I used to keep the CO2 bottle outside the kegerator but now I keep it inside. I use a dual-regulator so each of the two kegs can have their own pressure; particularly handy when I am force-carbing one at 25 psi while maintaining another at 12 psi.
I thought I had drained a 5 Lb bottle a bit too quickly recently so I pulled the bottle out to change it, and took the opportunity to tighten up the hose clamps on both ends of the two lines leading to the kegs - the clamps were a bit loose so I thought that should've been the problem. I replaced the bottle and put it all back inside the kegerator and set one to 12 psi for the keg I was serving from, and the other to 25 psi for the keg I am force-carbing. 36 hours later the bottle is empty.
I think I've ruled out the lines as they are pretty tight, and I can't imagine my dual-regulator is leaking - it is around 6 years old but has been used gently and has never had a problem - good quality Taprite regulator - always had good luck with their products.
Could it simply be a function of the colder temperature inside the kegerator? Is the contraction of metal parts at 40 F significant enough to cause a slight leak in the system - especially at 25 psi? Is it possible the PRV on the keg is going bad? 5-year old keg - purchased new - dunno the prv rating exactly but I'm pretty sure I've force-carbed in that thing before without such an issue. Or the poppets? I just replaced all the seals before kegging this last brew and the poppet seals looked fine (those seals did not come in my seal replacement bag so I am still using the original ones). Do poppet seals go bad like that, and/or do they not like pressures in excess of 20 or so psi?
Scratching my head on this one. Getting two bottles filled today, and I certainly don't expect a bottle to last 36 hours. I seem to remember getting at least 4 or 5 kegs out of a bottle including force-carbing at 25 psi for 48 hours. Any ideas?
I thought I had drained a 5 Lb bottle a bit too quickly recently so I pulled the bottle out to change it, and took the opportunity to tighten up the hose clamps on both ends of the two lines leading to the kegs - the clamps were a bit loose so I thought that should've been the problem. I replaced the bottle and put it all back inside the kegerator and set one to 12 psi for the keg I was serving from, and the other to 25 psi for the keg I am force-carbing. 36 hours later the bottle is empty.
I think I've ruled out the lines as they are pretty tight, and I can't imagine my dual-regulator is leaking - it is around 6 years old but has been used gently and has never had a problem - good quality Taprite regulator - always had good luck with their products.
Could it simply be a function of the colder temperature inside the kegerator? Is the contraction of metal parts at 40 F significant enough to cause a slight leak in the system - especially at 25 psi? Is it possible the PRV on the keg is going bad? 5-year old keg - purchased new - dunno the prv rating exactly but I'm pretty sure I've force-carbed in that thing before without such an issue. Or the poppets? I just replaced all the seals before kegging this last brew and the poppet seals looked fine (those seals did not come in my seal replacement bag so I am still using the original ones). Do poppet seals go bad like that, and/or do they not like pressures in excess of 20 or so psi?
Scratching my head on this one. Getting two bottles filled today, and I certainly don't expect a bottle to last 36 hours. I seem to remember getting at least 4 or 5 kegs out of a bottle including force-carbing at 25 psi for 48 hours. Any ideas?
