Is this normal loss of CO2?

[Hello]

At 5:30 EST yesterday I racked my room temp beer into a keg, purged it with CO2 a few times by turning the gas to 20 PSI, letting it fill, turning it off, releasing the pressure, and doing that 3 more times.

I turned the regulator up to 25 PSI, I left the bonnet (red part) open, and the manifold was left open over night. The keg was in the fridge since that time.

I realize that I should have let the keg cool first, but that wasn't something I knew beforehand.

This morning I looked at my gauge and I see that the needle moved a lot. It was sitting right at the green line and this is a brand new CO2 tank filled by my LHBS yesterday. Is this a normal amount of loss?

I used a wrench to tighten the regulator at the cylindar which had a nylon washer in it. I also tightened the other "nuts" on the gas line and the manifold. I only have one keg hooked up right now.

I sprayed all over the place with starsan thinking that would show leaks. My keg held pressure fine, it was shipped under pressure as well. O-rings are new, there is no hissing (there was before) indicating gas is coming out, and I think that covers it.

Here's a pic.

 

[geoffm33]

Was the tank in the fridge? If so, have a look at this:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/co2-fridge-pressure-drops-297543/

And regarding the high pressure gauge:

Cover that "high pressure gauge" (which is useless) with duct tape and pretend it's not there.

 

[iowabrew]

geoff may have the answer right there. I freaked out the first time i stuck a full cylinder in my keezer thinking my tank had leaked as well. I was told "if the tank is full, don't pay attention the gauge until its almost reading empty"

 

[geoffm33]

geoff may have the answer right there. I freaked out the first time i stuck a full cylinder in my keezer thinking my tank had leaked as well. I was told "if the tank is full, don't pay attention the gauge until its almost reading empty"

I was told the same thing. Then I checked back the next day and the tank was empty .

Moral: If you are sure there are no leaks, ignore the high pressure gauge

 

[iowabrew]

Yikes, yeah that's no fun. I guess just keep an eye on it, making sure it's not getting lower by the hour

 

[Hello]

Yikes, yeah that's no fun. I guess just keep an eye on it, making sure it's not getting lower by the hour

So you think is there is a problem?

Was the tank in the fridge? If so, have a look at this:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/co2-fridge-pressure-drops-297543/

And regarding the high pressure gauge:

Thank you for that link! Just when I thought I could not read anything else to be more prepared, there is that link. That makes a lot of sense and given my guesstimation of the tank, it is still rather full.

Optimistically, I'm going to say that if I believe I have no leaks then this is all about the gauge being wrong due to the CO2 being in the fridge. I'm more of the type of letting myself ignore the potential of a problem until something leaks, explodes, or runs away.

Thank you.

 

[iowabrew]

you could always weigh the tank too. It should say the empty weight on the side, which i believe is around 7 odd lbs.

 

[geoffm33]

There is a trick I've read about running hot water down the side of the tank to check where the level is. The co2 is liquid in the tank so you should be able to tell where the level is.

Try this thread:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/need-help-co2-tank-problem-70243/#post726601

 

[StLouBrew]

Right after I got my kegerator, I got the CO2 tank filled, kegged & carbed my first batch, and after I had put the CO2 tank in the fridge, freaked :smack: because the high pressure guage dropped so much.. was sure I had a leak. Then Yooper set me straight. You just need to weigh your CO2 tank to see how you're tracking. I'm hoping to get a spare, just so I never need to stress about running it dry.

 

[Hello]

You're all right. It hasn't moved at all during the day. I imagine if I had just stuck it in the fridge off, the needle would have moved. I probably would have still questioned it but that's another story.

Beer is carbing just fine. I'm about to rack another to a new keg, chill it THEN carbonate it.

 

[Paradingbull]

Geoff helped me with the exact situation last week. First time kegging, put a room temp CO2 tank in the fridge, was certain I had a leak I could not find because the high side gauge was dropping so much. Next morning had leveled out, all was well. So much to learn......

 

[Hello]

I regret to say that this is a common question and I didn't even bother to search for an answer. I figured at the very least, I would stop asking questions in the drunkie thread and actually do it right. haha

At least no one blasted me for my total stupidity.

 

[geoffm33]

Glad I could help, I just learned about it the other week so it was fresh in my mind

BTW, I wrote a little guide to searching on HBT. Since the forum search leaves much to be desired (a common forum drawback), there are ways to use Google to aid the search and get better results:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/guide-using-google-search-homebrewtalk-com-460975/

 

[Hello]

I didn't try to search at all actually. I'm very good usually with searches and never use the HBT site to search. I use google and specify the site. It's good. Thanks for the help!

 

[Hello]

Looks like I had a gas leak with the 2nd keg that I was just carbonating at 12 PSI and I think (well know) I had a beer leak on the 1st keg. Not sure why, but I have a small loss of beer, no gas, and it seems the fittings from the gas line to the 2nd keg were super loose. I was sure I tightened them but obviously not. The needle is sitting on the peg and I can once again lift the canister with a single finger.