Keg not holding pressure over time

[aekdbbop]

I have a few kegs, and it seems like I can carb them up, put them under pressure.. and then leave them for a while..

when I come back to them.. there is no pressure when i pull the relief valve.

I figure either there is a small leak somewhere (which i dont think, because my tank stays full when attached) or the beer absorbs what i put in there..

is this normal? is there a step i am missing?

thanks guys..

 

[Jared311]

What psi are you carbing at? Did you replace all the rings on your kegs?

If you have an empty keg, you could wipe it down with soapy water and then carb. If there is a leak, you should notice little bubbles forming. Pay attention to around the valves and lid.

 

[conpewter]

Do you leave the gas connected to the keg for a few days to a week to carbonate it? If you just blast it with Co2 and then disconnect it, the beer will absorb the Co2 and you will have very little pressure in the keg.

 

[aekdbbop]

yeah, they are carbed up first.. 30ish for a few days.. then i release and put under serving pressure.. however, if i disconnect for a week or so, they have no pressure.

 

[eriktlupus]

sounds like a slow leaker

i've got one that does the same thing thats gonna get rebuilt after it kicks this time

 

[david_42]

I have one keg that will not hold a low pressure, but is fine around 30 psi. I think it's a problem with the relief valve, but my solution is to use it for soda water.

 

[aekdbbop]

sounds like a slow leaker

i've got one that does the same thing thats gonna get rebuilt after it kicks this time

yeah kinda, except you would think my tank would be empty quick, right?

 

[eriktlupus]

not really if the gas in poppet is leaking/not sealing then when you unhook the tank the poppet is letting gas escape past the oring

 

[conpewter]

not really if the gas in poppet is leaking/not sealing then when you unhook the tank the poppet is letting gas escape past the oring

Exactly, I had a keg like this and replaced the poppet and works fine now. I also had one that was a slow leaker through the pressure relief valve, swapped it for a spare.

 

[fezzman]

I have a keg like that...and a new poppet on its way in the mail. I got the keg from craigslist and thus far have only had it filled with sanitizer. Everytime I'd go to flush lines with it, the previous pressure was gone.

I simply put soapy water on each of the posts and saw that I had a leaky poppet. Upon taking it apart, it was plenty obvious that the seal on that poppet was shot. As Jared said, give the soap a shot.

 

[aekdbbop]

coolio.. i never think about those poppets..

thanks for the info