Am i losing co2 ?

[jrc64]

OK, keeged pumpkin ale today. burped and sealed keg. Sprayed starn san to check for bubbles. All good. Into the fridge went keg and co2 tank. It has been in fridge for around 3 hours. Just went down to put soemthing in fridge and the indicator that show how much co2 is left in the co2 tank has dropped quite a bit! Pressure still holding at 10psi, but the amount of co2 in the tank has dropped from the green full zone of 60 to the green full zone of around 45.

I'm worried co2 is escaping rapidly somewhere. PLEASE HELP!

 

[JoelMIBrewer]

If your co2 was outside before at room temp it will read higher than in the fridge.

 

[jbaysurfer]

That gauge isn't all that useful. It measures temperature better then how much CO2 is in your tank. I generally get my regulators without that gauge if possible, one less thing to break that way.

 

[jrc64]

That gauge isn't all that useful. It measures temperature better then how much CO2 is in your tank. I generally get my regulators without that gauge if possible, one less thing to break that way.

So, you think my co2 level is fine despite the gauge shower a lower tank capacity since being in the fridge?

 

[JoelMIBrewer]

They fill them by weight so the gauge is not a very good measure of how much is in the tank

 

[freisste]

Ideal gas law:

PV=nRT

Volume (V) is constant because your CO2 tank doesn't change dimension.
R is also a constant (ideal gas constant).

Ignoring constants, you have

P=nT

So pressure going down means you have a leak OR your temp changed.

You are right to look for leaks. They happen. But your pressure gauge will always read lower when you cool it.

 

[helibrewer]

OK, keeged pumpkin ale today. burped and sealed keg. Sprayed starn san to check for bubbles. All good. Into the fridge went keg and co2 tank. It has been in fridge for around 3 hours. Just went down to put soemthing in fridge and the indicator that show how much co2 is left in the co2 tank has dropped quite a bit! Pressure still holding at 10psi, but the amount of co2 in the tank has dropped from the green full zone of 60 to the green full zone of around 45.

I'm worried co2 is escaping rapidly somewhere. PLEASE HELP!

Your tank will have a tare weight stamped on it. Anything in excess of that is and the regulator weight is CO2....that is really the only way to monitor how much CO2 you have. The high pressure gauge will drop quite rapidly once you have only CO2 gas in the tank (no liquid = pretty darn low).

 

[nzbrew]

Pressure drops with temperature, so if you sprayed and had no leaks then you are fine. My tank is not in the kegerator, and goes up and down quite a bit depending on ambient temperature.

I have a cheap set of digital bathroom scales and weigh the tank every week or two. That's the only way to keep an eye on how much you are using.

 

[pat1268]

I just started legging and have my tank in fridge . It does the same thing you are ok. I read a blog on this site that stated that you should expect a change in pressure while tank is in fridge


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[chocotaco]

CO2 tank. Combination of liquid CO2 and gas. The pressure of the gas keeps the liquid part liquid.

When the pressure of the gas part drops, more of the liquid part becomes gas and brings the pressure back up.

Thus the pressure of the tank is stable as long as there is liquid CO2.

When the temperature drops, the pressure required to keep liquid CO2 liquid drops as well.

So when the tank is full, the high pressure gauge reading depends ONLY on the temperature of the tank and its contents. What you've seen is the expected behavior of a full tank when it gets colder.

In other words, when you put the tank in the fridge the output pressure of the tank drops, to around 400-500 PSI rather than 800-1000 PSI. You still have the same amount of CO2, but now more of it is liquid since it's colder and cold makes it easier for CO2 to be liquid.