Detecting a co2 leak

[BigusD]

I have had a kegerator for about a year and just tapped my first keg of homebrew.

Unfortunately, I'm having a co2 leak. My last tank drained suddenly. Today I put a new tank on and sprayed EVERYTHING down with some dish soapy water. I could not find a leak.

New tank showed ~750lbs of pressure on initial hookup. Tank is in fridge, so maybe that is why it dropped to ~700. But I'm scared that I'm leaking still.

Any suggestions/thoughts/tips/etc.

Note: my regulator has two distribution lines. Each has its own shutoff. They leak when moving from off to on and vice versa. Possible that was my last leak point... But the most likely cause is the new addition (pin lock keg).

Ugh!

 

[iijakii]

Your distributor leaks when moving the shutoff valve? That doesn't sound right.

 

[BigusD]

Your distributor leaks when moving the shutoff valve? That doesn't sound right.

I agree... Ugh.

 

[ba-brewer]

My shut-off valves sometime make a little hiss noise when toggling but they dont actually leak. Are you sure it leaks when you move the shutoff, did you spray it with soapy water and see bubbles? You can also use starsan to check for leaks, then you dont have to worry about soapy water getting into your beer and all over the place.

Did you really have a tank go empty or just suspect you have a leak because of the pressure gauge? The pressure can/will change with temperature changes, if you have a scale you can measure the weight to make sure.

Did you use a higher than serving pressure pressure to seat the lids on your new kegs? My first kegs would slowly leak if I used 20 PSI to seat the lid, so I changed to 30 PSI. If it was leaking around the main lid seal you should of been able to see it with your soapy water though.

How are your gas lines routed to your keg? I had a keg leak at the disconnect if the gas line was pushed down. I changed the gas post o-ring and the problem went away.

 

[BigusD]

I did set the pressure up to 30 to 'set the lid'. Then turned back to ~12psi. I drained an entire 5lb tank in 4 days or so.

New tank dropped from warm hookup @~750 to ~600 in a couple of hours. Maybe just temp drop.

Usually my tanks to at ~550 for several months, then slowly drop to zero over a week or two. I must have had a leak.

Now I've got the tank off. Hopefully I'll see the lines hold pressure. Is that a reasonable assumption?

Not sure I understand your question about line routing.

(I'll try spraying starsan on everything tomorrow.)

 

[ba-brewer]

I was wondering if you have extra gas line that needs to coiled and rearranged inside the kegerator. When mine leaked at the disconnect if I put pressure on the gas line(big bulky red tubing), like by pushing it down, it would make the disconnect move a little and leak.

If you have the gas lines disconnected from the kegs and under pressure and no gas loss then it would seem the problem is with your kegs. I would weigh the keg and not rely on the gas gauge as it most likely would not show change until very low. My 10lb tank starts showing changes in pressure when it only has about a 1lb left.

 

[day_trippr]

[...]When mine leaked at the disconnect if I put pressure on the gas line(big bulky red tubing), like by pushing it down, it would make the disconnect move a little and leak. [...]

Pin lock keg, perchance?

Cheers!

 

[ba-brewer]

I have a collection of ball lock and converted pin lock, it could of been one of the converted pin lock but I dont remember. I just recall moving lines and hearing gas leaking.

 

[day_trippr]

Ok. Bottom line, a disconnect should not leak gas when wiggled.

The symptom you described is virtually unique to pin lock posts that have been fitted with ball lock O-rings. Pin lock kegs require a slightly thicker O-ring to work properly.

It's ridiculously common, because many vendors don't know there's a difference and frequently sell one size ring for both applications...

Cheers!

 

[FloppyKnockers]

I have had a kegerator for about a year and just tapped my first keg of homebrew.

Can't get by this. I like some commercials too, but.....

Seriously, probably a bad valve on the last tank. On the new tank, the regulator will show higher pressure warm than when in the fridge (because science).

 

[acidrain]

Two basics to kegging:
The pressure in the tank means nothing... the volume of gas is liquid and measured by weight, not pressure.
The gas valve on the tank needs to be opened fully and "bottomed out" on the reverse valve seat. Because of the high pressure in gas bottles, the valves are made to be either opened fully or closed fully. If the valve is partially closed or open at either end of the valve throw, it will leak from the gland packing.
The rest of your system I have no idea, but I can offer one more bit of wisdom... high pressure leaks are not detectable with soap and water. The high pressure jet will simply blow the soap out of the way, and not form a bubble. The only way to bubble test high pressure is complete submersion in water.

 

[BigusD]

I understand how the tank pressure indicator is (almost) meaningless. ... It dropped to ~500 last night due to temp drop. Tank was 100% off.

So... With the tank off, and regulator valves on, and with the kegs attached, the pressure held in the lines. I assume this means there is no leak.

HOWEVER, I do note that wiggling the gas side of my pin lock will produce a hiss... So my system is apparently sensitive to the gas line routing.

I picked up a replacement o-ring set yesterday (see pic). Thoughts on if this is good for a pin lock keg? If no good, anybody have a link to a proper set?

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1441968092.023804.jpg

 

[Natdavis777]

Just found my (new) leak tonight as it was coming from the actual gas ball lock disconnect... It is apparently spring loaded and can be tightened down. Never had this issue in 5 years.

 

[ba-brewer]

I understand how the tank pressure indicator is (almost) meaningless. ... It dropped to ~500 last night due to temp drop. Tank was 100% off.

So... With the tank off, and regulator valves on, and with the kegs attached, the pressure held in the lines. I assume this means there is no leak.

HOWEVER, I do note that wiggling the gas side of my pin lock will produce a hiss... So my system is apparently sensitive to the gas line routing.

I picked up a replacement o-ring set yesterday (see pic). Thoughts on if this is good for a pin lock keg? If no good, anybody have a link to a proper set?

View attachment 302531

If the ones you bought in the kit dont work, this place has o-rings made for pin locks.
http://www.chicompany.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=376_1_163&products_id=3286

 

[mikescooling]

Corny kegs can leak from a lot of places. Thing about going sanke

 

[BigusD]

If the ones you bought in the kit dont work, this place has o-rings made for pin locks.

http://www.chicompany.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=376_1_163&products_id=3286

Thank you!

 

[BigusD]

If the ones you bought in the kit dont work, this place has o-rings made for pin locks.

http://www.chicompany.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=376_1_163&products_id=3286

Thank you! Very helpful.

... Oops, double tap.