Regulator creep...beyond frustrating. Please help?

[Hobanon]

Okay so the other day I set my reg to 8 psi an left it alone. Last night I saw it had jumped to 50!

I did burst carb my kegs at 30 psi for about 48 hrs turne it down to 15 and after that it was dispensing fine, if a little foamy. I realize now that I did not bleed pressure before Hooking up after force carbing.

With kegs disconnected, bottle turned off, all pressure bled from lines, and then the valve to the line shut off, I get a startlingly fast increase in pressure. When I bleed this off and remove the reg, there is a burst of air from the threads that has never happened before. So there is obviously some gas being wrongly held in the wrong place.

I looked in the threaded post that butts up to the tank valve, and there was a gold "disc" that was in diagonally. I re-seated it flush, but I'm still having problems.

With no kegs hooked up, The pressure climbs when the tank is off and the valve to the line is OFF. When it is ON and the tank is off, there is a slower and less significant increase in pressure.

 

[brandonhagen1]

You might have backed beer up in to your regulator you will have to take it apart and clean it dont worry its not hard hope this is the proplem by the way get check valves

 

[IrishBrewer74]

+1 on cleaning it. I had same problem after burst carbing and some dry ice actually came from co2 tank. Pressure spiked on regulator so much that the pressure relief went off. After that it too kept creeping. Set at 12 and it would creep to 20-30 with no keg connected. I eventually got a regulator rebuild kit. They are only a few bucks from kegconnection.com.

 

[DrunkleJon]

When I bought my first regulator i had creep. I was told to purge using the PRV a few times. Then let it sit for a bit and see if it fixed it because apparently oftentimes there is debris in there. You may need to disassemble and clean the reg though if that doesnt work.

 

[Hobanon]

Resolved! For now anyway...I disconnected the gas line and "blew" out the reg which seems to have fixed it completely. After I hooked everything back up, I went to pull a glass and nothing happened. Then I noticed my lines and kegs were frozen...ha! Turns out my temp probe was placed too high in the freezer so I put it in the bottom and turned the controller up to 45 (it was 38 before). Hopefully ill have beer again in a few days...Does anyone think the freezing caused the reg issues? I left my lines hooked up, and I don't want it to happen again. Hopefully they're not related...?

 

[IrishBrewer74]

Its possible since the regulator basically has a rubber diaphragm in it... Rubber will shrink and harden when cold.

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

If your using multiple kegs without multiple regulators you will need a seperate manifold with check valves.

 

[Hobanon]

Wait, why? I know I need A check valve, but why can't I just put one in front of the reg and keep running my Y-line?

 

[IrishBrewer74]

Wait, why? I know I need A check valve, but why can't I just put one in front of the reg and keep running my Y-line?

Yes you can. A manifold is not required.

 

[DrunkleJon]

Resolved! For now anyway...I disconnected the gas line and "blew" out the reg which seems to have fixed it completely. After I hooked everything back up, I went to pull a glass and nothing happened. Then I noticed my lines and kegs were frozen...ha! Turns out my temp probe was placed too high in the freezer so I put it in the bottom and turned the controller up to 45 (it was 38 before). Hopefully ill have beer again in a few days...Does anyone think the freezing caused the reg issues? I left my lines hooked up, and I don't want it to happen again. Hopefully they're not related...?

Part of your freezing problem is it sounds like you are measuring ambient temperature. Tape your probe to the keg. That, or submerge in a water bottle or something> The extra thermal mass of the liquid will give you much better readings on what the beer is as air is an insulator.

 

[lordtakuban]

I realize this is an old thread, but I have been having issues with my regulator as well and noticed some pictures of the gold disc you mentioned being on the tank end of the regulator. When I got my kegerator and misc accessories, that gold disc was loose and I wasn't sure what it was for. So I just put it aside. Now, I'm not so sure that was wise.

What is that disc for? And could I have done damage to my regulator? Any suggestions are welcome.

EDIT:
Here is a picture of the disc I'm referring to...

 

[brandonhagen1]

Put it back on it should be fine unless it is damaged

 

[mmslogic]

I always thought that was a strainer / filter for the gas leaving the tank, catches crap before it hits the regulator. I agree; put it back.

I realize this is an old thread, but I have been having issues with my regulator as well and noticed some pictures of the gold disc you mentioned being on the tank end of the regulator. When I got my kegerator and misc accessories, that gold disc was loose and I wasn't sure what it was for. So I just put it aside. Now, I'm not so sure that was wise.

What is that disc for? And could I have done damage to my regulator? Any suggestions are welcome.

EDIT:
Here is a picture of the disc I'm referring to...