Losing co2 - can't find the leak

[HoppyMaltPoet]

I have been going crazy trying to find a leak in my keg system, and for some reason it keeps eluding me. 2 weeks ago I kegged my ale and put it on air to carb. I sprayed all connections with soap to check for a leak and did not find any. Within 1 - 2 days my newly filled 5lb tank was drained. I refilled the tank, bought a new washer (between tank and regulator), reattached and turned on. I carb'ed for a week without issue. I hooked up my keg tomy keggarator and was fine for another week....now my tank is dead again. I checked the following with soap:

Keg posts
Keg lid
Pressure relief valve
Hoses connected to both in and out QDs
Hose connection to reg
Reg connection to tank
Top of tank (to see if tank was leaking)
Connections to tap
Tap connection to tower

Anything else I should be looking at? ... I am out of ideas.

I hooked up a spare right now but know I don't have much time

 

[Shuasha]

Do you have one way valves on the outlets from your regulators? If yes, was your keg pressurized? That can help narrow down the search.

Also, are you sure your ball lock connectors are sealed properly? I've had the tops of them come 1/2 unscrewed.

 

[501irishred]

In my field (HVACR), intermittent leaks are commonplace and can be frustrating. After a quick shotgun approach on common areas fails to locate anything, it's time to back up and focus your approach. First, make sure your soap is high quality ($3 Dawn vs $0.97 Ajax) and the solution is adequate (about 3 to 1 ratio) to "fill" the underside of fittings (should be thick enough to hold a solid film around entire void and not have "holes"). Now work in small areas at a time and check EVERYTHING while working and moving anything that you can. A shutoff, regulator, hose, connector, may not leak all the time while in a static condition, but may show if you apply pressure to a hose or turn the handle on a valve etc.

 

[HoppyMaltPoet]

Keg was definitely not pressurized. I do not believe the valve is one way. Checked the tops of the connects, and they seem tight and not to be leaking.

I am going to try the dawn solution.

Right now I am using a foam solution...turns to soap suds moment it is spayed. Maybe not as tight, so hopefully dawn soap and some pressure will reveal the issue.

Thanks for the suggestions...hopefully I can get this resolved.

 

[NTXBrauer]

Just a suggestion...fill your bath tub with water and fully submerge the keg. This is one way for sure to pinpoint an active leak. You should be able to get it under water with beer in it. If there is a lot of air space, then not so easy..Good luck with finding it.

 

[BeerGrylls]

Just a suggestion...fill your bath tub with water and fully submerge the keg. This is one way for sure to pinpoint an active leak. You should be able to get it under water with beer in it. If there is a lot of air space, then not so easy..Good luck with finding it.

On order for this to work it would need to be filled with co2, not liquid. Becuase if there's a leak, you want the gas to escape (as bubbles) and not liquid (which may be undetectable).

 

[NTXBrauer]

On order for this to work it would need to be filled with co2, not liquid. Becuase if there's a leak, you want the gas to escape (as bubbles) and not liquid (which may be undetectable).

Pressurized, the air would escape either way. Without liquid, it would be impossible to submerge.

You could float and roll it in the water, with little to no liquid. It may be harder to detect the leak though.

 

[aemckee]

Something that will help the bubbles form is to crank the CO2 pressure up to around 30, then spray your water/soap solution.

 

[SBC]

How about the regulator?

 

[Sheldon]

I lost 2+ tanks to a leak that I could not locate. It turns out the etching on the underside of the regulator body was too deep and the co2 was leaking from the actual etchings of the letters on the underside. My brew buddy found it.

 

[HoppyMaltPoet]

Now work in small areas at a time and check EVERYTHING while working and moving anything that you can. A shutoff, regulator, hose, connector, may not leak all the time while in a static condition, but may show if you apply pressure to a hose or turn the handle on a valve etc.

Thanks. I think I may have found the leak. While spraying, looking, and moving. I put some pressure on the gas in QD and heard the faint hiss of gas releasing. I took the QD off sprayed and no bubbles. I placed the QD back on the gas in, turned on the gas and saw plenty of bubbles leaking out from the gas in post and QD. Moved it around and it would stop, then leak again. Thinking I need to replace the o-ring on this post. Hopefully this solved and thanks again for the info. Keeping my fingers crossed. $45 dollars on a single batch of beer for CO2 alone hurts.

 

[day_trippr]

Sounds like you're hot on the trail.

I read back through again and didn't see mention of keg type (ball lock vs pin lock). It is common for ball lock O-rings to mistakenly end up on pin lock posts, which is a setup for failure as they are thinner. Classic symptoms are very touchy disconnects, such that even modest lateral pressure (from a hose, for instance) can cock the QD enough to cause a leak around the o-ring.

Ball lock or pin lock, disconnects should seat firmly and not leak even with a fair amount of wiggling.

And if you're not using keg lube, give it a try...

Cheers!

 

[HoppyMaltPoet]

All my kegs are ball lock...no pin lock. Always use keg lube.

But you are probably on the money with a touchy disconnect. I am going to replace the o-ring and if that doesn't work the QD.

 

[501irishred]

Thanks. I think I may have found the leak. While spraying, looking, and moving. I put some pressure on the gas in QD and heard the faint hiss of gas releasing. I took the QD off sprayed and no bubbles. I placed the QD back on the gas in, turned on the gas and saw plenty of bubbles leaking out from the gas in post and QD. Moved it around and it would stop, then leak again. Thinking I need to replace the o-ring on this post. Hopefully this solved and thanks again for the info. Keeping my fingers crossed. $45 dollars on a single batch of beer for CO2 alone hurts.

Glad to hear it. At the very least your equipment is now very clean!

 

[zachattack]

I have a keg I just cleaned and replaced the o-rings on. Filled it last weekend, put the liquid QD on a few days ago, found a very slow beer leak from the "out" post. It had a brand new post o-ring with plenty of lube. Looked at the o-ring but couldn't find any defects, replaced it with a new one and hit it with more keg lube. No more leak.

Brand new dual body Taprite regulator, worked fine for a year. Suddenly leaks at the NPT connection between the CGA nipple and the regulator body. I rounded the flats taking the nipple off to re-tape the fitting, so I bought a new nipple for $3, problem solved.

My point is, leaks sneak up on you even after you get comfortable with your system. I make it a standard practice to hit each keg with 30+ PSI outside the keezer, before I put it in to chill. Use star san (or soap), a flashlight, and your ears and really check it thoroughly. Plenty of PRVs will leak if you touch them the wrong way, lids will leak if you have them in backwards, etc.

 

[BeerGrylls]

I have been going crazy trying to find a leak in my keg system, and for some reason it keeps eluding me.

Roll 'er in flour and find the wet spot! No wait, that don' sound right..

 

[HoppyMaltPoet]

So far so good. Pressure is holding good. Thanks for all the suggestions.
It was ultimately a bad oring that did not leak all the time. Only by wiggling the Gas in QD did I see the leak as previously suggested. Thanks everyone!

 

[Handsaw]

I have a gas in disconnect (pin lock) that went bad. It leaked on any keg I put it on and other gas in disconnects didn't leak on any of the kegs so I just replaced the disconnect. I don't see how they can go bad. There is nothing that is pressurized only when it is connected except the part that sealed by the the post O ring. Anyway it is a lot cheaper to replace the disconnect than fill the tank again.

 

[Handsaw]

To check for leaks around the top of the keg try this. Wrap saran wrap and duct tape around the top of the keg and handles to make sort of a bowl and fill that with water then look for bubbles. The keg must be pressurized first of course. This will work with or without beer in the keg.

 

[Jaybird]

Crank the pressure up! Then check it!

30+ psi should do it

Cheers
Jay

 

[paulshe]

after chasing down too many leaks i found the best way is to first confirm the kegs alone are working. I first did the bathtub process but that's a pain. The best way to do this, empty keg, hit with like 30 psi, check with spunding valve. wait 30 minutes check again. I was able to find many slow leaks this way. For the rest of the system I've not really had too many problems. you can also test the keg by keeping the spunding valve on the keg which gives you a sense of the seal for the keg when a gas disconnect is connected.