Kegging Pressure Problem

[msu09]

Hello all,

I've been brewing for a little while now and have just got around to kegging up my beer. I purchased a keg from my lhbs and have been problems with it keeping it's pressure.

When I first bought the keg I took it all apart and cleaned it up. I replaced the O ring and installed that right away. After this, I was still having a hard time setting a seal. In order to properly set a seal (so no bubbles would come out of a water/soap solution poured on top) I had to pull up on the handle and put almost 40 psi on the keg. After doing so, however, I was able to set a seal that seemed to set.

Last night I transferred over a batch of an American Amber Ale that I had in the carboy for a month. I decided to naturally carb it up and put in 1/3 cup of corn sugar in the bottom. After transferring on top of the corn sugar I was able to get the seal set with 40 psi of pressure.

This morning (12 hours after kegging) I gently pressed on the keg lid and it came unpressurized. I hooked up the co2 again in order to attempt to reset the lid and was able to do so. Is this a major leak issue (It's not coming out of the posts/lid as far as I can tell)? Am I screwed?

Also, when putting pressure on the keg I am having a problem with it shooting co2 out of the line when the keg is full of pressure. Instead of regulating the pressure and keeping it in the line when the keg is full it will shoot out of the nozel when the keg is connected. Any ideas why this may be? Is the regulator crap? I have a co2/argon regulator from harbor freight.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Lucky_Chicken]

The lid problem could be the caps on the bar that holds the lid up. New ones will pull up harder and could help. Other than that look at the metal surfaces and check for damage, any dents or scratches will be problems.

on the line... gona need more info. What is the nozel?

 

[guythatlikesbeer]

The lids to those corny kegs seem to fit one direction slightly better than the other. Try rotating them 180 degrees. You may also have gotten a bad set of seals.
The kegs I ordered from www.kegconnection.com came with a new set of seals and an extra set as well.

 

[msu09]

The caps on the bar are slightly worn, but I could get a good seal by pulling up on the lid. Does the keg necessarily need that additional pressure in order to stay pressurized? I assumed that the pressure within the keg would be more than enough to keep it at it's desired state.

When the gas runs into the tank initially I can hear the sound of it filling. Once it is full of co2 (which I should be able to tell by sound) the corny keg pin lock fitting will begin shooting co2 out into the environment, instead of the keg. I'm thinking that it may be an issue with either the fitting, the poppet, or the regulator itself. Any ideas?

 

[Lucky_Chicken]

that sounds like an issue with one of the fittings. keg side, or line side. Your gage should be able to tell you if your regulator is putting more pressure than you want.

Yes the pressure in the keg should hold the lid closed, but if its leaking there wont be any in there. if you are keg conditioning and bleeding off co2 after the lid is sealed it wont take much to push the lid down to get it to leak.

 

[msu09]

The low pressure gauge tells me that I am putting in a certain psi. I have to put 40 psi in order to seat the lid. I've read this this isn't uncommon. I'm more worried about a slow leak that made my lid unseat this morning. I'm afraid that if I un latch the lid top to check if it is sealed that it will come unsealed. Any idea of how to check otherwise?

I am keg conditioning with sugar and only want the sugar in there to set the seal.

The bigger problem that I have, however, is that it starts to blow off co2 once the keg is full of co2. It will blow out strong enough for me to feel and hear it. Am I wrong in assuming that the pressure should equalize and be able to stay connected (and on)? I'm more worried about this when I'm dispensing.

 

[Lucky_Chicken]

OOOO sorry I missunderstood. soapy water... I use windex but any soapy water will work. Look for bubbles

Yes it should not leak when it is hooked up or unhooked. can you tell which joint it is leaking from? (soapy water will help with this also) it does not sound like a regulator issue.

 

[msu09]

It's not really leaking from any posts/joints. When the keg is full it's almost as if the poppet pushes up and will not allow any more co2 in. Co2 will then leak out of the connection place between the poppet and the pin lock fitting.... An idea if it's a poppet or regulator problem?

 

[jww9618]

Try twisting the gas in pin lock disconnect. Not the part connected to the keg, the top part. I have found them to be very fragile. Even a small bump and CO2 will sometimes start leaking.

 

[Special Hops]

Did you use keg line?

If you pressurize the beer will absorb the pressure. So unless you leave it hooked up it's gonna absorb the co2 and drop pressure.

 

[msu09]

I'm using line that i bought at my LHBS. I decided to naturally carb with sugar (1/3 cup) and set the lid with 30 psi (I'd do less if I could). I figured that it would stay pressurized because I set the seal with the pressure and it was creating co2 from the sugar. From everything that I read this should work (Joy of Homebrewing/various online articles).

It's possible that it is a problem with the fitting... but I have no idea. It just seems to shoot out co2 as soon the keg is filled when it should keep the pressure that it is set to.

 

[Lucky_Chicken]

so you are saying it leaks from the poppit after you unhook the gas line? If thats the case there is an oring on the poppit. when it is hooked up the o ring on the outside of the post should be sealing it.

 

[msu09]

I've figured it out. I had a leak at the connection between the hose and the fitting. I hadn't tightened the o ring enough. When the pressure was too great it went at the point of least resistance. Thanks for all of the help!

 

[msu09]

Another problem... they just seem to keep rolling. I have a regulator from harbor freight. When I open up my regulator and the tank valve to 40 psi there is a distinct hissing that comes from the regulator. Mind you, the tubing and post lock fitting are not connected to anything (and aren't leaking for once!). The piece at the bottom of the regulator is forcing co2 out. It also seems to be leaking co2 very slowly as well. The last time that I turned off both valves the pressure stayed at about 30 psi. It dropped 5 pounds in 5 hours. I'm assuming that it's coming out of the bottom piece. Any ideas as to why this is the case?

This is my regulator: http://www.harborfreight.com/regulator-gauge-94841.html

 

[day_trippr]

I doubt you're actually applying "40 psi" to anything.

Do you realize that welding regulator has a flow gauge and not the low pressure gauge that a regulator intended for serving beer would have?

Cheers!

 

[msu09]

Hm... I did not. Sorry... I'm new to kegging. Will that drastically change anything on my end? Sorry if this is a stupid question, I'm just unsure.

 

[day_trippr]

Sorry, but it changes pretty much everything. If you can return it for full credit, do so, and get yourself a proper regulator...

Cheers!

 

[kevin476]

Yup, thats not a pressure gauge, really you need to know the pressure your putting in your keg. The hi pressure gauge that tells you C02 tank psi is pretty much useless. and BTW I would NEVER buy something from harbor freight. For a little more $ you could have got a pretty nice setup (and the correct one) from a home brew shop.http://stores.kegconnection.com/Detail.bok?no=269

 

[msu09]

Someone else bought it for me and I had no idea. I'll probably end up getting another one online somewhere. Just to be curious, what is the major difference between the one that I have and a different regulator?

 

[kevin476]

In the regulator? Nothing. Some have a single gauge, its the gauge that show what pressure you have in your hose/keg. Now some have 2 gauges but the extra gauge shows the pressure in your C02 tank. You dont really need this one because who cares how much psi is in your tank. The gauge on yours shows how much gas is flowing out which is usefull for welding. really all you need is a 0-60 gauge to replace your flow gauge but a qulaity gauge would probably be somewhat expensive, Id try to return the reg you have if you can. Good luck!

 

[msu09]

Bumping an old thread with two new similar questions. I'm having a get together this weekend and I'd like to share my brew that is currently in the keg. I naturally carbed it last Tuesday and would like to use it this Saturday.

1. Would it be possible to apply pressure and finish carbing up the beer before Saturday? If so, how much/how long do you guys think?

2. I've ordered a new regulator from Morebeer but I won't get it for a while. Can I possibly use the welding one that I currently have to presurize/ push out that beer?


Thanks!

 

[day_trippr]

You could certainly get a low-risk jump towards fully carbonating the brew by applying the appropriate pressure for the desired volumes of CO2 verses the beer temperature, rocking the keg for 10 minutes or so, then leaving it on the gas. Of course, if the yeast haven't fully digested the priming sugar, you could end up a bit on the high side, but you could always burp the head space to bring the carbonation back to the desired level (I'd recommend pouring a test pint the day before the event to give you some time to tune it up).

The problem with using a welding regulator is you'll have no idea of the actual gas pressure you're applying to the keg, as that kind of regulator has a flow meter in place of a low pressure gauge...

Cheers!

 

[msu09]

Thanks! I was worried that I'd have too much carbonation. By burping the headspace, do you mean bleeding off a little bit while it's having pressure applied to it? Sorry if that's a stupid question...

 

[day_trippr]

Thanks! I was worried that I'd have too much carbonation. By burping the headspace, do you mean bleeding off a little bit while it's having pressure applied to it? Sorry if that's a stupid question...

I mean shutting off the gas from the regulator, then releasing the pressure from the keg (via the pressure relief if your keg has one, or by removing the gas quick disconnect and pushing in the gas post poppet if your keg doesn't have a relief valve).

Subsequently, the beer will release some CO2 into the head space to equalize it, which you can again release, thus over time you can bring the amount of dissolved CO2 down to the desired level...

Cheers!

 

[msu09]

Thanks for the info!

I just found out that my beer regulator won't be here until Tuesday. Any idea how I could convert/safely use the welding regulator that I have sitting around to force carb and push out beer until then? I really want to share my beer on Saturday...

 

[day_trippr]

Thanks for the info!

I just found out that my beer regulator won't be here until Tuesday. Any idea how I could convert/safely use the welding regulator that I have sitting around to force carb and push out beer until then? I really want to share my beer on Saturday...

The safe way would be to swap out the flow meter for a low pressure gauge. Otherwise you'll be totally winging it wrt how much CO2 pressure you're putting in the keg...

Cheers!