Keg losing pressure at lid

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brewmeister13

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I picked up a used 10 gallon keg recently and am having problems getting the lid to seal. When I bought it the guy told me it has a flat spot along the lip, but that he could get it to hold pressure. If I blast it with 15-20 psi it will seal. However, once it gets below about 10 psi it starts hissing and leaking again until the pressure is completely gone.

It wouldn't be a big problem for me if I were using it to serve beer, but I picked it up to ferment in and would like to get it to seal under no pressure. I've got a few ideas, but I'm not sure if any are actually feasible (like a thicker, slightly more pliable O-ring). Anyone have any ideas?
 
I would look for a thicker, more pliable O-ring...

Cheers! (Seriously, without even a picture to peruse, what did you expect? ;))
 
Use a little food grade lube on the o-ring prior to sealing
Pressurize with 20 – 30 psi initially then back off the pressure
Twist the lid back and forth under pressure to find the “sweet spot”
 
If there are any noticeable dents/deformations around the part of the keg or lid where the o-ring touches, I would hammer them back as close as possible. I had to do this on a few kegs.

Second is to try using keg lube. Some of my more "used" kegs will not seal at all without keg lube, but they seal just fine with it.

And finally as someone else previously mentioned you can try putting some coins or washers under the feet to create more pressure. If the coins work you can try bending the feet down so you don't have to use coins every time.
 
Thanks everyone. I tried the coins and it helped a little, but didn't fully solve the problem. I also can't bend the feet on this one. It is an old pepsi model and has a different shaped lid and uses a slightly different type of lid too. I had to press this into service for a recent fermentation, so it currently has beer in it or I would post up some pictures too. I did try keg lube and actually used quite a bit of it to fill the gaps around the lid. I'll try hammering the lid back into shape as soon as it is empty.
 
Use a little food grade lube on the o-ring prior to sealing
Pressurize with 20 – 30 psi initially then back off the pressure
Twist the lid back and forth under pressure to find the “sweet spot”

I have one bad keg and this is the trick. I apply 20-30 psi of pressure before closing the lid. Do not close the lid bail until it stops leaking CO2.

If that doesn't do it then the lid/keg has major problems.
 
Got my o-ring in today. Worked perfect for me. Swapped out the rings and now it seals up without any pressure. Thanks day_trippr
 
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