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NealGamby

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Hello HBT,

Gamby here.

I’m new to kegging instead of bottling the beer. Was given a nice kegerator for Christmas, and once I saw that I had made a batch of Hefeweizen. Which I underpitched the yeast, the OG was way high, tried correcting with more yeast and being more patient in fermentation. Wasn’t bad but certainly not great.

Anyway, I had started getting things in order by buying a corny pin lock keg, new disconnects, worm drive clamps, and got the CO2 tank filled up.

Before kegging, I sanitized the keg, beer lines etc. Then transferred the beer from the fermentation bucket to the keg. Hooked up the disconnects and everything is working or so I thought. I planned on setting and forgetting the psi at 12, didn’t want to do force carbonation until I get more familiar with the process. The psi gauge was at 20 psi, which I go to turn down the gauge, only that the knob wouldn’t budge to adjust the psi settings.

I didn’t want to mess with the tank while it was still full and jimmy around with it. So I lowered the kegerator temps to be more in line with the chart, and left it. Come back, after 2 hours, to check the gauges and that everything is working. I immediately noticed that the tank co2 levels dipped a little bit. I thought that was normal since c02 is going into the keg. Come back the next day and it dipped some more, shoot I got a leak. Checked for leaks, nothing was bubbling on the lines. I fastened the worm clamps more and it seemed to stabilize over the course of the next day. The gauges never moved and then the next morning the tank is empty?

So what gives? I’m thinking I need to apply keg lube next time to the O ring and also make sure the psi adjustment knob is in working order. Is there anything I missed in my preparation? Total bummer about the beer but I’m going back to the drawing board. Other than keg lube should I need anything else? Thanks for your time.


-Neal Gamby.
 
You have a big leak to dump an entire tank overnight.

Are you working with new or used equipment?
It is usually a good idea to change the o-rings out of used equipment if your supplier didn't already do this for you.

Also sounds like you got something wrong with your regulator. It may need to be re-built or replaced.

Use a new crush o-ring between the co2 tank and regulator. Make sure you open the tank fully to seat this o-ring.
Dump the tank and regulator into a tub of water and look for bubbles. If this is good move on to the tubing and so on.
 
The C02 tank and regulator are brand new. The pin lock keg is refurbished and cleaned by the supplier and they put on new O-rings in addition to giving me a new pair just in case.

I’m inclined to think the regulator was the culprit given the lines and disconnect were not bubbling. I’ll need to inspect that since the adjustment control for psi was stuck and not budging. I don’t know why it wouldn’t adjust. In addition need to make sure the regulator was properly tightened by the local HBS when they filled it up.

I’ll submerge the keg in water after looking at the regulator. If that doesn’t show anything and the regulator checks out. I may have to take all of this to the HBS to see if there’s something I’m missing.
 
Some regulators you have to push in or pull out the knob for it to turn.

And your hef isn't ruined. It will be fine in there until you get your CO2 issue fixed.
 
Some regulators you have to push in or pull out the knob for it to turn.

And your hef isn't ruined. It will be fine in there until you get your CO2 issue fixed.

I tried pulling and pushing to adjust. It was like it was glued onto the thing.

Hefe will survive? Should I put some priming sugar in to keep it carbonating or will that be a keg bomb.
 
If you put a Starsan solution in a spray bottle you can use it to help find leaks as the solution's high surface tension causes it to bubble easily.
 
Leave the Hefe alone, it is fine as long as you leave it in the keg with the lid on.
Fix you leak and carbonate it up good as new.

If you used pin lock kegs, the lid rings are notorious for not sealing without high pressure.
Sometimes you have to hit them with 20-30 psi to set the lid, then bleed off pressure to serving pressure.
A little keg lube goes a long way.
 
I like to take a glass of water and put my disconnects/lines under the water and turn on the gas. Bubbles are easy to spot when the entire thing is under water. You can do the same where the gas line connects to the barb on the regulator, just bend the gas tube upwards towards the regulator and you can put the entire barb/hose in a glass of water as well. I use sprayed on Starsan to test for leaks between the tank and regulator.

Just make sure you've put keg lube on the o-ring for the lid of the keg. I also like to lube the o-rings on the in and out post of the keg. Insurance against any small leaks there plus it makes it easier to take the posts on and off (I use ball locks, not sure if its the same with a pin lock).
 
I tried pulling and pushing to adjust. It was like it was glued onto the thing.

Hefe will survive? Should I put some priming sugar in to keep it carbonating or will that be a keg bomb.
If you have opened the keg, I'd add some priming sugar. Otherwise it should be fine. You'd have to add a pound of sugar for a slim chance to make it a bomb.

Also, those worm clamps are notorious leakers as they don't apply pressure evenly. The Oetiker clamps seem to work the best but their pliers are expensive. I've had good luck with the fuel injection style clamps though.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06ZYRP6GP/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
 
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A tap rite regulator should pull up and or push down on the adjustment knob. Push down to lock, pull up to adjust. There is a small white washer that goes in the nut on the regulator and sits between the regulator and the gas out on the tank. Got one?
 
I tried pulling and pushing to adjust. It was like it was glued onto the thing.

As soccerdad described, you have to pull the knob out to adjust. If you can't get it to pull out, try slipping a small flat screwdriver or putty knife behind the knob to break it loose.

It's pretty easy to tell if the knob is locked or not. In the photo below, the knob closest is locked, the other three are unlocked...

20180213_183510.jpg


There is a small white washer that goes in the nut on the regulator and sits between the regulator and the gas out on the tank. Got one?

Not on a Taprite. They have built-in flat rubber o-rings where the regulator stem mates with the tank valve.
 
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