I just kegged my first batch today, and I'm having a bit of trouble. After filling the keg, turning the gas on to 30 PSI, purging the headspace, and shaking it for a few minutes, I left it in my chest freezer set to 38 degrees.
I checked on it a few hours later and heard a faint hissing, and got a whiff of CO2, so I sprayed some Starsan all over and discovered a slight leak coming from the gas-in connecter. Tightened that up with a screwdriver and that killed the hiss and the bubbles.
Checked on it a few hours later, and no longer heard a hiss but was still getting that dizzying CO2 whiff from the cooler and noticed that my newly filled CO2 tank is now reading about half full. Spray Starsan all over and nothing. No bubbles anywhere; no hissing. However, it seems like there is an ever so slight amount of beer coming out of the picnic faucet. I tighten that as much as it will allow. I actually tried to tighten it with vice grips, but putting too much pressure on the plastic just makes beer spurt out of it, so I just tightened it by hand. Put it in a glass of water, and there was clearly bubbles and beer flowing out, so I just disconnected the beer-out altogether. I'm assuming it isn't necessary for it to be hooked up while it's carbing, anyway.
Is it normal for the picnic faucet to leak slightly like that under high pressure, or is it possible I just have a faulty faucet? Everything was brand new (except the keg) and used for the very first time today. Is it possible that when I bring the pressure down to serving level (9 or 10 PSI) that it will alleviate the issue, or is it more likely that it's just not a good faucet?
I checked on it a few hours later and heard a faint hissing, and got a whiff of CO2, so I sprayed some Starsan all over and discovered a slight leak coming from the gas-in connecter. Tightened that up with a screwdriver and that killed the hiss and the bubbles.
Checked on it a few hours later, and no longer heard a hiss but was still getting that dizzying CO2 whiff from the cooler and noticed that my newly filled CO2 tank is now reading about half full. Spray Starsan all over and nothing. No bubbles anywhere; no hissing. However, it seems like there is an ever so slight amount of beer coming out of the picnic faucet. I tighten that as much as it will allow. I actually tried to tighten it with vice grips, but putting too much pressure on the plastic just makes beer spurt out of it, so I just tightened it by hand. Put it in a glass of water, and there was clearly bubbles and beer flowing out, so I just disconnected the beer-out altogether. I'm assuming it isn't necessary for it to be hooked up while it's carbing, anyway.
Is it normal for the picnic faucet to leak slightly like that under high pressure, or is it possible I just have a faulty faucet? Everything was brand new (except the keg) and used for the very first time today. Is it possible that when I bring the pressure down to serving level (9 or 10 PSI) that it will alleviate the issue, or is it more likely that it's just not a good faucet?