Spunding valve: pressure relief valve not accurate? Slow leak too

[fun4stuff]

So pressure relief valve of my spunding valve does not seem to be accurate. It has a range of 0-100 psi. When i open it, gas will start coming out at around 15-30 psi when pressure on gauge reads 10 psi. Is this typical?

Also i have a slow leak. If i pressurize spunding valve by connecting to co2 (eg 10 psi) and then disconnecting, it will slowly drop in pressure (eg to 9 psi) over a few hours. I used sealant tape on all connections, tightened everything, have a hose clamp on barb. I’m not sure where the leak is coming from, other than perhaps the gauge. It seems cheap and i think there is a very small crack in clear plastic face of it; sprayed soapy water on everything and see no soap bubbles though.



I built the spunding valve with following parts:

Control Devices CR Series Brass Pressure Relief Valve, 0-100 psi Adjustable Pressure Range, 1/4" Male NPT https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007GDY3CU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_WNxqEb4HJRK8G

Anderson Metals 57001-0404 Brass Hose Fitting, Adapter, 1/4" Barb x 1/4" NPT Male Pipe https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002SAO7XQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_5QxqEbEMS6A10

HFS (R) TEE Fitting - Female FNPT 3-Way Tee Stainless (1/4" Female NPT) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01L2Y4LAW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ARxqEbRVHEJTS

 

[Robert65]

Those spring poppet type PRVs are notorious. Ignore the markings on the stem, only pay attention to your pressure gauge. The markings are practically meaningless. As for the slow leak, that's another notorious failing of these types of valves. I've built and discarded a number of spunding valves like this, before I stopped wasting money and effort and started using the Kegland Blow Tie valves, assembled with Duotight fittings, all available from William's Brewing. These are diaphragm valves that are much more precise and reliable. You may also look to other sources, but in general, what you want is a precision diaphragm valve.

 

[fun4stuff]

Those spring poppet type PRVs are notorious. Ignore the markings on the stem, only pay attention to your pressure gauge. The markings are practically meaningless. As for the slow leak, that's another notorious failing of these types of valves. I've built and discarded a number of spunding valves like this, before I stopped wasting money and effort and started using the Kegland Blow Tie valves, assembled with Duotight fittings, all available from William's Brewing. These are diaphragm valves that are much more precise and reliable. You may also look to other sources, but in general, what you want is a precision diaphragm valve.

cool, will do. Thanks

 

[Dustin_J]

Just for another data point, I've had 2 of these setups for about 6 months and one has already developed a slow leak. Time to move on

 

[fun4stuff]

Homebrewfinds lists an eBay seller selling the Kegland spunding valve mentioned above for $28 + free shipping. Cheaper than it was for me to build the one above.

Luckily the parts above from amazon have free return.


https://www.homebrewfinds.com/2019/...ve-complete-assembly-28-99-free-shipping.html

 

[Carolina_Matt]

Homebrewfinds lists an eBay seller selling the Kegland spunding valve mentioned above for $28 + free shipping. Cheaper than it was for me to build the one above.

Luckily the parts above from amazon have free return.


https://www.homebrewfinds.com/2019/...ve-complete-assembly-28-99-free-shipping.html

Is the vendor Lion Brewing? (I can't access the link from work). If so, that's the one I bought. I bought 2 of them and they both work great.

 

[fun4stuff]

Is the vendor Lion Brewing? (I can't access the link from work). If so, that's the one I bought. I bought 2 of them and they both work great.

Yes it is. Cool, thanks for the feedback.

 

[Dustin_J]

Homebrewfinds lists an eBay seller selling the Kegland spunding valve mentioned above for $28 + free shipping. Cheaper than it was for me to build the one above.

Luckily the parts above from amazon have free return.


https://www.homebrewfinds.com/2019/...ve-complete-assembly-28-99-free-shipping.html

Just bought 2 of these from the ebay seller - thanks for the link!

 

[Yesfan]

Those spring poppet type PRVs are notorious. Ignore the markings on the stem, only pay attention to your pressure gauge. The markings are practically meaningless. As for the slow leak, that's another notorious failing of these types of valves. I've built and discarded a number of spunding valves like this, before I stopped wasting money and effort and started using the Kegland Blow Tie valves, assembled with Duotight fittings, all available from William's Brewing. These are diaphragm valves that are much more precise and reliable. You may also look to other sources, but in general, what you want is a precision diaphragm valve.

I've experienced the same thing with the two I built a few months ago. I can't return any of the items to Amazon, so could I just replace the valve portion of my assembly with the Blow Tie?

 

[Robert65]

Hmm, probably. What is your tee? If it's 1/4 FPT, easy peasy. There's a Duotight 1/4 MPT x PTC adaptor https://www.williamsbrewing.com/Duotight-8mm-NPT-Adapter-P4746.aspx then you could attach the Blow Tie https://www.williamsbrewing.com/BlowTie-Diaphragm-Spunding-Valve-P4686.aspx with a short piece of 8mm EVA barrier tubing, and William's even has that in short bits https://www.williamsbrewing.com/8mm-Tubing-Joiner-Piece-P4812.aspx

 

[fun4stuff]

Got my Kegland spunding valve today. At first it was not working- could not get it to release its pressure. Then i noticed they had the T connected to the wrong side of the red BlowTie valve. In case anyone else has the problem, there is an an arrow on the blowtie valve that should point away from the T.

 

[fun4stuff]

Well i must have bad luck with these spunding valves. This new one from Kegland also has a very slow leak.

i hooked it up to one of my kegs last night and pressure read 12 psi. I unhooked it and it still read 12 psi (valve completely closed). Overnight gauge dropped to 5 psi.

Edit:
I replaced the connecting beer line of the spunding valve with longer pieces. Tightened QD. Will see if that fixes it.

 

[Carolina_Matt]

Did you use plumbers tape around the gauge? I vaguely recall having a leak when it was initially assembled. Once I used plumbers tape and really tightened the gauge, it was fine.

 

[fun4stuff]

Did you use plumbers tape around the gauge? I vaguely recall having a leak when it was initially assembled. Once I used plumbers tape and really tightened the gauge, it was fine.

it’s pushes into the duo
tight fitting without any thread. Still use plumber’s tape?

On my other spunding valve that has threads, i used that white plumbers tape on all threads and still had leaks there too

 

[Robert65]

it’s pushes into the duo
tight fitting without any thread. Still use plumber’s tape?

On my other sounding valve that has threads, i used that white plumbers tape on all threads and still had leaks there too

No. No tape on any PTC fittings. Tape or other measures will just interfere with the designed function of the fittings.

 

[fun4stuff]

I wonder how others are testing these for leaks. If i left it connected to a keg, the leak is so slow that i may not have noticed it.

 

[Spikybits]

I wonder how others are testing these for leaks. If i left it connected to a keg, the leak is so slow that i may not have noticed it.

Build your spunding valve, pressurize it, and put it in a bucket of water. you will see a slow bubble form from the PRV - you have the same PRV i have, i just returned a new one to amazon due to it leaking. slow tiny bubble every second or so.

 

[fun4stuff]

Build your spunding valve, pressurize it, and put it in a bucket of water. you will see a slow bubble form from the PRV - you have the same PRV i have, i just returned a new one to amazon due to it leaking. slow tiny bubble every second or so.

yeah, i lucked out for that PRV. When i went to return amazon said they would send me a new one and didn’t have to return the old one. I’m still waiting on the new one to arrive.

 

[Spikybits]

yeah, i lucked out for that PRV. When i went to return amazon said they would send me a new one and didn’t have to return the old one. I’m still waiting on the new one to arrive.

same deal with me - tried to return but they just sent me a new one without asking for a return. i was unable to fix the leaking one

 

[fun4stuff]

same deal with me - tried to return but they just sent me a new one without asking for a return. i was unable to fix the leaking one

Well my new PRV came in the mail today. Something is still leaking. I’m dipping both my spunding valves in water to see where the leaks are coming from. Very slow leak. Can’t tell yet.

i went a message to lions brewing. They said to initiate a return through eBay, which i did. Here’s hoping..:

 

[Dustin_J]

Got my Kegland spunding valve today. At first it was not working- could not get it to release its pressure. Then i noticed they had the T connected to the wrong side of the red BlowTie valve. In case anyone else has the problem, there is an an arrow on the blowtie valve that should point away from the T.

LOL, both of mine were like this too. I'm sorry to say that it took me a few minutes of head scratching to sort it out

 

[Robert65]

Having plenty of EVA barrier tubing and various Duotight fittings on hand must of the time, I put together spunding valves just by ordering the individual parts needed -- Blow Tie, gauge, tee, adapter, whatever. It works out to about half the price of buying the pre assembled ones off Ebay or elsewhere, and if some idiot got the arrow backwards, I know exactly who it was. [emoji6]

 

[fun4stuff]

LOL, both of mine were like this too. I'm sorry to say that it took me a few minutes of head scratching to sort it out

Are yours leaking? Like if you connect to gas then disconnect, do they hold pressure?

The one i got has a slow leak. Loses like 0.5 psi per hour. So I’m exchanging it.

But i have the evabarrier tubing on and a couple extra gas QDs. I’m thinking i should just order the gauge and T and put one together myself if the next one leaks.

 

[fun4stuff]

Having plenty of EVA barrier tubing and various Duotight fittings on hand must of the time, I put together spunding valves just by ordering the individual parts needed -- Blow Tie, gauge, tee, adapter, whatever. It works out to about half the price of buying the pre assembled ones off Ebay or elsewhere, and if some idiot got the arrow backwards, I know exactly who it was. [emoji6]

where do you buy those parts individually?

 

[Robert65]

William's Brewing or MoreBeer.

 

[Dustin_J]

Are yours leaking? Like if you connect to gas then disconnect, do they hold pressure?

The one i got has a slow leak. Loses like 0.5 psi per hour. So I’m exchanging it.

But i have the evabarrier tubing on and a couple extra gas QDs. I’m thinking i should just order the gauge and T and put one together myself if the next one leaks.

Only tested one - just put some pressure on it and set it aside for a few hours. It didn't drop. I did note, though, that if I moved them around a little and put a little side/lateral pressure on the connections, they would start leaking immediately.

 

[Robert65]

Only tested one - just put some pressure on it and set it aside for a few hours. It didn't drop. I did note, though, that if I moved them around a little and put a little side/lateral pressure on the connections, they would start leaking immediately.

That's odd. A whole lot of people are using the EVA/ Duotight system now, and I've never heard of any leaking in the connections. I haven't experienced any. The only criticism I have of related products is that, like all the knockoffs, the Kegland QDs are inferior to CMB and sometimes have loose tolerances in the inner diameter; they may require a thicker post o-ring to seal. Or just use CMB.

 

[Dustin_J]

That's odd. A whole lot of people are using the EVA/ Duotight system now, and I've never heard of any leaking in the connections. I haven't experienced any. The only criticism I have of related products is that, like all the knockoffs, the Kegland QDs are inferior to CMB and sometimes have loose tolerances in the inner diameter; they may require a thicker post o-ring to seal. Or just use CMB.

Hmm, I'll check into that a little more when I have some time. I should probably clarify that when I said "a little" pressure, it was pushing by hand not just what you'd get by letting things hang naturally, for example. I have really tight lid clearance in my ferm chamber which means that the lid pushes down slightly on anything that sticks up, like a spunding apparatus - was trying to see there would be any potential issues.

 

[Robert65]

Hmm, I'll check into that a little more when I have some time. I should probably clarify that when I said "a little" pressure, it was pushing by hand not just what you'd get by letting things hang naturally, for example. I have really tight lid clearance in my ferm chamber which means that the lid pushes down slightly on anything that sticks up, like a spunding apparatus - was trying to see there would be any potential issues.

I, and those with towers on their kegerators, have found that you can force these EVA/ Duotight connections to a 90° on just about a 1" radius with no problems. This seems to be about the closest system to perfect around. If these leaking spunding valves were all purchased pre assembled off Ebay, I wonder if someone got a lot of factory second parts, or somehow compromised them?

 

[fun4stuff]

I’ll report back when i get the replacement in the mail. Funny how they were all but together backwards.

the one i got was also put together with really short Eva tubing- like connections are bubbles together and could hardly see the tubing. At first i thought that may be the issue so i reached the Eva tubing with longer lengths. Tightened QD. It still had a slow leak.

Submerged it in water and couldn’t see air bubbles. It was a real slow length so maybe i could have watched a little longer.