Test Corny Keg with water?

[bbell21]

I am finally getting myself into kegging and I purchased a mini fridge today! My local brew shop will sell me the used corny ball lock for $60 and I'm excited to get my system up and running but my beer won't be done for another 4-5 weeks. Is there a way I can make sure my regulator/co2 tank and keg are functioning by using water? I doubt the store will take a month old used keg back but I'm getting too anxious to wait haha. Any tips would be appreciated!

 

[SilverZero]

Absolutely. Fill it with water to any level, half or more is good. Seal it up, hit it with a blast of 30psi to really seat and seal the lid, and then you can purge it and set it to 12psi or whatever you want. Hook up a picnic faucet or a serving line and test the flow. I'd be more worried about checking the posts and lid (as well as the regulator connections) for leaks using soapy water.

You might want to pressurize it to 12psi (or 30, or anywhere in between) and turn off the tank valve and disconnect the regulator to make sure the keg holds pressure. Come back after a day or two and check the pressure relief valve, check periodically for tiny bubbles with soapy water, etc. Long-term pressure holding is the one you want to watch out for. You might want to get a tube of keg lube as well, just to ensure the lid doesn't have a slow leak.

 

[bbell21]

I also read that water might absorb a lot of co2 and that I should just fill the empty keg with 30psi and dunk in a bathtub to check for leaks...I just want to make sure the tap/line is working as well

 

[unviewtiful]

You can absolutely test your connections with water, it's a very cost effective way to troubleshoot your system. Before you pressurize, you'll want to visually inspect all O-rings (lid, posts, dip tubes, and poppets) to make sure they're soft and free of cracks. You'll also want to pick up some keg lube to create better seals and extend the life of your O-rings. A light coating is all you need, so one package of lube should last a long time. Once you get everything lubed up, fill the keg with water and pressurize to 30 psi or so, then spray down all connections with starsan or soapy water. If you see bubbles, you have a leak. If you find leaks, depressurize and make sure you have snug connections.

You can also use this water filled keg to measure temperature in the fridge and dial that in to your preference.

 

[unviewtiful]

I also read that water might absorb a lot of co2 and that I should just fill the empty keg with 30psi and dunk in a bathtub to check for leaks...I just want to make sure the tap/line is working as well

A lot of CO2 will dissolve into the water if you leave it hooked up for several days, but if you're just hooking it up to check connections and disconnect the gas line once pressurized, you won't waste much CO2

 

[bbell21]

You can absolutely test your connections with water, it's a very cost effective way to troubleshoot your system. Before you pressurize, you'll want to visually inspect all O-rings (lid, posts, dip tubes, and poppets) to make sure they're soft and free of cracks. You'll also want to pick up some keg lube to create better seals and extend the life of your O-rings. A light coating is all you need, so one package of lube should last a long time. Once you get everything lubed up, fill the keg with water and pressurize to 30 psi or so, then spray down all connections with starsan or soapy water. If you see bubbles, you have a leak. If you find leaks, depressurize and make sure you have snug connections.

You can also use this water filled keg to measure temperature in the fridge and dial that in to your preference.

I plan on replacing all the o rings prior to tapping it.

Just to clarify, fill the keg 3/4 with water, hook up gas line and liquid line, turn on co2 tank, adjust the pressure to 30psi (I know to set it to 30psi but how do I know when it's fully reached 30psi?), spray the lines with star San and check for bubbles, if no bubbles present then should I turn pressure down to 10 psi before dispensing? Also is the only way to reduce keg pressure by purging the tank manually? Should the water come out carbonated from this short period of time? If no bubbles and water dispenses I'm basically good to but my brew in?

Sorry for all the questions this is very new stuff for me

 

[unviewtiful]

I plan on replacing all the o rings prior to tapping it.

Just to clarify, fill the keg 3/4 with water, hook up gas line and liquid line, turn on co2 tank, adjust the pressure to 30psi (I know to set it to 30psi but how do I know when it's fully reached 30psi?), spray the lines with star San and check for bubbles, if no bubbles present then should I turn pressure down to 10 psi before dispensing? Also is the only way to reduce keg pressure by purging the tank manually? Should the water come out carbonated from this short period of time? If no bubbles and water dispenses I'm basically good to but my brew in?

Sorry for all the questions this is very new stuff for me

You'll know the keg is at your regulator pressure when it stops making a noise like there's gas flowing. You can get a good feel for this by either pressurizing a few times, or just start at 5 psi and increase by about 5 psi until you get to 30. It won't take long to get a feel for it.

Yes, you have to manually reduce pressure. Either pull the pressure relief valve if you have one, or press down on the GAS IN poppet. Never push in the liquid out poppet of a filled keg unless you want to be sprayed with liquid.

Water will not carbonate in the amount of time it takes you to check for leaks. But it sounds like you have it down pretty well, once you have confirmed a leak-free system, you're good to go for dispensing beer.

 

[Maylar]

Better still - use a cleaning solution (1-Step or PBW) for your testing. You can clean the keg and liquid line while testing for leaks.

 

[bbell21]

Better still - use a cleaning solution (1-Step or PBW) for your testing. You can clean the keg and liquid line while testing for leaks.

I have star san which I believe you don't have to rinse....I'm curious why they don't have that on the directions...

 

[bbell21]

The lines are brand new but I will use my pbw to clean keg before anything goes into it

 

[Yooper]

When are you planning to brew if your beer won't be ready for 4-5 weeks? Can you move it up?

You can still test your keg with water, but I'd love to see you fill it with beer! If you brew this weekend, you can probably keg in 2 weeks or so.

 

[bbell21]

When are you planning to brew if your beer won't be ready for 4-5 weeks? Can you move it up?

You can still test your keg with water, but I'd love to see you fill it with beer! If you brew this weekend, you can probably keg in 2 weeks or so.

I'm just hesitant to do this because if for some god for saken reason the keg doesn't seal or some of the new keg equipment doesn't work I'll be sunk and the brew will go bad

 

[mongoose33]

I'm just hesitant to do this because if for some god for saken reason the keg doesn't seal or some of the new keg equipment doesn't work I'll be sunk and the brew will go bad

You should get the beer going; it should sit in the primary for probably two weeks, during which time you can figure out the keg. If something would go wrong, you can get it fixed. And if you left the beer in the primary a bit longer, no harm, no foul.

As long as the o rings are new or in good shape, and you use keg lube, you should be fine. Use Silverzero's method above--I was flummoxed with my first keg experience because I had water in the keg, and the lid wouldn't seal! Only when I realized I needed to seat it with a blast of high pressure did it work fine. And it has since then.