Help diagnose keg issue

[timcook]

New to kegging (4th 5 gallon batch): nothing coming out of the beer line. When I push on the beer poppet, nothing at all. When I push on the gas poppet, beer comes out. I tried to swap out picnic taps, but still no luck. There is CO2 in the tank, i cranked up the pressure for a couple hours. Still nothing.

I know it's not much to go on. Any help is appreciated.

Tim

 

[Smellyglove]

Since beer comes out the gas poppet, maybe you made a mistake and swapped the poppets around? So the gas-poppet is on the dip-tube?

 

[universalfrost]

after you open the keg and verify that you have the short dip tube on the gas side then check to see if your dip tube for the beer side is not plugged or (as often happens to me on dry hopped IPA's) you get the actual poppet plugged and you have to disassemble the beer side and clean out.

also all the cool kids run pin lock so that you don't mix up gas and beer side..

 

[timcook]

I didn't remove the posts from my last batch. I kept the keg intact, cleaned, sanitized & refilled.

I will check with your suggestion in an hour or two. Once I get the kids in bed.

These are ball locks, forgot to mention that.

 

[timcook]

I removed the post & the beer line was clogged with hops. After clearing the dip tube, I had to rinse out the poppet a few times.

Once again, the kindness of those on the Homebrew Talk Forum helped problem solve a situation for me. Now i can enjoy my Peeper(ish) pale ale.

Cheers [emoji482]

 

[universalfrost]

Glad you got it figured out..

I fought with foamy beer for half a keg before I figured out the partial clogged beer post poppet...I was thinking that I had an Issue with a leaky line etc and pulled my hair out almost....only found the partial blockage due to hops particles after I transferred to another keg and was doing a total breakdown of the keg to clean..


Next time if you have lots of particles in your beer put in some fine stainless mesh or screen on the beer side.

 

[ca_baracus]

Hey guys - seems like I’m having a similar problem, but I think this is stemming from my regulator. Still want to talk it through with you though.

My regulator won’t go past 24psi or below 10. When lowering the psi with the adjustment screw, it actually dislodges from the regulator when I hit 10psi.

Kegged my NEIPA on Saturday and it’s been carbing at 24psi at about 39-40°F. Tonight, I got a dribble when after lowering it to 10 for serving. Disassembled liquid post and poppit. Small amount of hop gunk but didn’t seem like enough to clog. Cleaned the dip tube as well. Reassembled, hit it with gas, still dribble or nothing. Swapped the poppits on the liquid and gas posts because I’m literally trying anything to get the beer to pour. Still nothing. Then I take a look at my tubing and see this:

Are you thinking this is the regulator? Bought the kegerator with regulator off Craigslist. There’s a large scuff/dent on one of the dials. Help!

 

[universalfrost]

very well could be the regulator .. i had one from kegco that had similiar issues.. its now relegated to the scrap bin... get yourself a good used or new taprite off ebay for a few bucks (look because often you can get new for same or slightly more than used)... of get one new from one of the sponsors here like kegconnection (i bought my last 4 dial setup from them)

also check your disconnects (assuming you can disassemble them)... ive had my liquid disconnect get plugged too... just like the poppet..

one thing to check before buying or replacing anything is to do a soapy water or star san leak check on the keg and the regulator and any connections... lastly see if anything is wrong with the tap (take it off and verify that nothing is blocking it internally.

 

[ca_baracus]

very well could be the regulator .. i had one from kegco that had similiar issues.. its now relegated to the scrap bin... get yourself a good used or new taprite off ebay for a few bucks (look because often you can get new for same or slightly more than used)... of get one new from one of the sponsors here like kegconnection (i bought my last 4 dial setup from them)

also check your disconnects (assuming you can disassemble them)... ive had my liquid disconnect get plugged too... just like the poppet..

one thing to check before buying or replacing anything is to do a soapy water or star san leak check on the keg and the regulator and any connections... lastly see if anything is wrong with the tap (take it off and verify that nothing is blocking it internally.

Thanks! Just bought a new Taprite on amazon. Should be getting here Thursday. I did the leak test prior to begging and everything looked good. Haven’t tried disassembling the QDs yet, but I can try that when I get home from work. This whole event was such a tease. First kegged batch that is tasting awesome and I can’t enjoy a full pint yet!

 

[mirthfuldragon]

Hey guys - seems like I’m having a similar problem, but I think this is stemming from my regulator. [...] My regulator won’t go past 24psi or below 10. [...]There’s a large scuff/dent on one of the dials. Help!

The gauge is probably trashed and not reading correctly.

 

[ca_baracus]

The gauge is probably trashed and not reading correctly.

Yeah that's what I'm thinking. Hoping the new regulator solves it. It's weird--there's a point in the tubing where the liquid just stops (no actual blockage)... it's like the CO2 gave up pushing the beer out.

 

[smarch0]

If you want to try a "quick fix" on your current regulator, take off all gas tubes up to the regulator. Have it hooked up to your tank with the gas on but red shutoff valve closed. Crank up the PSI then open and close the red shutoff handle a few times. This can blow small bits of dirt out of the gauge and sometimes fix an issue like you describe.

Good luck!

 

[ca_baracus]

If you want to try a "quick fix" on your current regulator, take off all gas tubes up to the regulator. Have it hooked up to your tank with the gas on but red shutoff valve closed. Crank up the PSI then open and close the red shutoff handle a few times. This can blow small bits of dirt out of the gauge and sometimes fix an issue like you describe.

Good luck!

Thanks, I’ll definitely try that tonight. Potentially dumb question - is there a washer between the tank hook up and the regulator? Mine has one that’s particularly “bulky”, as in the diameter of the washer is pretty small. If that makes sense.

 

[universalfrost]

yes some have the washer depending on the style of regulator...

it should be large with a small opening.

 

[ca_baracus]

So none of the above has worked. I guess I’ll have to wait until the new regulator comes. Since I can’t really be sure what psi is going into the keg, would you just recommend leaving it at what the gauge says 20, or bump it back down to what the gauge says 10? I left it overnight last night at 10.

 

[gnef]

Do you have any other gauges to check accuracy?

If not, it may be worth the small investment to get a spare gauge that you can use to check your regulators and low pressure gauges with.

I actually built a test gauge setup using a Wika 4 inch test gauge that is accurate to .25% of span over 60 psi. I have it set to accept a connection from 1/4" NPT, ball lock, and John Guest fittings. I also replaced all my regulator gauges with Winters P9S gauges that are 2/1/2 for accuracy and can be zeroed. I set all of the gauges with the test gauge, and then I'll recheck them annually. This way I can trust the reading on the gauge.

The test gauge is in the center with the P9S gauges surrounding it:

 

[ca_baracus]

Looks cool! I don’t have any other gauges. Brand new to kegging. So earlier tonight I disassembled the liquid post and cleaned that and the dip tube. Still was clogging. I then put the liquid QD on the gas line and gave it a burst. Reconnected everything and it poured well for about 1 second and then clogged again. Would you at this point cut the dip tube or bend it? My siphon from fermenter to keg was really sloppy. Tons of sediment got picked up.

 

[universalfrost]

I would put some stainless steel wool or stainless steel scrubbing material around the dip tube to help filter the trub out...make sure to clean it with pbw and star San or similar first...

That's a cheap and easy fix.....

Next time pay attention to not collecting a bunch of the trub etc from the fermenter...it happens to all of us initially and we learn the hard way..

Might want to look at an in line bouncer type of filter on your siphon when transferring to the keg.it helps to filter the larger particles

 

[ca_baracus]

I would put some stainless steel wool or stainless steel scrubbing material around the dip tube to help filter the trub out...make sure to clean it with pbw and star San or similar first...

That's a cheap and easy fix.....

Next time pay attention to not collecting a bunch of the trub etc from the fermenter...it happens to all of us initially and we learn the hard way..

Might want to look at an in line bouncer type of filter on your siphon when transferring to the keg.it helps to filter the larger particles

Yeah definitely going to be more careful next time. How would you go about getting scrubby material on there?

 

[gnef]

how carbonated is the beer in the keg right now? If it is still fairly flat, you can just rack into a new keg, keeping the debri in the old keg.

If you want an innovative solution, you can get one of those top drawing keg setups that uses a float and a modified liquid dip tube.

 

[ca_baracus]

how carbonated is the beer in the keg right now? If it is still fairly flat, you can just rack into a new keg, keeping the debri in the old keg.

If you want an innovative solution, you can get one of those top drawing keg setups that uses a float and a modified liquid dip tube.

I only have one keg. Hard to tell how carbonated it is because I've only been able to sample about .5 pint total. I have a new regulator arriving today, and although that's probably not the issue here, it's a POS and needs to be replaced. Once I hook up the new regulator, I'm going to try to bend the dip tube up a little bit to give some more clearance off the trub.

 

[universalfrost]

heres another idea...

get a carboy or fermenter bucket and purge with CO2 (assuming that is sanitized first).. then rack the beer into the fermenter with a racking cane / auto siphon.. keep it to only beer and not trub...

then when beer is out of keg and only trub / debris remain in the keg you clean it up and wash out and sanitize. then re-rack beer back in .. will have some oxidation but will solve your issue of too much debris / trub in the keg...

 

[ca_baracus]

heres another idea...

get a carboy or fermenter bucket and purge with CO2 (assuming that is sanitized first).. then rack the beer into the fermenter with a racking cane / auto siphon.. keep it to only beer and not trub...

then when beer is out of keg and only trub / debris remain in the keg you clean it up and wash out and sanitize. then re-rack beer back in .. will have some oxidation but will solve your issue of too much debris / trub in the keg...

Ugh. I think that will be my last resort option. Thanks for the idea. I'll report back later tonight if I can get the flow going by bending the dip tube.

 

[ca_baracus]

Guys. Finally. Bending the dip tube did the trick.

Thanks for all your input.

 

[universalfrost]

Now get another keg or five....

Seriously get some more..

Keg connection or several other places like aih sell refurbished kegs cheap and you can get a three or four pack for a great price

 

[ca_baracus]

Now get another keg or five....

Seriously get some more..

Keg connection or several other places like aih sell refurbished kegs cheap and you can get a three or four pack for a great price

Hah yes, I will build the stock pile up.

 

[universalfrost]

As i mentioned previously about steel wool or some mesh on the end of the dip tube. No more poppit clogs!

Here's one example of this line out.

https://www.homebrewing.org/Corny-Keg-Dip-Tube-Screen_p_2091.html

 

[ca_baracus]

I'm getting basically no head on this beer, although it's carbonated. The serving pressure is 8-9psi right now. Do you think this has to do with all the tinkering (pressurizing, de-pressurizing, etc.) I've had to do to get the beer to flow? Will it get some more head with time? Increase the psi?