Co2 Tank went dry out of nowhere

[schoellhorn82]

I have a 20lb CO2 Tank that had dials reading full. I have used it for at least 8 kegs that was working fine. Poured a few beers on Tuesday and they were fine. Poured one last night- lines were dead flat. WTF! Anyone have an experience like this where tank just went flat out of nowhere?

 

[Minbari]

those dials on co2 tanks only measure pressure. co2 is stored in the tank as a liquid that phases to gas as the pressure drops (you use the gas in the tank.)

pressure at room temp is about 750 psi or so and will remain at 750 psi until all the liquid is gone. once the liquid is gone you only have tank pressure left which will go down pretty quick on a small tank.

co2 is also has a temperature co-effcient. the colder it is the less pressure. so if you store your tank in kegerator, the pressure will be less. this will not effect how much liquid is used though. also, using co2 from the tank requires heat to turn the liquid to gas, so that will chill the tank as well and result in a pressure drop.

moral of the story, those gauges DO NOT measure how much co2 is left, only the pressure in the tank. The pressure in the tank is directly related to how warm it is and how much liquid is being turned to gas.

 

[jbaysurfer]

In virtually 100% of cases like this a leak in the system is the culprit. Starsan or a liquid soap mixture in a spray bottle will save you money.

What Minbari says about the dials is also correct.

 

[ColoHox]

In virtually 100% of cases like this a leak in the system is the culprit. Starsan or a liquid soap mixture in a spray bottle will save you money.

What Minbari says about the dials is also correct.

Yep, +1 to a leak. Check the gaskets and also consider some keg lube.

 

[IslandLizard]

1 leaky keg is all it takes. Or a loose coupling, a QD that's not seated right or leaking.

I lost a lot of CO2 from an MFL coupling that wasn't tight enough, and had loosened up over time.

 

[Spartan1979]

I had a hose that developed a pinhole (actually a little bigger than that). It didn't take long to empty the tank.

 

[jbaysurfer]

I had a hose that developed a pinhole (actually a little bigger than that). It didn't take long to empty the tank.

Wow that's a tough one to find. I could imagine pulling my hair out and losing a lot of CO2 with that going on!

 

[theck]

Blew though a 20# in a day cuz I got lazy and didn't check my lid before putting it on the line. What I do with the lines is pressurize them and then soak in a bucket to find any leaks... then if you put pressure in them, no kegs attached, turn off the tank, wait a day or more and check to see if the lines still have pressure... when kegging I starsan the lid (expect for that one time) and look/listen for bubbles.

 

[acidrain]

I have often found the regulator nut has become loose and began leaking gas for no apparent reason.
I found that my gas supplier always gives me a new fiber washer, which I use new every time, but over time, the fiber washer compresses and becomes loose. Now I check the tightness every so often, and have found loose regs by doing spot checks.
Always check that your reg is tight.

 

[Spartan1979]

Wow that's a tough one to find. I could imagine pulling my hair out and losing a lot of CO2 with that going on!

I didn't know about it until the tank was empty, but when I put the new tank in, I heard it right away.