Abandon Keg?

[pbarning]

I kegged for the first time tonight. Went nuts with sanitizing, replaced all o-rings, etc. I pressurized the keg and went to put it in the fridge. This is when I noticed that the "out" peg wasn't screwed on all of the way.

I pulled out my wrench and began to screw it on further, but it will not screw on tightly. I am concerned that maybe the stem is not sitting all of the way on the bottom of the keg and that, since it is not completely screwed on, that liquid will at some point start to leak out. I did quickly remove the peg and it does appear that the stem is snugly fit.

There is currently continuous pressure on the keg without a liquid leak of any sort. Should I do anything? I could unscrew the peg and pull out the stem to reset it, but would rather avoid this as it could do more harm than good if I have nothing to worry about in the first place. Please help alleviate my paranoia. Thanks.

 

[BargainFittings]

Some keg post will have a gap under them. Will the post tighten down?

Compare it to the gas post. If it will seat down almost flush then you are probably right and have the dip tube sticking up some

 

[pbarning]

The gas post is fully seated. Think I should reset the stem?

 

[Scut_Monkey]

Try taking the dip tube out and see if it will thread on fully. If not than either the post or the threads or wrong. If it threads on just fine than the dip tube is up to high as already mentioned.

 

[pbarning]

Thanks for the responses. I do know that the post will sit lower.

My main concern is removing the dip tube while the keg is full. It would be a drag to lose a batch to an infection after getting it this far, especially considering that I would also have to reset the dip tube.

I will take another look and reassess. I guess I am weighing two options:

1. Do I reset the dip tube, risking infection, in effort to avoid the possibility of having the batch leak out?

... or...

2. Do I go with the notion that since it is currently not leaking while under pressure, then it is screwed on enough to avoid the potentially harmful task of completely seating the post?

Again, I appreciate the responses. What seems the most odd to me is that the post will now just spin when I try to screw it on further, which doesn't make sense.

 

[BargainFittings]

Just wash your hands well or wear some gloves and sanitize them before you handle the tube.

I have actually pulled dip tubes completely out and put them back in on carbed kegs due to a stoppage when dry hopping and had no issues.

Just vent the keg well and leave the pressure relief valve open while you adjust the tube.

 

[IrregularPulse]

ditto to removing the dip tube. It's not a big deal. You're less likely to get an infection post fermentation. I just spray starsan down through the dip tub to fill it up and slosh it back and forth a bit, then spray the outside real good and slide it back down in the keg.

 

[BuonAnno]

Just to add to the encouragment I pulled my dip tube last night on a keg that had gotten clogged with hops (from dry hopping) and I do not see any issues at all with this. As others have said, just wash your hands and right before you put it back in spray it down with some One Step. Oh and if you have in in the fridge/keezer than the chance of infection is minimal due to the temp.

It sure beats opening up your fridge and finding a sticky mess from a leaking post (which I have had happen and it is not fun).

 

[pbarning]

So I got home, made an Iodophor solution and started my dissection. I removed the dip tube and confirmed that the post will thread down snugly. After this discovery I cleaned the dip tube and set it back into the keg. It sits upon the post with the only displacement being from the o-ring. Again, I screwed the peg onto the post and it still continues to not screw on all of the way. It does screw on, but just not down as far as when the dip tube and o-ring are removed. If the keg were empty I would reach in and pull down on the dip tube and screw the peg on. As it is now I suppose that I will have to rely on the fact that it is not and has not leaked when pressurized.

 

[samc]

Possibly have the wrong o-ring on the tube? Some dip tubes have little bumps on them to fit into notches on the keg post, if not seating in the notch it will not sit in correctly. Could also be some damaged threads or a parts mix up from a different style of keg.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

I don't think it necessarily has to thread all the way down until you can no longer turn the post. You rely on the compression of the diptube o-ring and poppet to make the 2 seals and not the threads of the post. As long as it's air tight and the post dosen't twist around with anything but a wrench you are golden.