CO2 Help!

[BlakMajix]

Last night I kegged a beer for the first time. I did the soapy water test, discovered a leak around where the nut connects from the regulator to the tank. I had the nylon gasket installed but no matter how I re-tightened it continued to leak. So I made a trip to lowes and bought a rubber gasket of roughly the same size, installed it and everything seemed to be fine, no leaks.(note: my co2 is on the outside of the keggerator if that matters)

So racked my beer into the keg, hooked it up and set it at 30psi. My plan was to leave it at 30psi for 2 days to carbonate. Everything seemed fine but when I woke up this morning and checked it, the regulator for the keg was showing roughly 50psi and the main tank regulator is showing 300 psi down from a total of 700'ish.

Can anyone give me an idea of what happened here. Do I have another leak perhaps? I tested with soapy water again and saw like two bubbles around that nut but then nothing. Could this be a slow leak? Also, why would the pressure on the keg go up from the 30 I set it at? Would that have anything to do with the force carbonation? Should I have just pressurized the keg and then turned the co2 tank off? Would the temperature inside the keggerator have anything to do with any of this?

Right now I released some of the pressure on the keg (back to 30 psi) and I've shut the tank off. If it is a leak, I'm not sure what I should do next. I want to make sure my beer turns out ok. I'm trying not to panic! lol

Any help would be greatly appreciated. This is my first time kegging and I'm confused as to what is happening here. Thanx!

 

[MrFebtober]

Sounds like you have two different issues and I'll start with the regulator issue. Two questions: Is your tank/regulator in a fridge? I've read that some regulators have a tendency to creep up in pressure when placed in a cold environment. Second question: are you sure the beer was done fermenting prior to carbing.

As for your sealing problem, I suspect the rubber washer is leaking and will never be able to adequately hold back 700+ psi of tank pressure (which is why nylon is used). If you are sure you had everything hooked up right, and the nylon washer doesn't appear damaged and both mating surfaces are clean and free of knicks and imperfections, then I guess you should get hold of the vendor you bought the reg from and/or tank from and see what they can do about it.

It took me a couple tries to couple my regulator to my tank without it leaking. The key, I discovered, was to hold the mating surfaces together squarely (supporting the regulator) and then spin the nut on. Don't use the nut to guide the two parts together because then the surfaces won't mate properly, if that makes any sense.

 

[Liquidicem]

Some teflon tape on the threads will help as well.

 

[BlakMajix]

Sounds like you have two different issues and I'll start with the regulator issue. Two questions: Is your tank/regulator in a fridge? I've read that some regulators have a tendency to creep up in pressure when placed in a cold environment. Second question: are you sure the beer was done fermenting prior to carbing.

As for your sealing problem, I suspect the rubber washer is leaking and will never be able to adequately hold back 700+ psi of tank pressure (which is why nylon is used). If you are sure you had everything hooked up right, and the nylon washer doesn't appear damaged and both mating surfaces are clean and free of knicks and imperfections, then I guess you should get hold of the vendor you bought the reg from and/or tank from and see what they can do about it.

It took me a couple tries to couple my regulator to my tank without it leaking. The key, I discovered, was to hold the mating surfaces together squarely (supporting the regulator) and then spin the nut on. Don't use the nut to guide the two parts together because then the surfaces won't mate properly, if that makes any sense.

I'm pretty positive fermentation is done. It's a deadguy clone that spent 10 days in the primary and another 2 & 1/2 weeks in a secondary. I think you might be right with the gasket. I removed the regulator from the tank and the rubber gasket was somewhat mangled. I put the nylon gasket back on and this time did not use the nut to guide it (as you suggested) and this so far appears to have worked (crossing my fingers).

Assuming it holds, any advice on where i should go from here? Should I go back to 30 psi for a couple days? I was hoping to have this brew ready for Sunday for hockey the nhl playoffs (go Pens!). I have thirsty beer drinking fiends comming to watch the game!

Thanks for the help!

 

[BlakMajix]

Some teflon tape on the threads will help as well.

On the tank threads?

 

[BierMuncher]

Maybe your nylon gasket just isn't thick enough to make flush contact.

One jury rig that has worked.

Take an empty sour cream container (or such).

Using your original nylon gasket as a template, cut out 2 or 3 similar shaped gaskets out of the sour cream container.

Layer the original gasket along with the new "gaskets" and try tightening that down, along with some tephlon tape.

This newer, thicker gasket may seat tighter and stop the leak. Can't hurt to try and you can do this without a trip to the hardware store.

 

[BlakMajix]

Oh, and I forgot to mention....the tank is on the outside of the keggerator.

 

[BlakMajix]

Update: Things look to be ok at the moment. I tested all connections and do not appear to have any leaks.

I guess my only question now is what to do about continuing my force carbonation (and hopefully have it ready by Sunday). Anyone have any suggestions based on the details in my above posts?

 

[BierMuncher]

Update: Things look to be ok at the moment. I tested all connections and do not appear to have any leaks.

I guess my only question now is what to do about continuing my force carbonation (and hopefully have it ready by Sunday). Anyone have any suggestions based on the details in my above posts?

A rule of thumb for accelerated carbonation is 30PSI for 36 hours (if the keg started out cold...if not, then 48 hours).

Here's what I'd do:
Keep it at 30 PSI for the next 24 hours.
Tomorrow, kill the gas, release the excess pressure from the keg, set the PSI to about 8 and draw a sample.

If you don't have good head and effervescence, return to a higher PSI and repeat the testing in 6 hours.

Once you're happy with the carbonation, set the beer to 12 PSI. On serving day, you may want to dial down the PSI a bit to insure a smooth flow without excess foaming.

 

[BlakMajix]

A rule of thumb for accelerated carbonation is 30PSI for 36 hours (if the keg started out cold...if not, then 48 hours).

Here's what I'd do:
Keep it at 30 PSI for the next 24 hours.
Tomorrow, kill the gas, release the excess pressure from the keg, set the PSI to about 8 and draw a sample.

If you don't have good head and effervescence, return to a higher PSI and repeat the testing in 6 hours.

Once you're happy with the carbonation, set the beer to 12 PSI. On serving day, you may want to dial down the PSI a bit to insure a smooth flow without excess foaming.

Thanks for the help BierMuncher. I set it back to 30 PSI several hours ago and will follow your instructions.

Doing the leak test I can't detect any more leaks but the PSI on keg seems to drop little by little. Is it normal to see a dip in PSI on the keg regulator while it's carbonating (absorbing) or should the gauge say 30 PSI the entire time it's carbonating? I've tested every piece on the regulator and the quick disconnect connections and I can't seem to find any problems. The PSI of the tank appears to be holding ok also. Is this normal or could I still have a leak in the keg somewhere?

 

[BierMuncher]

Thanks for the help BierMuncher. I set it back to 30 PSI several hours ago and will follow your instructions.

Doing the leak test I can't detect any more leaks but the PSI on keg seems to drop little by little. Is it normal to see a dip in PSI on the keg regulator while it's carbonating (absorbing) or should the gauge say 30 PSI the entire time it's carbonating? I've tested every piece on the regulator and the quick disconnect connections and I can't seem to find any problems. The PSI of the tank appears to be holding ok also. Is this normal or could I still have a leak in the keg somewhere?

Give your keg a soapy spray test. If it were leaking at 30PSI you'd almost certainly hear the hissing.

Most likely it's just the regulator fluctuating a bit as the gas is absorbed and pressure is equalized.

Once you've tested all the connections and don't hear any leaks, that's really all you can do...and accept that regulators have their quirks.

 

[BlakMajix]

Give your keg a soapy spray test. If it were leaking at 30PSI you'd almost certainly hear the hissing.

Most likely it's just the regulator fluctuating a bit as the gas is absorbed and pressure is equalized.

Once you've tested all the connections and don't hear any leaks, that's really all you can do...and accept that regulators have their quirks.

I've gone over the keg parts (disconnects, etc.) with soapy spray and don't see any problems. I don't hear any hissing either. I'll keep monitoring it and chalk it up to fluctuation unless I hear/see different.

Thanks for the help!