. It wants to leak around the lid seal. I've actually found that no keg lube works best on this keg; plus some playing with the lid when under pressure. I've wiped down all parts of the lid seal to remove lube (lid, o-ring, keg). Then set the lid manually (afix lid, lift up on pressure clamp to really get it in place), making sure to also really get it centered in it's spot. Then hit it with 20psi to set the lid; small vent of pressure; put on serving pressure. I then have to give a little side-to-side and/or front-to-back pressure on the manual vent post until I can hear/see the leak stop. It's not perfect but it works for me.

I've determined that this particular keg is not "flat" around the lid. I can see that there's a subtle hump in two corners. The next time it's empty I'll be taking some wood and a hammer to see if I can get it to lay a little flatter.

 

[terrapinj]

these replacement seals are (o)(o) - had the same issue with a few of my kegs and have since replaced the seals with these larger, softer ones

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/KEG-LID-SEALING-O-RING-P58.aspx

 

[Stealthcruiser]

For that particular keg, try putting a nickel under the feet of the bail, ( the doohickey that forces the keg lid up), or a thinner coin if needed, to see if it helps at lower pressures.

 

[JuanMoore]

A lot of people just learn the idiosyncrasies of each keg in their fleet, and treat it accordingly. I went the opposite route and tinkered with each of my kegs until they all sealed well under any condition. I've found that it boils down to three issues.

1) The o-ring needs to be in good condition, and lube can also help.

2) Making sure there aren't any dents, warps, or nicks in the metal of either the keg or the lid where they mate with the o-ring is important. Not much you can do about deep scratches and nicks, but wet sanding with very fine sandpaper can take the sharp edges off of smaller scratches. Warping or dents can often be remedied with a mallet and/or channel lock pliers and a piece of thick leather to protect the metal.

3) Many of the older kegs have significant splay in the bail feet, and using some vice grips to bend them back so that they exert more upward force on the lid can help a lot. Same result as the coin under the foot trick, but permanent and doesn't require fiddling with coins every time you open or close the lid.

 

[PistolaPete]

For that particular keg, try putting a nickel under the feet of the bail, ( the doohickey that forces the keg lid up), or a thinner coin if needed, to see if it helps at lower pressures.

This seems like a good idea I can try for now. The O rings are brand new and I have noticed when I am trying to seat the lid under pressure I have to wiggle the lid around quite a bit until it seals good. Besides trying some keg lube or those other softer type of rings I'm sure what else I could do. If the keg can't hold even a low pressure then I can't fill any bottles using Biermuncher's technique!

This also worries me because I lager in my kegs and usually only initially hit them with gas to purge oxygen and seat the lid. I then take the keg off the gas to make room in the kegerator. I would assume that little bit of CO2 will eventually be absorbed into the lagering beer causing the psi to drop again and the lid to start leaking again.

 

[PistolaPete]

Update: I didn't have good luck with the coin trick, I couldn't get them to stay put when clamping down the lid. I just added some keg lube to the o-ring and just moved around until it seemed to seal better. I got it to seal good enough to fill some bottles. But now I'm scared to lager in the keg without it being hooked up to gas constantly.

 

[odie]

I’m having issues too. Im finding many times i bleed the keg down to fill bottles and at low psi they start leaking. Probably the big oring but “feels” like the relief valve. Really annoying

 

[day_trippr]

This might help with balky kegs/lids...

https://www.williamsbrewing.com/Oversize-Keg-Lid-Sealing-O-Ring-P58.aspx

Cheers!

 

[odie]

Well that looks interesting

 

[milldoggy]

I use a penny or dime and close the handle with them under the lever feet. Little tricky to do, but seals my leaky kegs

 

[bracconiere]

I’m having issues too. Im finding many times i bleed the keg down to fill bottles and at low psi they start leaking. Probably the big oring but “feels” like the relief valve. Really annoying

don't relieve pressure....fill the bottles with counter pressure....

i use a rubber stopper and tubbing...

(and, 2013?)

 

[odie]

I saw the penny thing. Also bending the arms on the lid clamp but how do you really know if those arms are slightly flattened from years of use?

2013? Yeah but it’s still relevant...lol

 

[day_trippr]

Well, you don't really know, I suppose, without having an engineering diagram and a micrometer.

That said, the latching mechanism is quite simple and unless the lid or keg opening was deformed the only things lefts are the keg legs and the plastic feet. I don't think even a 50 year old keg (of which I believe I have a few) would have ovaled the pivot holes that the latch handle rides in, and when you observe the latch in action there's significant force on those legs...

Cheers!