Leaking Corny Keg post

Brewer's Friend 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
beerlover77

beerlover77

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2015
Messages
360
Reaction score
120
Location
parksville
I recently bought this corny keg, just filled it for the first time and the gas post is leaking from the poppet but only with the gas quick connect on the keg... once I remove it, it seals. The quick connect seems a little loose and wiggly when popped on the post.

This Gas post looks a bit different from all my other ones. I removed it and tried 3 different poppets, even tried keg lube but it leaks right out the top. Any suggestions? Replace the whole post? Try a different type of poppet?



keg1.jpg
keg2.jpg
 
beerlover77 said:
I thought so but after you posted this I had a look at it. The new one seemed a bit thicker so went ahead and replaced it. Seems to be ok nowo_O

Oops
Click to expand...

Once the disconnect is on, the poppet can't cause a leak.

I recently had a keg that I just couldn't get a disconnect on without slamming it down. Problem was a "bloated" oring. It'd expanded somehow. The oring I've replaced the most is the ones around the dip tubes. They get squished and the posts don't seal properly.

Anyway, there's a bunch of orings on a keg. Get a bunch of spares of all of them. Also poppets. I did this when I got started, and that $5 of spare parts has saved me from a lot of time and trouble since then.
 
If I'm not mistaken that is a Firestone style post. If that's a Cornelius brand keg, I don't think you'll find a standard poppet that will work. I had that problem with two used kegs that I bought that had Firestone posts on a Cornelius. I always had random sealing problems with them and ended up having to get Cornelius posts.

I've never tried those universal poppets, but that could be a solution.

EDIT: D'oh! I see now that that was not your problem.
 
Last edited:
Exactly what passedpawn said. Get several spare sets of replacement o-rings and poppets. I once lost an entire 20lb CO2 tank of gas the day after i had it filled because i was too stupid or lazy to change more than just the "big" o-ring on a keg. $2 for a replacement set, which i swap every few months is well worth not losing the money on another lost CO2 fill-up.

Have spares and change 'em often.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I actually do have a bunch of different o-rings and thought I had replaced the post one but apparently not. I think I will replace the post after this keg kicks as well just to make everything uniform.
 
brewswithshoes said:
Exactly what passedpawn said. Get several spare sets of replacement o-rings and poppets. I once lost an entire 20lb CO2 tank of gas the day after i had it filled because i was too stupid or lazy to change more than just the "big" o-ring on a keg. $2 for a replacement set, which i swap every few months is well worth not losing the money on another lost CO2 fill-up.

Have spares and change 'em often.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing that story!

Couldn't you hear the gas escaping from the top? It is pretty audable when that puppy doesn't seat properly and it must have had a huge leak to lose #20 of gas!!!
 
beerlover77 said:
Thanks for sharing that story!

Couldn't you hear the gas escaping from the top? It is pretty audable when that puppy doesn't seat properly and it must have had a huge leak to lose #20 of gas!!!
Click to expand...

Didn't really hear anything. i try to make it a practice now to change out all o-rings on a keg after 2 brews go thru it. some may call it overkill but i pick up a 5 pack of o-ring sets for 10 bucks, so i see it as cost effective preventative maintenance. I also make sure i am doing the full spray of star-san on the connections for leaks each and every time a new keg goes on. some may disagree with this, but i've pretty much stopped using keg lube as i think that was actually causing more issues for me. (just dunking the lid in star-san before i do closed transfers keeps the seal "wet" enough for me) knock on wood, but no chasing of any leaks since i've been following this practice.
 
Not to hijack thread, but I have had difficulty removing one of my gas QD's from the post. First I was using two wrenches to pop it off, but found that pushing it down as hard as I can while lifting the ball-lock ring made it come off easily. Thoughts?
 
No need to apologise. My problem appears fixed now. Now on to your....

QD= quick disconnect? I had difficulty like this once and found that I accidentally swapped the gas and liquid posts on the keg so was trying to to force a gas disconnect on/off a liquid post.
Also see the post above where a member had an O-ring swell causing difficulties. A replacement O-ring solved the problem
 
beerlover77 said:
No need to apologise. My problem appears fixed now. Now on to your....

QD= quick disconnect? I had difficulty like this once and found that I accidentally swapped the gas and liquid posts on the keg so was trying to to force a gas disconnect on/off a liquid post.
Also see the post above where a member had an O-ring swell causing difficulties. A replacement O-ring solved the problem
Click to expand...

I am certain I don't have the posts mixed, so I will check the O-rings. Thank you. And yeah... QD= Quick disconnect. Trying to appear smart.... Is it working?
 
I recently replaced the o rings on one of my kegs with a kit I purchased at the local HBS. These were colored red and green. I had a very difficult time connecting the QD. Found that these colored o rings were thicker than the original rings. Changed them out with a different set from different supplier and no problems. Make sure to check how thick the o rings are if you are having trouble with getting the QDs on and off.
 
Now that I think of it, my kit of replacement o-rings had sets for both ball and pin lock. I wonder if I got them mixed.
thanks for the help, guys. You can have your thread back :ban:
 
I have a leak when I connect my co2 up. my keg will hold pressure with the gas disconnected, my gas line holds pressure @ gauge with gas line disconnected and turn off open, when I hook the co2 to the post with in a 2 days all co2 is gone. pin lock keg. help
 
Thebatcave said:
I have a leak when I connect my co2 up. my keg will hold pressure with the gas disconnected, my gas line holds pressure @ gauge with gas line disconnected and turn off open, when I hook the co2 to the post with in a 2 days all co2 is gone. pin lock keg. help
Click to expand...

Had same issue, with two kegs at the same time, actually.

For one, replacing the o rings on the gas post fixed it. For the other, that did not fix it and I realized the leak was coming from where the gas line connects to the gas disconnect. Ironically, it leaked with the clamp in place (oetiker/stepless clamp) but not when I took it off. I do want a clamp on there to hold hose in place, so I cut the hose to start fresh, put a new clamp on, and now it's fine.

They are ball lock kegs/disconnects, but these two possibilities still apply.
 
Your problem could be the PRV in the lid of the keg. I've had that problem with a couple of my pin locks, luckily I had several spare lids and was able to easily swap it out. It was a frustrating problem to find, due to the size of the holes in the PRV. I haven't been able to find the gut of those lids to replace them. They may be out there, but I now have a couple of them with bad PRV's . All of the pin lock kegs are now at least 20 years old, many much older, so this is to be expected. I lost at least three 20 pound bottles before I found the problem, but my problem was compounded by the simple fact that I had nine kegs online, a few kicked over the course of time, so there were new kegs in the equation. Eventually I located what turn out to be two with leaking PRV's. After checking all parts in the CO2 subsystem, I eventually shut off all of the kegs at the manifold and would check each tap to see which one would pour and which ones would not. It about drive me crazy trying to find the leak and resolve the problem. One lid's leak was much slower than the other, so after finding the first one and thinking the problem was resolved, only to have it happen again. It was very frustrating to say the least.

Good luck.

Thebatcave said:
I have a leak when I connect my co2 up. my keg will hold pressure with the gas disconnected, my gas line holds pressure @ gauge with gas line disconnected and turn off open, when I hook the co2 to the post with in a 2 days all co2 is gone. pin lock keg. help
Click to expand...
 
"My keg will hold pressure with the gas disconnected" would rule out a PRV or lid problem and pretty much finger the gas post O-ring or the disconnect or the gas line connections at either end...

Cheers!
 
Dr_Jeff said:
Your problem could be the PRV in the lid of the keg. I've had that problem with a couple of my pin locks, luckily I had several spare lids and was able to easily swap it out. It was a frustrating problem to find, due to the size of the holes in the PRV. I haven't been able to find the gut of those lids to replace them. They may be out there, but I now have a couple of them with bad PRV's . All of the pin lock kegs are now at least 20 years old, many much older, so this is to be expected. I lost at least three 20 pound bottles before I found the problem, but my problem was compounded by the simple fact that I had nine kegs online, a few kicked over the course of time, so there were new kegs in the equation. Eventually I located what turn out to be two with leaking PRV's. After checking all parts in the CO2 subsystem, I eventually shut off all of the kegs at the manifold and would check each tap to see which one would pour and which ones would not. It about drive me crazy trying to find the leak and resolve the problem. One lid's leak was much slower than the other, so after finding the first one and thinking the problem was resolved, only to have it happen again. It was very frustrating to say the least.

Good luck.
Click to expand...
Got a picture of the kids with the bad PRVs? I will be looking for a replacement PRV on a racetrack lid I have and will searching around, maybe I'll see the one you need.
 
mine want leak with the gas line unhooked, keg stays charged and line keeps pressure at regulator with gas turned off, manifold valve open. I charge keg then unhook gas line connector everything is fine, if I leave the line connected I will loose it all in 2 days. So I unhook the gas line from the keg, turn the main valve on, set the regulator @ 20 psi. turn or close main valve off and the gauge will not move for weeks. I have been spot charging as needed and unhooking the pressure line.
 
I work on a remote island in Alaska, all of my stuff is back in Alabama, but they are the standard pin lock kegs with the auto reset pressure relief valve, nothing really to see.

Consider this:
Since you have a racetrack lid, just buy a new one and be done with it.! They usually go for about $15, it should be worth that to get rid of the headaches, go ahead and replace the four o-rings and the poppets and the keg has been refurbished and should be good for 10 years. They were built for soda with and operating pressure of ~60psi and and over pressure setting of ~130psi.

Deadalus said:
Got a picture of the kids with the bad PRVs? I will be looking for a replacement PRV on a racetrack lid I have and will searching around, maybe I'll see the one you need.
Click to expand...
 
Dr_Jeff said:
I work on a remote island in Alaska, all of my stuff is back in Alabama, but they are the standard pin lock kegs with the auto reset pressure relief valve, nothing really to see.

Consider this:
Since you have a racetrack lid, just buy a new one and be done with it.! They usually go for about $15, it should be worth that to get rid of the headaches, go ahead and replace the four o-rings and the poppets and the keg has been refurbished and should be good for 10 years. They were built for soda with and operating pressure of ~60psi and and over pressure setting of ~130psi.
Click to expand...
You are absolutely right, I saw one last night for sale and thought the same.
 
Thebatcave said:
mine want leak with the gas line unhooked, keg stays charged and line keeps pressure at regulator with gas turned off, manifold valve open. I charge keg then unhook gas line connector everything is fine, if I leave the line connected I will loose it all in 2 days. So I unhook the gas line from the keg, turn the main valve on, set the regulator @ 20 psi. turn or close main valve off and the gauge will not move for weeks. I have been spot charging as needed and unhooking the pressure line.
Click to expand...

There are at least two things that could cause this: a bad - or the wrong size - post O-ring (the one on the outside of the gas post); and a plastic gas QD that was plugged on a beer post one too many times and has been stretched (bt/dt, the gas QD I used for purging kegs over the last couple of years and plugged on the wrong post too many times had to be retired - with honors).

Neither a gas post poppet nor the gas dip tube O-ring (the one under the dip tube flange) could cause that syndrome. So it should be easy enough to resolve...

Cheers!
 
Leaking kegs suck. Yesterday I looked in my keg cooler and there was about 2-3 pints' worth of cascade/centennial pale ale on the floor. Pain in the ass! Smelled great in there, though.

Turns out, the liquid post on that keg was loose. I torqued it down, pressurized the keg, and monitored it for a few hours. Seems to be OK now, but I'll definitely be checking the O-rings on that bad boy when it kicks.
 
I recently purchased these ball lock keg post on Amazon but have issues getting them to seal. Anyone have issues installing these?

IMG_9429.JPG
 
I've found those "universal" poppets are universally unreliable. You can go to Chi Company or other suppliers and get proper OEM posts and poppets.
 
At $10 a set i couldn't pass them up. However i guess you get what you pay for. The gas post seems to bottom out against the top of the keg keeping it from sealing completely. The corny post and poppets are almost 1/2 of what a used keg cost which is why i tried these at $10 for a compete set.
 
jturman35 said:
At $10 a set i couldn't pass them up. However i guess you get what you pay for. The gas post seems to bottom out against the top of the keg keeping it from sealing completely. The corny post and poppets are almost 1/2 of what a used keg cost which is why i tried these at $10 for a compete set.
Click to expand...
What company manufactured your keg? Is it originally ball lock? There are thread differences between manufacturers as well as specific inserts sometimes. The posts you are showing are of the style that is sometimes advertised as "universal" but they aren't.

I'm guessing you had issues with your previous posts, what did they look like? They could potentially have been the wrong ones when you got the keg.
 
I recently had 14 used kegs given to me, and I'm going thru them checking for leaks. They are various manufacturers, but one at a time. The first is a Cornelius Super Champion. The only issue on this one was a leaking gas post, and the obvious was the poppet. I successfully changed the o-ring, made a new one from a 1/4" grommet with one side cut off. This is a serious PITA, but it works. (Pepsi type poppet). The next problem was the big gas post o-ring, had a fat red one on there, and it had a nick in it. Used one from the "universal o-ring kit" and it is skinnier, and leaks. Road trip today for a more suitable o-ring.
Next up, a Firestone keg. Everything leaking. Tried the shaved grommet replacement on one of the poppets, but too much spring pressure. (Firestone type poppets).
Tried ordering new "universal" poppets from Amazon, they gave a delivery date of April 25, so I cancelled, good thing, as I read the reviews, most everybody was having problems with these on ball lock posts. Will include LHBS on the road trip today to see what they have, if anything.
 
beerlover77 said:
I recently bought this corny keg, just filled it for the first time and the gas post is leaking from the poppet but only with the gas quick connect on the keg... once I remove it, it seals. The quick connect seems a little loose and wiggly when popped on the post.

This Gas post looks a bit different from all my other ones. I removed it and tried 3 different poppets, even tried keg lube but it leaks right out the top. Any suggestions? Replace the whole post? Try a different type of poppet?



View attachment 554972 View attachment 554973
Click to expand...
I know this is an old thread, but I just bought a used keg with this type of post with the teeth on it. I was wondering what type of wrench you used to remove it?
 

Similar threads

B
Corny Keg Post Question
Replies
23
Views
763
Brew18
B
M
Keg identification and sealing problems
Replies
10
Views
431
mac_1103
mac_1103
SP_Spiff
Dcoupler male to barb to connect gas to corny keg QD?
Replies
5
Views
299
mac_1103
mac_1103
Nagorg
Normal "Leak-Down" During Carbonation... Or leak?
Replies
32
Views
756
Nagorg
Nagorg
WesBrew
In-line solution to Prevent CO2 bottle leak down ?
2
Replies
54
Views
2K
day_trippr
day_trippr

Latest posts

Back
Top