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With the excellent post from jseyfert3, hopefully you can see that you have not tried "set and forget". That method assumes you start out with un-carbonated beer (or at least carbonated to a level below your target). On your next brew, look up the recommended pressure from a carbonation chart...

In your original post you said you had it at 40psi for four days (which can over carb it, and you've never mentioned bleeding off any of that excess), and by your account you've had the pressure all over the map since then. That's not intended to sound harsh, just truthful.

Another vote for doing it by weight. I use the same postal scale I use to weigh grain. In addition to my 5gal kegs I have a couple of 3gal. For them I brew a six gallon batch and split between them. To one of the kegs I add a dry hop or fruit.

You may have unknowingly over carbed your beer initially, depending on how long you left it at the higher pressures you mentioned above. If it was over carbed, and you now have it at a lower pressure, as the keg empties the carbonation level will slowly decrease until it reaches the...

I had a leaky connection between the regulator and the tank, and apparently this is fairly common. It didn't show up until I turned the whole shebang on its side so the starsan I was spraying would pool up in the nut, revealing tiny bubbles.

There wasn't quite enough room in my freezer for a fourth keg (a 2nd 2.5gal sitting on the hump), so I built a little extension for it to sit on. Underneath the extension I have a jar filled with Starsan, for holding the temp probe (in a thermowell attached to the lid). I routed my beer lines...

There's nothing terrible about that plan. You will love the convenience of kegging your beer. There are lots of folks that use picnic taps on kegs inside of refrigerators or freezers. There's even an advantage to it. A beer faucet outside the enclosure is warmer, so it causes at least the...

I recommend that you set your regulator for the recommended pressure (based on the temp of the beer), then leave it alone. It'll take about a week to carbonate to a decent level. It will stay carbonated till the keg kicks.

All plastics are not the same. A fermenter molded from PET is much better at blocking oxygen than an HDPE bucket. I've aged in PET fermenters for up to two months with no oxidation problems.

Assuming your kegs get empty in about a month or two (which seems reasonable), I think leaving it in the fermenter will be fine. Some styles (porters, stouts, etc) will probably improve in that time, while other styles (hoppy IPA's, etc.) may degrade a bit. As already mentioned above, you can...

You need to have the CO2 connected for the entire carbonation period.

I don't doubt that a low mass faucet will have less foaming on the initial pour, but to what degree? It would have to be a substantial difference for me to consider changing my faucets. All I've seen so far is marketing hype, with no test results to back up the hype. Like I said, I don't...

I'm going to have to see actual test results before even considering replacing my faucets with low mass versions.

I got my thermowell here.

I went with all new kegs from AIH. They were only $75 each. To me it was well worth it to start out with new kegs. They've given me zero problems.

I just take off the black "beer" quick disconnect fitting and put on a grey "gas" fitting. I have a little pinch clamp on the hose near the fitting, so I can retain the fermentation gas in the hose while the fitting is changed. I use bottled CO2 to purge the fermenter drain hose before I attach...

I sanitize my kegs using about two cups of Starsan, swirling and shaking the keg to make sure all surfaces are wetted. Then I open the top and drain out all of the sanitizer. I use fermentation gas to purge the keg. I find this process to be more efficient and more effective than purging 5gal of...

I think you're over estimating the difficulty. Instead of putting your airlock on top of your fermenter, put a tube going to the beer post of your keg. Put the airlock on the gas post of the keg. Fermentation will fully purge the keg. To transfer, move the tube coming from the fermenter to the...

Closed transfers really do make a difference. I noticed a distinct difference in the longevity of flavors and aromas once I started doing them. There's no way I would go back to open transfers.

In the future you may want to look into using fermentation gas to purge your keg. It works equally well or better than filling the keg with Starsan and purging with bottled CO2. I've done it both ways. I find fermentation gas purging to be simpler, easier, and very effective. Also look into...