Tank pressure drops to 0. Secondary reg holds 15psi.

[lewisb13]

So Im having this weird problem. I have a regulator on my co2 tank thats set to about 20 psi. It then feeds one of these...

http://www.kegerator.com/taprite-four-product-secondary-co2-regulator/T1694ST.html

I have all the valves closed, except for the first one, which I have set at 15psi and going to a ball lock.

If I shut the main tank valve off, the 500psi drops to 0, and the secondary regulator on the tank drops to about 18 psi, and the regulator on the bank of 4 stays at 15psi. What the duece is going on?

 

[lewisb13]

Here is a pic...

 

[lewisb13]

There are 2 gauges on the tank. When i shut the tank off, the high pressure gauge bleeds to 0 and my low pressure gauge holds, or only drops slightly. Hopefully that makes more sense.

 

[lewisb13]

One more thing, if i block in the gas with the valve, both gauges hold forever for those who are going to say internal regulator problem.

 

[day_trippr]

You have a leak - a pretty good one if you can actually watch the high pressure gauge dropping.

Is there a valve on the output of the primary regulator?
If so, close that, open the cylinder valve briefly, then close it, and see if the high pressure gauge drops.

If it doesn't, open the primary regulator shut-off valve, close all of the secondary regulator shut-off valves, open the cylinder valve, then dial up the primary regulator to your 20 psi again.

Then close the cylinder valve and observe the high pressure gauge. If it drops, there's a leak in either the secondary regulator set, or the hose from primary to the secondaries, or one or more of the secondary shut-off valves.

Cheers!

[edit] Just saw the third post, not sure what "block in the gas with the valve" means. Could you rephrase that?

 

[lewisb13]

If i close the valve on the outlet of the regulator, both gauges hold forever. If i close the valve on the tank and open the valve that lets gas out of the regulator, the high pressure gauge falls first and the low pressure gauge holds. If i purge the gas out of the ball lock, all gauges go to 0 like they should.

 

[day_trippr]

Ok, got it. That was the first step I listed, so that eliminates everything to the output of that primary shut-off valve.

If you close all four of the secondary shut-off valves, does the system hold pressure?
If not, the odds are one of the threaded connections is leaking.

Make up some bubble mix and slather it on every threaded connection on all of the secondary regulator bodies - that's all of the low pressure gauge stems, body-to-body nipples, all of the shut-off valve stems, and the connection back to the primary regulator...

Cheers!