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Author Topic: CO2 Leak?  (Read 1278 times)

Offline Anthony C.

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CO2 Leak?
« on: October 23, 2018, 05:26:08 am »
I kegged (2) 5 gallon batches last night. I had around 3/4 of a pound left in my CO2 tank. The keezer was set to 38 degrees Fahrenheit. Sealed lids with 40 psi of CO2 and purged. Left at 12 psi overnight (7 hours). I checked for leaks with soapy water and didn’t find anything. The next day, I found an empty tank. I tried purging the kegs and no CO2 came out.

So to my question. Will 3/4 of a pound of CO2 completely dissolve into (2) 5 gallon kegs set at 12 psi for 7 hours? Or do I need to look harder for a leak?

Thanks.

Offline goose

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Re: CO2 Leak?
« Reply #1 on: October 23, 2018, 07:07:40 am »
Taste the beer and see if it is carbonated.  If not, you may have a leaky regulator.  I had that problem once and it was a PITA to find.
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Offline kramerog

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Re: CO2 Leak?
« Reply #2 on: October 23, 2018, 11:19:13 am »
You only need about 100 g of CO2 to fully carbonate 10 gal of beer.  Also would take several days to full carbonate the beer.  Even if you didn't have enough CO2 you would still have pressure in the kegs, just not 12 psi.  So you have a leak somewhere - could be the kegs, the hoses and fittings, the regulator or the valve on the tank. 

You could tray taping around the top of the kegs so you that you can submerge all the keg fittings with water or starsan to better detect the smallest of leaks from the keg.  With regard to the valve on the CO2 tank, generally it will not leak only when it is fully open or fully closed.


Offline Arisamane

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Re: CO2 Leak?
« Reply #3 on: December 12, 2018, 12:06:48 am »
I do not think it would be worth it, but it's worth it.

Offline charlie

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Re: CO2 Leak?
« Reply #4 on: December 30, 2018, 03:35:09 pm »
My procedure is to pressurize the kegs and turn the tank valve off. If everything looks good after 10 minutes then I open the tank valve and don't worry about it.

If you install a "tee" and two 1/4 inch ball valves between the regulator and the fridge you can pressure pump cleaning solution through your used kegs without de-pressurizing the kegs in the fridge.

My next mod will be to add an external manifold and two single-stage low pressure regulators to the system so I can have kegs at serving pressure and kegs at carbonating pressure without screwing around inside the fridge.

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Offline soymateofeo

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Re: CO2 Leak?
« Reply #5 on: January 03, 2019, 01:01:10 pm »
OOOH I am pissed off thinking about this. I had the same damn experience on more than one occasion.  You can pressurize a keg and let it sit and see if the pressure drops.  So now you have a leak; what do you do now?  This is what I do now to find a leak that is driving me crazy.
1. obviously soap and water test.  Be sure to test everything. EVERYTHING!  Especially all around that damn regulator.
2.  Then I pressurize the keg with no liquid.  I then put this co2 pressure gauge connected to gas line to see if the pressure holds for the day.  If not Soap and water test all around those damn connects.  It could be a bad poppet or seal at the keg.  The last time I burned through 3 tanks of co2 before I found a pinhole leak under the o-ring on the post. It was stupid small and I only found it once I pulled the o-ring off. It pisses me off thinking about it. 
3.  I put pressure on the regulator and then turn it off with a valve.  I had an old regulator that didn't have a valve so I put one on. Then I watched to see if the pressure dropped on the regulator side.
4.  Check your hoses, connections and your hose clamps.  I even had a pinhole in a hose once.  also pissing me off thinking about it.

If that doesn't do it, I don't know what will. OOH!  I also had a valve go bad on my manifold once.  I didn't find it until I put it underwater under pressure. I turned all the valves and one only leaked gas on the open position. Yet another thing that is pissing me off thinking about it.

Good luck amigo!  Don't get pissed off.