Arrgghh - leaking from backside of regulator (photo)

[JKCDN]

Spent 3 hours setting up my used and had water at 25 psi for 12 hours. Came back this morning and upped the pressure to 50psi and started hearing a leak from this middle valve. I am brand new to this and don't know what the valve is for or how to fix this. This valve leaks at lower pressure now and even leaks when I am using a different line.

It's a used Kegco 3 way secondary regulator... any advice is greatly appreciated!!

 

[IslandLizard]

I think you may have blown out the safety overpressure disc.
These are secondary regulators, 30-50psi maybe their top pressure and you went past it?

You can get a replacement.

 

[SanPancho]

Its a pressure relief. And im not sure you’re supposed to run water thru air regulators.

 

[JKCDN]

Poor wording on my part. I am running water through a beverage line and gas through a separate gas line.

Some more googling suggests that this might be a pressure release valve and when I went up to 55psi it did it's job. I am now down to 35psi and I don't hear any leaking. Still not that pleased with the carbonation level of the water but it's only been 12 hours at 25psi and 1 hour at 35psi.

Does anyone know if the emergency relief valve is a one time deal? Did I break the damn thing?

 

[IslandLizard]

Most are spring loaded, and will reset automatically, or with the help of a brief tap on it with a wrench.
If it stopped leaking when you turned it down and bled off the extra pressure, it must have reset.

It takes several days to carbonate water like you do, just letting it sit, without forced carbonating (rolling, shaking, bubbling, etc).
Temp also plays a big role, the colder the easier and the more CO2 it can absorb. Beer is the same, but foams badly if you carbonate too much.

 

[SanPancho]

Are those reliefs the spring type or the burst discs? Ive never been entirely clear. Discs need replacement. Springs get reset.

If you dont/cant shake or roll the water to help it carb then its faster to keep it high for a full day, like 30-40psi for 24 hours. If serving right away then you release excess pressure in order to reset to service pressure. If they can sit for another day or two you can just reset the regulator pressure and the extra gas will absorb and carbonate. (Dont do this unless kegs are pretty full and the headspace is fairly small)

And as noted above, colder temps speed the process.