When is my manifold air tight?

[Scut_Monkey]

I have been assembling my regulator bank and manifold setup the past few days and have been struggling with leaks. I think I finally got it leak free. Last night I charged the setup to 15psi and turned the gas off simply to see if it held the pressure overnight. It dropped to about 7psi overnight. Does that sound leak free enough? It does to me but wondered what others had experienced.

 

[Sea]

55% drop overnight? That doesn't sound leak free to me. Get some gas leak detector, or some Starsan solution in a spray bottle, and go over EVERY connection meticulously, including the regulator itself. You can use it the way it is, but it's going to cost you in gas and potential flat beer.

 

[david_42]

I try for 24 hours with no visible change. My old kegger met this, but I have a small leak in the new setup which has evaded me for months. I think it's in one of the gauges.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

I did use Starsan on everyconnection and did not find anything after being very meticulous. I'll take a look at it again today but I'm getting rather impatient with it and who's to say that all the air tight seals are going to stay that way when they are colder in the keezer.

It's just kind of becoming a PITA. Is there anything else I can use besides teflon tap? I tried some liquid pipe dope as a last resort but it worked even worse.

 

[kmack747]

First thing i normally do is turn up the pressure the higher the pressure the more a leak will stand out.

Do you have any flare fittings? if so do NOT use any tape or liquid on them and don't over tighten them or they will leak!

Work on one section at a time if all else fails and you think it may be a regulator or gauges they can be dunked in a bucket of water. I had a bad reg and i found it this way.

Good luck I hope you find that leak

 

[Scut_Monkey]

First thing i normally do is turn up the pressure the higher the pressure the more a leak will stand out.

Do you have any flare fittings? if so do NOT use any tape or liquid on them and don't over tighten them or they will leak!

Work on one section at a time if all else fails and you think it may be a regulator or gauges they can be dunked in a bucket of water. I had a bad reg and i found it this way.

Good luck I hope you find that leak

I don't have any flare fittings just NPT. I've found that it takes a TON of teflon tape to get an air tight seal. After trial and error I'm now at the point that I have to use 10-15 wraps with teflon tape and a rather loose connection to actually get it sealed.

I think I do have it air tight now but we shall see if it leaks pressure overnight. If I still have a leak I'll try throwing it in a bucket like you mentioned.

 

[Sea]

I don't have any flare fittings just NPT. I've found that it takes a TON of teflon tape to get an air tight seal. After trial and error I'm now at the point that I have to use 10-15 wraps with teflon tape and a rather loose connection to actually get it sealed.

I think I do have it air tight now but we shall see if it leaks pressure overnight. If I still have a leak I'll try throwing it in a bucket like you mentioned.

Go to the hardware, and get some gas Teflon, it looks like the regular stuff, but it's yellow, and a lot thicker. Five to six wraps of that stuff, and you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Teflon tape is not meant to seal a fitting. Only to keep the threads from galling on the way to a properly tightened fitting.

I hate to suggest this but, maybe thread lock? Solder? Still not the best way to go tho'.

 

[IrregularPulse]

Holy nuts 10-15 wraps of tape? How does the fitting even fit after that much? Are you sure you have the proper connection types into the proper female ports?

 

[Scut_Monkey]

As of now it is sealed and has not dropped in pressure at all over 36 hours. But who knows how the seals will hold up when they chill down in the keezer.

Go to the hardware, and get some gas Teflon, it looks like the regular stuff, but it's yellow, and a lot thicker. Five to six wraps of that stuff, and you shouldn't have any problems.

I'll try the yellow teflon if this dosen't work in the long term. I thought it was the same as the white teflon tape but I'm wrong as usual.

Teflon tape is not meant to seal a fitting. Only to keep the threads from galling on the way to a properly tightened fitting.

I hate to suggest this but, maybe thread lock? Solder? Still not the best way to go tho'.

I have both red and blue thread lock and was reserving it as a last resort for obvious reasons. It's strange but all of these fittings are brand new and from the same suppliers that everyone else uses. I have plenty of experience with pipe fittings and am relatively aware of how to properly fit them but these sums-a-******* were given me a hard time.

Holy nuts 10-15 wraps of tape? How does the fitting even fit after that much? Are you sure you have the proper connection types into the proper female ports?

The fitting is hard to engage with a pound of teflon tape on it but it does start. Yeah they are all 1/4" NPT fittings with no signs of galling.



Thanks for the help so far guys. A boring topic to discuss but a big PITA when trying to get your keezer up and running.

 

[Sea]

Glad To hear you got it, I know how frustrating that can be. Sometimes you'll get pipe fittings that are poorly manufactured/threaded. I do hydronic heating, and I've had fittings in the past which simply had to be thrown away, because they were so bad.