so many keg problems

[tante]

I opened my freezer today and found about 4 inches of my IPA at the bottom. I think it was leaking from the post. I am starting to think kegging is more trouble than it is worth. I can't get my beers to carbonate well, they all seem to turn out flat and in the past 6 months since I started brewing I have lost 4 CO2 tanks to leaking. I am tired of wasting money and beer. I just feel like I have had every possible problem you can possibly have with a corny happen to me.

Anyone switch to sanky kegs? I am seriously thinking about getting rid of my cornys.

 

[benbradford]

I actually have both, and have had a sanke leak more than corny... It does take some breaking in, but I can't imagine bottling every week. I do like the sanke, because they easily double as a fermenter, and a 15.5 holds more(obviously). As far as carbonating, go ahead and get a second regulator to attach to the first so you can independently control each keg(or at least two), and go ahead and set it at 25 for 4 days or so, and you will carbonate just fine...An even better method if you have time is to set it at 12-14, and go ahead and leave it under gas for two weeks.

btw...I'd be pissed if i lost a keg of beer to the bottom of the fridge.

 

[samc]

Growing pains! I'd say you are not being careful to track down the problems as 4 lost tanks is rather high. Have you disassembled the kegs and checked the poppets to see that they have a good amount of tension? If not you need to replace them. Clean and lube or replace all o rings as well. Buy a container of leak detector from a welding supply company instead of using soapy water and check everything, also consider putting the keg and lines under water to check for leaks. If your beer isn't carbing and you lose tanks you are leaking. Once you get it all sorted out it is a pleasure to use Corny kegs, although I must admit the Sanke connection is better. The trade off for me is in cleaning and visually seeing the inside of the two kinds of kegs.

 

[ChadChaney]

I had some issue too when I started kegging in cornies, but I found that if I broke the keg down, cleaned it well, replaced the Orings and then put it back together, it worked well. One particular issue I had was one post kept leaking, I removed the little insert and just tightened using the post and poppet alone, and BAM, sealed like a charm. I have never had the best results force carbing, tried the set it and forget it and the 30lbs shake and roll, and neither worked for me too well. I am fine with that, I just use priming sugar and use the CO2 to expel air and coat with CO2 and seat the lid. I have never run across an issue with sediment from the priming sugar either, that's just me though. Try filling your keg with water and pressurizing, then spray with Starsan or soapy water to locate the leak, it should bubble. Hope that helps, know how frustrating it can be to wipe $$ and good beer of the fridge bottom..

 

[blizzard]

I went through the it's more trouble than it's worth period. It gets better. First buy some keg lube and use it on all the orings and on the poppets. Then, check every single connection for leaks. After I got a better handle on it, I bought more kegs and finished the keezer and I'm happy I stuck it out.

 

[tante]

guys thanks for the help, just needed to be talked off the ledge last night after losing so much of my beer. So I have 6 corny kegs and two dual body regulators. I think I have had a leak from every place possible:

closure leak - on two different kegs. I lost 2 tanks of gas to this, where I had a good seal and then all of the sudden my tank is empty and I got a new leak here
hose leak - I made longer hoses and had a leak in one, so I lost another tank
relief valve leak - didn't even think I could lose gas here, but lost another tank

and now the new one is beer is slowly leaking from the out poppet all over the bottom of the keezer. I have filled my bathtub with water to check my seals on the corny's and they all worked. So beside this new leak, I think I have all the leaks gone now, but I will try the leak detector stuff, that sounds promising.

As for my flat beer that is more of a surprise. I am using a force carb chart and let it sit for two weeks at my serving pressure and the carbonation is just not there. I have tried the shake method, mostly due to fear that I am gonna have beer all over floor.

 

[manoaction]

Don't forget your star san bottle is great for checking for leaks. Mist your connections with star san and the leaks will blow bubbles.

 

[Gunfighter04]

I went thru the same thing. spend a day and fill up your kegs with water, get a spay bottle of star san and start at the regulator and work out. I was really frustrated also and just spending a day working thru the system made all the difference. Since that day I've had no issues.

 

[tante]

I went from star san to vodka in a spray bottle for checking connections. My new method for looking for leaks is:

1 - fill keg and pressurize
2 - spray vodka and look for bubbles
3 - put the connectors in a glass of vodka and look for bubbles (which also sanitizes them)

 

[JerseyBrewer]

I went from star san to vodka in a spray bottle for checking connections. My new method for looking for leaks is:

1 - fill keg and pressurize
2 - spray vodka and look for bubbles
3 - put the connectors in a glass of vodka and look for bubbles (which also sanitizes them)

You forgot:

4 - drink glass of vodka.

 

[tante]

wow this went from bad to worse. so I didn't have one keg leak, but two. I lost a full 5 gallon batch without tasting it. It leaked from the poppet as well. I'm thinking I am just going to replace all of them on my kegs, or maybe I should just quit homebrewing.

 

[h22lude]

wow this went from bad to worse. so I didn't have one keg leak, but two. I lost a full 5 gallon batch without tasting it. It leaked from the poppet as well. I'm thinking I am just going to replace all of them on my kegs, or maybe I should just quit homebrewing.

Don't stop brewing because of leaking legs. It sounds like you found the problems so now you can fix them

 

[samc]

Poppets can lose the spring tension, can be put in crooked, can be the wrong poppet for the post type or they might just need a bit of keg lube on the rubber seal area.

Somewhere on HBT is a picture of the correct poppet to go with your keg type. Maybe someone can find it for you, I couldn't .

 

[day_trippr]

Perhaps a professional consult is in order? You could pull all the posts and poppets off your kegs and take them to one of the HBS stores fairly local to you and get things sorted out once and for all...

Cheers - and good luck!

 

[samc]

HERE you go, not the one I was thinking of but it should help

 

[Leeds1]

I opened my freezer today and found about 4 inches of my IPA at the bottom. I think it was leaking from the post. I am starting to think kegging is more trouble than it is worth. I can't get my beers to carbonate well, they all seem to turn out flat and in the past 6 months since I started brewing I have lost 4 CO2 tanks to leaking. I am tired of wasting money and beer. I just feel like I have had every possible problem you can possibly have with a corny happen to me.

Anyone switch to sanky kegs? I am seriously thinking about getting rid of my cornys.

I'm having corny issues as well. I thought I had all of my leaks taken care of but I now have one on a new keg of coffee oatmeal porter I just put on. I've sprayed it with soap and star san and haven't found it yet, but my full co2 tank is slowly emptying. Quite frustrating and I guess the next step is to get the leak checker or submerge it in water.