Pressure limit of mason jars?

[petrolSpice]

Has anyone tested a mason jar under pressure (not vacuum) to see if it will handle carbonation pressure without leaking or exploding? I think it's around 30-40psi.

I know they are meant for vacuum, but I want to use one as a test jar to know when my beer is done carbonating (let alone carbonating at all).

The mason jar is nice because it's easy to clean, has a decent seal, and is easy to install a pressure gauge into.

I'm thinking about pressure testing one to failure, in a safe environment of course, and/or under water to detect leaks.

 

[timdillon36]

The lids have failed first in my experience. I doubt it will hold much pressure.

 

[Kjay]

Why not use a PET bottle? And use the rudimentary squeeze test? When I used to bottle I would bottle 3-4 bottles using plastic bottles. Using plastic bottles every 10-12 bottles to know where in the bucket the beer was from. I would be able to check femenation as the bottle would get harder. Pretty crude but did the job.

 

[alexnova]

I imagine it will hold some pressure, but the weak link is the lid and the screw top ring. My gut feeling is it won't hold anything close to 30psi.

 

[cshamilton]

As Kjay said - use PET. Clean and sanitize a used 16 oz pop bottle and cap. Not pretty, but it works. Mason jars are not meant to hold pressure.

 

[BudBernerBrewer]

another agreement with Kjay

 

[PurpleJeepXJ]

I actually have tested this!! I tried to use a mason jar as an inline hop infuser on my draught system. The ring would stay on the jar and not blow off, but I was not able to get the glass over about 3 or 4 psi. Now I was using quart jars which could have been the problem. You may be able to use an 8oz or smaller jar with better results. Though, as a disclaimer, I DO NOT RECOMMEND PRESSURING A GLASS JAR!! IT CAN AND WILL BREAK AT UNKNOWN TIMES AND WILL SEND GLASS SHARDS FLYING!!

 

[Auger]

The lids have failed first in my experience. I doubt it will hold much pressure.

This is accurate. I tried pre-mixing a bunch of whiskey and gingers one time and put them in mason jars in a backpack. I got about 15 steps before the agitation from walking gassed up the soda to the point where the lid deformed and started leaking. The lids are not robust enough to hold any kind of pressure and deform easily. That may be by design to prevent a dangerous situation of a glass vessel building up enough pressure to burst.