Corney Keg Problem

[AngusPA]

i brewed 2 5 gallon batches, and put into corney kegs with priming sugar to carbonate. about a week later, i noticed a small amount of beer bubbling up through the seams in the sealed lid on both kegs. when i opened the valve there was no pressure, so all the CO2 had escaped. Obiviously they're not carbed but my biggest concern is that oxygen has been able to get in and spoil the batch.

Is this a common problem with corneys? do they only seal properly when pressurized with CO2?

 

[helibrewer]

Depends on what shape the keg is in, I have one that needs a little CO2 pressure to get a good seal. You should not have an issue with O2, the CO2 that was produced in the keg will have created a nice blanket (CO2 is heavier than air) over the top of the beer.

 

[milldoggy]

I would use keg lube on the oring, charge with co2 bleed the o2 out, then charge it again with 30 psi. Then get a spray bottle with starsan or water and spray the oring, the pressue release value and the popets. If not leaks, you are good to go. If it does leak, and o2 gets in, as long as it is not shaked and splashed, I doubt there will be a lot of oxidarion, but that depend on time.

 

[bad67z]

If you had Co2 leaking out your beer should be ok. Co2 is heaver than O2 and the gas escaping means positive pressure and limited O2 exposure.

I flush my kegs with C02 before racking my beer into them to purge the majority of the O2 out of the vessel. Then if I'm keg conditioning (carbing) I pressurize the keg with about 30 psi to seat everything. Then bleed off most of the pressure. Lastly I take a squirt bottle of Star San spray down the seating surfaces for leaks. If problems persist, food safe lube usually helps or finally replacing the o rings.

EDIT: I type too slow.