C02 leak or just regular use?

[Shaffer1515]

I've been kegging my beer for over 2 years and this morning I woke up after putting a new beer on to carbonate 2 nights ago the tank says its almost on 0. I recently started putting the c02 tank inside the fridge with the kegs and the amt in the bottle drops when its cold obviously but nothing like this. 5lb bottle, this is the 4th keg from the bottle... seems fast to me.

Ive put soapy water all over the kegs and fittings but nothing... Does Co2 actually use faster if the co2 is cooler? Just looking for a reason or maybe I still have a leak somewhere I am missing...

 

[atom]

no..being cold wouldn't make you go through it faster. weigh the tank...that will tell you what's left.

 

[j1n]

check all the connections.

 

[CA_Mouse]

no..being cold wouldn't make you go through it faster. weigh the tank...that will tell you what's left.

Unless the OP knows the weight of his tank empty, this will not really tell him anything other than the fact the tank has weight.

 

[CA_Mouse]

I've been kegging my beer for over 2 years and this morning I woke up after putting a new beer on to carbonate 2 nights ago the tank says its almost on 0. I recently started putting the c02 tank inside the fridge with the kegs and the amt in the bottle drops when its cold obviously but nothing like this. 5lb bottle, this is the 4th keg from the bottle... seems fast to me.

Ive put soapy water all over the kegs and fittings but nothing... Does Co2 actually use faster if the co2 is cooler? Just looking for a reason or maybe I still have a leak somewhere I am missing...

Your regulator will show a lower volume when it is refrigerated due to the fact that the gas is under pressure and in a gaseous state. Under refrigeration, some of the gas will liquefy, lowering the pressure that the regulator reads. In my 20# tank I saw about a 5% difference between being in the fridge and sitting outside it. In my case, outside made more sense, since I could get one more keg in that space.

 

[zachattack]

Unless the OP knows the weight of his tank empty, this will not really tell him anything other than the fact the tank has weight.

This is stamped on every tank by law.

Weighing the tank will give you the best answer. But OP, what do you mean when you say "almost on 0"? Is it approaching the "red" area? What's the actual pressure?

Putting the tank in the fridge will not change how much CO2 you have or how much you use, but it will drastically change the tank pressure. Much more than 5%. See the attached graph I made from Wikipedia's data on CO2 vapor pressure. At 40 deg F you're around 500 psi, and at 70 deg F you're around 900 psi. Big difference.

 

[atom]

Unless the OP knows the weight of his tank empty, this will not really tell him anything other than the fact the tank has weight.

tare weight is usually stamped on the tank.

 

[Shaffer1515]

The needle is just above 0 and is in the red. I put soap bubbles on the connectors and around the lid and am seeing no new bubbles forming.

 

[UndeadFred]

My tank read in the red of the gauge when in the keezer.. but is slightly above it when outside... Those HP gauges are are about as inaccurate anyway to be useless.

Supposedly you can get 14-22 kegs out of a 5# tank just pushing it.. carbonating it takes you down to the 5-10 keg range.. so 4 is low .. you probably do have a leak if the tank it really empty...

Fred

 

[Shaffer1515]

So I found out this morning that if I fill the keg with c02 and then disconnect the gas line it holds fine, its when the gas line is connected. Seems like the line is binding the coupler or something in a way that it leaks... not real sure what the best solution is to this... besides get the line in a position where it doesnt leak

 

[zachattack]

Sounds like the post o-ring (assuming you're using corny kegs). Are you using pin locks by any chance?

 

[Shaffer1515]

No these are ball lock kegs...

 

[mikescooling]

their are like 12 O-rings in a ball lock, 3 of them are in each post

 

[Shaffer1515]

Perhaps this is the one that is on the outside of the post that seals between the gas disconnect... are they the same size as the ones used internal and should that one also be lubed? I can swap it if its the same size.

 

[mikescooling]

You should be replacing those every year or whenever you feel it's needed.

 

[UndeadFred]

So I found out this morning that if I fill the keg with c02 and then disconnect the gas line it holds fine, its when the gas line is connected. Seems like the line is binding the coupler or something in a way that it leaks... not real sure what the best solution is to this... besides get the line in a position where it doesnt leak

Try replacing the post gasket (o-ring), preferably with silicon.. I had the same issue with one of my kegs recently...

 

[Shaffer1515]

You should be replacing those every year or whenever you feel it's needed.

Bought the keg reconditioned recently with new seals... if those are the same size i'll replace it and see if that solves the problem. Not really hearing it hissing out which is tough to want to leave the co2 hooked up for fear of it draining the co2

 

[Sailingeric]

Bought the keg reconditioned recently with new seals... if those are the same size i'll replace it and see if that solves the problem. Not really hearing it hissing out which is tough to want to leave the co2 hooked up for fear of it draining the co2

This is what I did when I had a leak. I pressurized each of my kegs which had beer in them, turned off the gas and noted the pressure. I came back every hour for a couple hours to see if they dropped, which they did a little for the first day but once they got back the little CO2 needed to fully carb the beer they stayed except for one keg. I was dropping a lot more so turned up the gas pressure higher and listened and sprayed with starsans. Every now and then it would hiss just a little bit at the RPV. I took it out, gave it a cleaning, a little keg lube and screwed it in tight- it was just a little loose. That fixed my problem. If your kegs are empty it would help a lot to see which one was losing gas without the CO2 going into the liquid.

 

[zachattack]

their are like 12 O-rings in a ball lock, 3 of them are in each post

Right, but only one is referred to as the post o-ring. And if wiggling the line or QD is causing a sporadic gas leak, then the post o-ring is a likely source of the leak. It could also be a loose MFL fitting, but that is very easy to check.

I mentioned pin locks because a lot of people put ball lock o-rings on them and are then plagued by this problem, where touching the QD the wrong way will cause a leak. However, this can definitely happen on a ball lock post if the o-ring is compromised. I would put a fresh o-ring on there with a nice smear of keg lube. You don't have to change the o-ring every time you fill the keg but you should definitely re-lube it.

And no, the post o-ring and dip tube o-ring are not interchangeable.

 

[UndeadFred]

The bogus and sad thing about that keg is that it took days to lose even a pound of pressure.. But over a keg or two that is enough to make a big difference. I still need to submerge that one to make sure it is 100‰ fixed. I just kicked it tonight so I can.

 

[UndeadFred]

I thing the dip tube is a 109 o-ring and the post is a 111. Don't quote me.