Do you turn off your Co2?

[jeffg]

So once you have kegged a beer and gotten it stabilized to a proper carbonation level (via patience or shake and roll), do you shut off your Co2 valve after the last pour or do you leave it on all the time?

Just curious what others do. I recently went from a tried and true 1 keg system to two and after two weeks discovered my tank is empty and one of the nearly empty kegs did noteven have enough pressure to pour out the last beer. the more full keg is fortunately still pressurized. At this point the leak could be anywhere, but maybe I should start turning off the Co2 valve between beers to avoid this situation?

 

[poguemahone]

I'm interested in input on this as well.

I've been turning my CO2 off once my keg is carbed up. They maintain enough pressure for a week or so (1-2 pints a day) before i put in 12 psi for a few hours. I suppose it is up to how much usage they are getting..??

 

[olllllo]

The only reason to do this, IMO, is to be absolutely sure that you have no CO2 leaks.

I did so for quite awhile (months), but I have reached a point where it is on all the time now.

 

[BierMuncher]

So once you have kegged a beer and gotten it stabilized to a proper carbonation level (via patience or shake and roll), do you shut off your Co2 valve after the last pour or do you leave it on all the time?

Just curious what others do. I recently went from a tried and true 1 keg system to two and after two weeks discovered my tank is empty and one of the nearly empty kegs did noteven have enough pressure to pour out the last beer. the more full keg is fortunately still pressurized. At this point the leak could be anywhere, but maybe I should start turning off the Co2 valve between beers to avoid this situation?

Your questions has two answers:

For a system that works well with no leaks, no need to shut off valvees or regulators. The gas will stabilize at the 12 (or so) PSI. If you shut off the CO2 and let the residual pressure push your beer out, the CO2 will deplete as you loose pressure and then CO2 will come out of the beer into the head space to equilibriate (word?)...making your beer go flat.

For a leaky system: shutting off your valves to prevent gas escape is a short term fix but again, you'd face the same issues with letting gas discharge and beer go flat.

I'd say rethread everything with teflon tape and get some soapy water around those joints and the keg valves to identify (via bubbles) the leaky areas.

 

[krispy d]

I usually turn off my gas at night for a couple of reasons.

1) I am afraid of surprise leaks. I have had a tank mysteriously drain itself and don't want to deal with that again.

2) I am afraid of equalization/over carbonation. In all honesty I don't even remeber if this is a valid fear but in the bar I used to work at we shut of the gas every night so that beer wouldn't over carbonate. I've done it at home that way for years and am a creature of habit.

 

[Cheesefood]

I don't think I've shut my tank off since I turned it on, and that was a while ago.

 

[EdWort]

I have two 5# tanks, both with a stainless cross that feeds 3 cornies (one is in the kegerator and the other in the chest freezer). I leave both on 24/7.

My 20# I do turn off when not in use though. It's my jack of all trades for moving beer, purging kegs & carboys, etc.

 

[Drunkensatyr]

The only time my tank gets shut off is when I'm brewing (I use Co2 to move all my wort around)

 

[sirsloop]

You should have taken the time to check for leaking CO2 when you built the keg system. If you didn't, now would be a good time to test all of the fittings w/ some soapy water or by submerging it.

Its kinda like building a race car and not checking for fluid leaks after you get it put together.

 

[user 4295]

Your system was fine when you were only serving one keg, correct? Now that you have added another keg it leaks, correct? Well, simply go back over the fittings and keg that you have added to find your leak. Soapy water works OK, but if you go to a plumbing supply house you can get some gas leak detector solution that you can apply with an applicator instead of spraying on. It WILL locate your leak.

A great way to leak check a keg is to pressurize it to say 30 psi and submerge it in a bathtub full of water. The bubbles never lie.

 

[Chillbrook]

So say I fill my keg, hook it up to my system and set it to 12 psi. Once the beer is carbed (say after a week or so), if I leave my co2 ON will the beer continue to carb, thus becoming overcarbed? Or does it simply stay at 12 psi until I raise the pressure?

 

[user 4295]

The amount of CO2 that can go into solution at 12 psi is dictated by the temperature of the beer. As long as the temperature does not change, and the pressure remains at 12 psi, the beer will only absorb what it can and no more. It is said to have reached a state of equilibrium. The pressure between the tank and the keg is now static and there is no flow. That is until you dispense some beer, then the CO2 will flow into the keg to filled the now increased headspace and equilibrium is again reached.

 

[Chillbrook]

The amount of CO2 that can go into solution at 12 psi is dictated by the temperature of the beer. As long as the temperature does not change, and the pressure remains at 12 psi, the beer will only absorb what it can and no more. It is said to have reached a state of equilibrium. The pressure between the tank and the keg is now static and there is no flow. That is until you dispense some beer, then the CO2 will flow into the keg to filled the now increased headspace and equilibrium is again reached.

So if I do not dispense the beer will not be over-carbed.

But if I do dispense will the beer be overcarbed when the tank replaces that missing pressure? Or is it still dependent on temperature, meaning that it will not be over-carbed (using a fridge)?

 

[D2T]

So if I do not dispense the beer will not be over-carbed.

But if I do dispense it will not be over-carbed (using a fridge)

See above

 

[user 4295]

Once your beer has absorbed as much CO2 as it can at the temperature in your fridge it will not absorb anymore, even when you serve. All that is happening when you serve a fully carbonated beer is some volume of CO2 flows into the keg to replace the volume of beer that was just served. No more will go into solution.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I never turn mine off. I even left for 3 months, and when I came back, all was well. I use this stuff to check for leaks:

 

[Chillbrook]

Once your beer has absorbed as much CO2 as it can at the temperature in your fridge it will not absorb anymore, even when you serve. All that is happening when you serve a fully carbonated beer is some volume of CO2 flows into the keg to replace the volume of beer that was just served. No more will go into solution.

It all makes sense now, perfect!

 

[david_42]

I used to leave mine on, but my new setup has a leak I can't track down. I suspect it is in one of the gages on a secondary regulator, so now I shut the tank off.

 

[jeffg]

Thanks for the input. I have always been a "just leave the Co2 on" set and forget guy, but this is twice in six months I have mysteriously drained a 20 lb. tank. Pretty annoying since it normally lasts me a couple years before needing refilling. Oh well. Given how well my original keg is maintaining its carbontaion I think I am going to start shutting off the tank between sessions. Seems litle risk in resulting in flat beer given how often I am sampling.

Funny thing about this slow leak was the system worked perfectly for two weeks without any slow drop in pressure, and one morning it was just dead. Teh fact that the nearly empty keg was dead flat with no gas when I pulled the relief valve tells me that my new/used keg is the culprit, which is too bad because I changed all of the seals and have been drinking out of it for three plus weeks.

Kegging is great overall and multiple kegs is even better, but when something goes wrong it is really, really annoying.

Anywho, thanks for the responses.

 

[user 4295]

Funny thing about this slow leak was the system worked perfectly for two weeks without any slow drop in pressure, and one morning it was just dead.

That's how CO2 in a liquid/vapor state behaves. The pressure in the tank will stay exactly the same, at a given temperature, until all of the liquid in the tank has been vaporized (or leaked out). Once only vapor exists in the tank the pressure will quickly drop to zero.

 

[LIONS_FAN2539]

kept turning on and off in the begining, then it just became another thing to worry about, so i leave it on 24/7. whats worse (maybe) losing a few gallons of ale or non-hassle use of the equipment for wich it was designed.
i am interested in what some said on over cabonation. how can you tell?
does it effect the taste?

 

[zinkjaz]

I just set up my keging system, this was very helpful.

 

[buteojamaica]

The only time my tank gets shut off is when I'm brewing (I use Co2 to move all my wort around)

I've recently begun doing that too, its very clean and easier... I even got some line filters, have not used them yet.

 

[Carolina_Matt]

I've gotten into the habit of turning off m co2 when not in use. I'll turn it on briefly when I get home from work, just to top off the kegs (if needed). Then I'll turn it on briefly before bed, after I've pulled a few pints. I don't leave it on otherwise though, just on the off-chance that there's a leak.

 

[day_trippr]

I'll close down cylinders that aren't in use just for GPs, but I never shut any of my gas systems down if they are connected to kegs or fermentors.

No reason to if there aren't any leaks...

Cheers!

 

[fun4stuff]

No need to turn off. Just tighten the connections on both ends of the gas tubes. Bam- no leaks. Sure, you’ll have a random QD or oring go bad on occasion, but it’s not worth the trouble of turning it on and off and getting under carb’d beer

 

[Mutant]

What I would like to see is an electronic device that will shut off the line if the flow lasts longer than a specified time - like 15 minutes. I have had devices fail (inline backflow) where all the CO2 was lost. A beeping sound to notify that the shutoff has occurred would be useful. I have a flow device, but unless you monitor it - it doesn't help.

 

[MikeCo]

CO2 pressure is always on to my kegs.