CO2 leak, please help!

[HoboTurtle]

So I have been chasing a CO2 leak now for a few days and am at a total loss for what could be causing it. Last night before going to bed I set the CO2 to just over 20psi and then shut the gas off. No kegs connected, just the manifold and one QD. This morning the PSI had dropped to just under 18psi.

I’m running evabarrier tubing with duotight fittings.

Here is what I have tried:

• Tightening all connection points.
• Removing and re-connecting all tubing.
• Soap water spray on connections.
• Submerging entire manifold in water with CO2 going.

Does anyone have any advice on what to try next? Should I try adding flare washers to the duotight fittings? Is this sort of loss in pressure normal?


P.S. yes, I know I need to refill my tank lol

 

[GoodTruble]

Hopefully this may help......

And this is just my opinion, but I wouldn't get too worries about about 2 PSI drop overnight in an incomplete system if it's then holding pressure at 18. It's possible the minor leak is through the tubing end point and will resolve when kegs are connected as the end points. But I am far from being an expert.

 

[tracer bullet]

Agreed that a 2psi drop overnight might be considered pretty acceptable. Also curious if it tends to hold or go to 15, 10, 5, etc. or tends to hold. Maybe something with a temperature change is a contributor, or the gauge isn't super great, and things are actually fine?

General troubleshooting would be to disconnect most things and add them back one at a time until you find the offending part.

 

[eric19312]

@GoodTruble that is awesome diagram. I think we should sticky that thing!

and also I agree 2 psi overnight may not even be real. Nice thing I see with EVA barrier on the gas side is very small leaks are almost always audible. Before I switched to EVA however I found this product worked much better for finding leaks than standard soapy water / star san...

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Oatey-8...72lyTOSMWiLqm_mvLX4aAqDPEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[HoboTurtle]

That image is a great resource, thank you! Unfortunately, I did pretty much all the troubleshooting on there already so at this point I am going to keep an eye on it throughout the day to see if it continues dropping. I will update this thread with another PSI reading later today.

I am beginning to think my issue may be the o-ring between the regulator and the tank. I ordered a new one and it should be here by Wednesday.

 

[HoboTurtle]

@GoodTruble that is awesome diagram. I think we should sticky that thing!

and also I agree 2 psi overnight may not even be real. Nice thing I see with EVA barrier on the gas side is very small leaks are almost always audible. Before I switched to EVA however I found this product worked much better for finding leaks than standard soapy water / star san...

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Oatey-8...72lyTOSMWiLqm_mvLX4aAqDPEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I might just have to order some of that to keep on hand!

 

[eshea3]

Don't forge to test your keg posts and be sure your ball locks are seating correctly. A spunding valve is good for this.

 

[balrog]

https://www.hgtv.com/design/make-and-celebrate/handmade/the-two-best-homemade-soap-bubble-recipes

 

[HoboTurtle]

Don't forge to test your keg posts and be sure your ball locks are seating correctly. A spunding valve is good for this.

Spunding valve is on my future purchase list! at the moment though, no kegs are hooked up so the leak exists somewhere between the tank and the manifold.

 

[HoboTurtle]

@GoodTruble that is awesome diagram. I think we should sticky that thing!

and also I agree 2 psi overnight may not even be real. Nice thing I see with EVA barrier on the gas side is very small leaks are almost always audible. Before I switched to EVA however I found this product worked much better for finding leaks than standard soapy water / star san...

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Oatey-8...72lyTOSMWiLqm_mvLX4aAqDPEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

So I picked up some of this leak detector. From what I can tell, it is food safe but do you know whether I need to be too concerned with trying to get it off after? Seems like it could leave some residue behind.

 

[GoodTruble]

I usually don't even like flow charts.

But a Flow Flow Chart is at least funny.

 

[tracer bullet]

So I picked up some of this leak detector. From what I can tell, it is food safe but do you know whether I need to be too concerned with trying to get it off after? Seems like it could leave some residue behind.

MSDS for it says a form of propane, and water. Not sure I'd call it food safe exactly, LOL, it'll probably kill a lab rat in a huge dose. But I wouldn't have a concern with it for finding a leak. It's water soluble so if there's a residue it should clean up easily.

 

[Craiginthecorn]

What happens if you leave it for several more hours? Does the pressure drop further?

Pressure gauges can be prone to "slamming", where the pressure is applied very quickly, causing them to read too high. I assume in that case that eventually the gauge would settle on the actual lower pressure. Maybe try opening one valve on the manifold, then close it somewhat slower than you might usually, taking a couple of seconds, rather than an instant. See if that remains steady. You might also try intentionally slamming the gauge by opening one valve on the manifold and shutting it very quickly to see if you can replicate the 18 psi reading from the night before.

 

[jerrylotto]

A couple of pounds of pressure variation could be due to temperature changes or additional CO2 solubility without any leak. As others have pointed out, you need to see if it holds pressure at a steady state, not after making a change.

 

[Granite03]

So I’ve been fighting CO2 leaks for a while. It was not so bad to refill tanks due to a slow leak until I put in nitrogen blending. Losing a nitrogen tank gets expensive. I have gas lines all over my cellar to different stations and have manifolds below manifolds, so a lot of places to soap. I finally put in a bubble counter. I bypass the main line with valves through the bubble counter and can turn valves on and off in order to find the slow leaks. I tried the aquarium bubble counters and they don’t work for this situation. I adapted a growler tap (growltap I think) so I can have a line in and line out. I quickly found the culprits, which were keg o-rings. I had soaped them and never spotted them with soap... I guess too slow.

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

You have a washer installed between the tank and regulator, right? Very common oversight.