Need Keg Help!

[n8r1]

Hi all,

Like the title says, I need help on my kegs. I'm still fairly new at this.

Here's my setup: I have 2 Ball Lock kegs, and a CO2 tank with a splitter running gas into both. Up until a couple weeks ago everything was running great.

For simplicity sake, let's call Keg #1 Porter, and Keg #2 IPA.

The Porter is pouring great. No issues.

The IPA stopped pouring beer a couple of weeks ago. Just a small drip out of the tap.

Through the process of elimination (switching CO2 lines and taps between the two kegs) I am pretty sure that there is something wrong with the CO2 input valve on the IPA keg. No matter what CO2 line or tap line I put on it, the Porter is pouring fine, and no matter what I do with the IPA, nothing is coming out.

I just finished the Porter keg and it's empty. The IPA is 3/4ths of the way full of flat beer right now. It's still being kept chilled in the refrigerator.

Here's my question: can I siphon the flat IPA into the empty keg and re-carbonate it, then go and fix the problem on the faulty keg?

Or is beer that was once carbonated and since gone flat a goner? I would hate to pour out nearly 4 gallons of good IPA.

Also, does anybody have any experience on what might be wrong with the "In" valve on the keg?

I figured out that the "Out" valve is clear and good in the IPA keg because I ran the CO2 line into it and it was bubbling inside the keg, so the gas is getting through. So I'm pretty sure it has to be the "In" valve.

Thanks!

 

[pvpeacock]

Can you hear gas going into the keg when it is hooked up and you purge the headspace? If so, it is not a gas problem. If the keg doesn't re-pressurize when it is hooked up to gas and you purge it, then something is wrong with the gas side of things.

If it is not the gas, it is most likely debris in the beer out poppet or a clogged beer out dip tube. This is not uncommon for IPA's if any hops got into the keg. Disconnect the keg, purge the CO2 and take the beer out post off to see if the poppet or dip tube is clogged. If so, clean out the debris/clog and reconnect it. You may have cut your dip tube shorter or, better yet, buy a floating dip tube to prevent this problem going foward.

 

[n8r1]

Definitely not the gas. When I de-pressurized, no gas was going in, which leads me to believe that something is clogged in the "In" valve.

The "Out" post is not clogged. Just to check, I attached the CO2 line to the "Out" valve and ran gas into the keg, and it bubbled, so I'm pretty sure nothing is wrong there.

Like I mentioned before, could I transfer the flat IPA to my other empty keg and re-carbonate it? Then I can fix whatever is wrong with the full keg more easily without having to worry about contamination.

 

[pvpeacock]

I would try to avoid transferring if possible to avoid oxidation. If you take the gas disconnect off of the keg and push the plastic pin inside the disconnect with your finger, do you hear gas come out? If yes, then there is something wrong with gas in connection between the post and disconnect. Maybe the spring in the post is too tight. Maybe the plastic post inside the disconnect is not strong enough or is too short. Try swapping disconnects. Also, if the post has a universal spring, try cutting it a little shorter.