Leak in the system

[Yourrealdad]

Went to test a tripel that had been on CO2 for about a week and a half and found the regulators all at zero.

I have two kegs on tap the one that had been in there for over a month had pressure in the keg, the new keg had no pressure coming out of the PRV. I assume this means the leak is on new keg?

I got a new CO2 tank and hooked it up and sprayed everything with starsan. I can't find bubbles anywhere. The only thing I changed is I opened the lid on the no pressure keg to truly make sure there was no pressure and then closed it, so maybe the leak was from that lid not seated right? I could have sworn I checked it when I put it on gas.

The only other thing that seems weird is the gas post on the no pressure keg doesn't seem to want to click with the disconnects. I have to push the disconnect down over it manually to make it on, it doesn't click like the others. I checked this with other disconnects to make sure it wasn't the disconnect.
Could this mean it is leaking there? Any way to check that?

Does anyone have any ideas on what I have missed? Sprayed the regulator connection to the tank, hose connections to regulators, keg lid, posts without beer and gas connects on them, tightened all of the hose connections.

Am I good and that was a fluke or is that damn post or whatever going to rob me of a full tank again.

P.S. the beer in the no pressure keg seemed fine. It is the tripel and had plenty of carbonation left in it, if that matters.

Thanks

 

[barnaclebob]

If you wiggle the connection to the QD can you get the leak to appear? What brand of disconnect are you using? I tried the cheap ones once and they leaked because they were a larger diameter by a few thousandths.

By your description it sounds like your manifold has check valves in it, is this correct?

 

[theck]

Dunk the lines and connections in a bucket of water... look for bubbles. With the lid did you use keg lube on it before closing? I sometimes like to purge with 30#s then put it back down to the reg pressure after just so I know I get a good seal.

 

[Yourrealdad]

I don't have a manifold. It is a dual regulator off the tank with one line going into a triple secondary regulator.

QD are from Keg Connection

Yep used keg lube.

 

[acidrain]

you most likely will not be able to detect a high pressure leak with soapy water. The high pressure "blows" the soapy water away, and doesn't bubble. The only way to find those is dunking the entire bottle and regulator in water.
Did you use a new reg connection washer and tighten it really well?
Did you open the tank valve all the way firmly? The tank valve has a seal that bottoms out when you open it all the way, or it will leak.

 

[Yourrealdad]

Lost another tank to this problem. Same beers and kegs on tap. The stout was tapped and pulled it off of gas when it was tapped. so the only thing on gas for the past few weeks was the tripel.

The interesting thing is is that the stout lid without gas seems to leak if I turn it upside down water just comes out. If I turn the tripel keg which doesn't have any real pressure besides what is in the beer upside down there is no leaks. There then is pressure due to shaking of the beer, but that is all.

Getting frustrated.

BTW what are you guys saying about dunking in water? Are you saying I should dunk the entire CO2 tank AND the regulator in water?

 

[day_trippr]

I have 1:4 manifolds in both of my beer fridges and before I installed them I dunk-tested them as shown. On the second one I found three leaks: QD missing the black Delrin gasket under the cap, swivel nut with the nylon flare gasket up-side-down, and the plug at the end of the manifold needed to be totally re-taped.

All that would have been an epic pita to troubleshoot if already installed.

Don't submerge an entire regulator, the gauges will not be happy (the faces are often paperboard). If you have a deep enough tank I suppose you could submerge it down to the gauge faces, and theoretically the regulator(s) shouldn't have a big problem if you keep the system pressurized.

If you suspect a leaky keg, you can use duct tape wrapped around the top rubber to form a pond to fill with water and look for a leak (pressurize the keg first)...

Cheers!

 

[Yourrealdad]

So just messed with the stout lid which seems to not fit well at least under pressure. Leaked on multiple kegs if filled with water, no CO2 and turned upside down. I assume that this means the lid is worthless at this point?

Other lids seem to seal and hold liquid upside down, I assume this is normal and what you want.

Here is what I am not getting. Stout was on tap before the tripel, once the tripel came on tap, tanks died or just coincidence.

I believe I had the stout off gas after it finished and today when I went to clean it (empty keg) it still had pressure, not a lot, but some. Tripel had no pressure except what is still dissolved in the beer, but doesn't have leaking lid.

Doesn't this mean that the leak is either the tripel keg or some where on the line to the tripel?

AGGGGHHHHHH

 

[Yourrealdad]

Day, I don't have a manifold. I have a dual regulator coming off the tank, into a three stage (?) secondary regulator.

How would I go about checking this for leaks?

 

[day_trippr]

Yeah, that would be the epic pita I was referring to.
About all you can do is make up some soap bubble mix, crank the pressure up and brush like a mad man.

It may well be you found the culprit, of course. The leaky stout keg might have dumped nearly the whole tank leaving little to nothing for the tripel.

Finish testing the kegs, test the QDs, kick that stout keg lid to the curb and hope that was the problem...

Cheers!

 

[Yourrealdad]

My only issue with the stout lid being the culprit is it has been disconnected from the gas from the time it kicked?

Also why would the stout keg have pressure left in it at this point, but the tripel doesn't?

I checked the two gas line disconnects and did not see any bubbles.

It seems that I am most likely f'ed

 

[Yourrealdad]

I am not really sure how the pressure and valves work on this system, so hopefully some one can answer this question:

If the leak was from the lid of Keg A will that leak pull CO2 from Keg B leaving Keg B flat as well?

Basically can that leak from Keg A pull CO2 not only from the tank and regulator it is attached to, but also back out through the Keg B and up through its regulator?

 

[Yourrealdad]

So lost another keg again. Decided I have had enough. Pulled everything.

-Tested the two kegs that were on tap. Put them under water above the lid and posts and both had no bubbles.

-Put the tank and regulator under water, no bubbles and probably ruined the gauge faces I presume after reading back that they are paperboard.

-Pulled of the secondary regulator and dunked it. No bubbles.

-The only thing I haven't checked is the beer lines, but I shouldn't have to correct? If they were leaking they would leak beer not co2 right?

Any ideas, cause I am about to start breaking things?

Thanks

 

[Stealthcruiser]

Yes, beer lines leaking would dump beer in your keezer.
When you dunked your primary and secondary manifolds, regulators, hoses, etc........You had had them all @ pressure, ( just checking!), yes?
No leaks from Q/D's, whether connected to the kegs, or dunked non-attached ?

You can dry out your regulator gauges, with a heat gun, ( gently!), or a blow dryer.
Remove the gauge bezels, (they should snap on), hold them face down, and force the warm air within the housing 'til you are happy they are dry.

Sounds as though you've tried everything, and hard for me to troubleshoot any more, without laying hands on it.

 

[gnef]

The only thing to do in my mind, is to isolate each part of the system, and open up pieces one at a time.

For example, test the primary regulator first by turning the valves off that go to the second regulators, turn on gas to pressurize the system, and then turn the tank valve off. Do this overnight, and check the high pressure gauge to see if it has moved. If it has, you know you have a problem with your primary regulators.

If it doesn't move after a day, then open up a single valve to one part of the system, and keep repeating this until you see the high pressure gauge drop pressure overnight. If you have done this systematically, you will know exactly where your leak is.

The other option is just to pressurize when you need to, then disconnect the gas and turn off the CO2 tank. What size CO2 tanks are you running?

 

[Yourrealdad]

Yep, checked the QD both on and off of the kegs. Pressure was on for everything being checked.

I will try just running the primary, but this leak takes sometimes months to take place. I have had these two kegs on for a few months (I know, my real problem is to drink my beer quicker), I checked the regulator about a week or two ago and it was fine, then two days ago, bam done.

I am running a 5lb tank

Thanks for the replies.

 

[gnef]

check your clamps and your tubing then. It sounds like if something moves, it could cause the leak, so push, pull stretch, bend everything, especially around the connectors and clamps. You can spray star san, or do this under water.

What type of clamps are you using? If anything other than oetiker, I would be very suspect of them. I know many use worm drive clamps, but they gave me nothing but problems over time.