In-line solution to Prevent CO2 bottle leak down ?

[WesBrew]

piggybacking on this... My keg, half full, started blowing 95% foam, coming out too fast too. did all of the usual. checked post, dip tube and gasket. no issues. cleaned lines and faucets. No change. bled gas out of keg and filled, same fast n foamy pour. Blew gas through the liquid-out on the keg to rule out overcarbonation. no change. 5' vinyl lines at 10/11psi, 3/16id.
Decided to check the keg pressure with a gauge and it read 15psi ! I bled the keg down to zero and did it 2 more times. same 15psi reading at the keg through a spunding valve/gauge although the regulator was set to 10/11.
I disconnected the gas from the keg, turned the bottle off, turned the regulator to zero, bled out the pressure in the regulator with the relief valve, turned bottle on, slowly adjusted the reg up to 10psi. all ok. I then bled the pressure out of the reg with the relief valve and the regulator shot up to 15psi. I did this 5 more times and it would consistently rise 4-5psi over my setting. Thoughts? I'm tapped out, literally.

 

[sibelman]

@Broken Crow ,I'm as to hear you've been regaining mental function, and hope the improvement continues.

My intuition is that a CO2 detector would do the trick if the leak was in a small enclosed space (keezer/kegerator). Less likely to succeed in a kitchen or garage because of how quickly gases mix.

No DIY required, as there are fairly cheap detectors out there.

 

[whoaru99]

@WesBrew

How much CO2 is left in the cylinder?

I've read, but not confirmed myself, some regulators will exhibit output pressure rise as the regulator inlet pressure drops.

 

[WesBrew]

@WesBrew

How much CO2 is left in the cylinder?

I've read, but not confirmed myself, some regulators will exhibit output pressure rise as the cylinder/supply/inlet pressure drops.

It was just filled

 

[WesBrew]

don’t know if I found”it” but checked the last possible thing I could check. Crush washer. Dug it out , put a new one in. I cant repeat the regulator overpressure problem anymore. Reg set at 10psi goes back to 10 when the pressure is released. the gauge on the keg reads about 12.5. That’s closer but not quite. It doesn’t make sense that the washer change on the bottle would help anything but a leak at that spot.

 

[whoaru99]

It was just filled

Possibly the regulator is getting extra cold then acts a bit flakey if you are moving the gas/changing the pressure quickly?

 

[Broken Crow]

@Broken Crow ,I'm as to hear you've been regaining mental function, and hope the improvement continues.

My intuition is that a CO2 detector would do the trick if the leak was in a small enclosed space (keezer/kegerator). Less likely to succeed in a kitchen or garage because of how quickly gases mix.

No DIY required, as there are fairly cheap detectors out there.

Still would be nice to have an inline detector though... I was hoping some mad scientist on here might bite.

 

[day_trippr]

I think a solid gas leak detector would use a vertically-oriented in-line sight glass filled part way with water - like a bubble gauge, only larger. Connected to the output of a regulator, even the tiniest system leak would show up...

Cheers!

 

[sibelman]

This could be a genius innovative answer. Needs to hold pressure too though, yes?

 

[mashdar]

I think a solid gas leak detector would use a vertically-oriented in-line sight glass filled part way with water - like a bubble gauge, only larger. Connected to the output of a regulator, even the tiniest system leak would show up...

Cheers!

Are we talking in-line air lock?

Might also solve the shocking lack of keg air locks.

 

[day_trippr]

Not an air lock. Something like this, only bigger:

This could be a genius innovative answer. Needs to hold pressure too though, yes?

Absolutely. Creating a leak is not a solution to anything

My point about "bigger" is it has to handle expected flows that could be comparatively high and space and height would be needed to avoid having the water conveyed up the gas line to a keg...

Cheers!

 

[sibelman]

This is a cool and low tech alternative to Bracconiere's digital scale method. Not necessarily cheaper, but it's got beautiful bubbles instead of boring red numbers. 😉

 

[day_trippr]

Bracc's scale would take days or even longer to pick up what I think one might see immediately if the bubble thing actually works

If anything the bubbler is going to be sensitive - it's going to pick up carbonation if a keg isn't sitting at equilibrium, for instance, which could mask an actual leak. Then again, that's a multi-keg problem, and if one has a manifold, isolation is a matter of flipping manifold valves. Shut off the gas to a keg that's still carbonating and see if there's still bubbling going on...

Cheers!

 

[mashdar]

Biggest issue may be blowing off all your liquid upon charging a fresh keg. Maybe needs a bypass? Inline ~1psi PRV might work if a 1psi with sufficient capacity exists?

 

[day_trippr]

Right, that's the kind of scenario one would need to avoid. But I think as long as the operator remembers when swapping in a fresh keg that the head space pressure might be below the regulator setting, and to thus use the shut-off valve in between them wisely (ie: start closed and s l o w l y open it), all should be well...

Cheers!