undercarbed beer = bad gas post?

[DonRikkles]

I'm a relatively recent kegger. I have a 4-tap keezer in my house and have kegged approximately seven 5 gal batches of beer. I have an issue with one keg undercarbing and I think it may be a bad gas post.

The first beer in this keg was a porter. I left it at 13 psi for two weeks before the first pour. I had it on tap for about 3 months and two things were apparent. First, it seemed perpetually undercarbed, and second, there was little to no head present on the beer. I thought it was my process or the recipe and I made some adjustments on the next three kegs that I filled. Each came out perfectly carbed with nice, long lasting head.

Then the keg in question needed a refill. I racked in 5 gal of a Belgian Golden Strong. I cranked it to 30 psi for a day, then reduced it to 13 psi for 10 days prior to the first pull. Same result. Undercarbed beer and no head. About two months later, the beer is still undercarbed (though not as bad) and the head is still non-existant.

I do not have this problem with my other three kegs. FWIW, I keep the keezer at 38 and I have 10 feet of beer line connected from each keg to the faucet.

I suspect that the post could be bad, though upon inspection it looks fine to me. I don't think it's a bad seal since my CO2 tank is still full. Ay ideas?

Thanks.

 

[shataway]

Single regulator?

 

[BigFloppy]

cool it, do the 5 minute shake while still @ 30psi or until you hear no more CO2 entering the keg.
Down the PSI to 12 ish and pour

NOTE: Your golden Belgian likely needs to be slightly nearer 35-40psi for the shake

Sounds like you're using a simple manifold with all beers at same pressure which could be hurting you

 

[Bellybuster]

I had a keg just like this. Drove me nuts. I had changed the poppet to a universal and the spring tension is too tight on them. It barely lets gas in. Just enough so you can hear gas flowing.
The solution.... cut one ring off the poppet spring with a dremel. Works like a charm now

Don't know if that's your problem but it would be easy to switch out the whole post with another keg to see.

 

[DonRikkles]

Sounds like you're using a simple manifold with all beers at same pressure which could be hurting you

Yes, single regulator and 4 way manifold. How would this be hurting this keg and not the three others?

I've been thinking of getting a secondary regulator for a while. This may be the time.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I had a keg just like this. Drove me nuts. I had changed the poppet to a universal and the spring tension is too tight on them. It barely lets gas in. Just enough so you can hear gas flowing.
The solution.... cut one ring off the poppet spring with a dremel. Works like a charm now

Don't know if that's your problem but it would be easy to switch out the whole post with another keg to see.

My guess says its this. What Bellybuster posted.... but it could be o-rings being shot or not seating correctly.

Have you tried spraying soapy water on the fill lid and disconnects when its fully gassed up? If it has a leak the bubbles will form at the leak points.

Try this to see if you have a seal leak.

 

[DonRikkles]

So no seal leak. I tried the spray test and found no bubbles. I will try Bellybuster's approach.

 

[jbb3]

The spring in poppet may be too stiff so it's not opening enough to allow the same pressure/volume of gas to flow into that keg as the other kegs. Try either replacing the poppet with a spring that's not as stiff. Or take a wire cutter and clip off a small piece of the spring to relive some of the tension.

 

[DonRikkles]

I clipped the bottom ring of the spring and it worked! Thanks for the help!

 

[Schlenkerla]

Cheers