National Homebrew Club Ireland

I'm new to kegging and I've a keg with beer in it but if I put pressure on it and turn off the gas the pressure drops. I assume this is not normal and is a leak

The pressure used to drop as I watched it but I've changed lids, changed the release valve, put double o rings and Vaseline to stop the leak and in fairness it has slowed down. So instead of dropping immediately when I turn off the gas it will drop slowly over a couple of hours.

Has anyone else got advise or is the keg fecked?
Thanks

Are the in and out posts tightened enough? Use a 7/8" spanner to be sure.

I'm pretty sure, I checked  them after I noticed the leak, but I'll triple  check again. I've sprayed Starsan in the top of everything to see if I could see bubbles, but I saw nothing.

The pressure can drop over hours as the pressure will equalize in the beer/ headspace as normal but I'm sure this us not your issue.
If you spray soapy solution on top of keg and see no bubbles then there is no issue with it but probably with your regulator or something.

The Co2 is getting absorbed into solution by the beer, please advise what pressure you have set on the reg 1 bar 15 psi ish? It will take 4-7 days depending on ambient and pressure desired before it hits your target carbonation.
What style is it? whats your target carbonation?
Leave it permanently on until you beer has reached desired carbonation at that stage you can switch it off ;)

Thanks, it's a pale ale. I've been pressurizing at around 1 bar but if I turned off the gas the pressure dropped within an 20mins to 0. I replaced the poppet because it was missing a seal. Now if I do the same it drops over hours. Maybe that's normal?

Definatly a leak somewhere. To make sure it's not the regulator or disconnect. I assume if I pressurize the keg then remove the disconnect. The keg should still have the same pressure a few hours later?

Presurise the keg, remove the disconnects, turn upside down and watch!

Note: If the dip tube (beer out) post is leaking then you would have already noticed the slow oozing of beer!

Okay good to know, dip tube not the problem either! I'm try the upside down test later. Thanks

Totally sympathise. I lost a tank of CO2 over a couple of days thanks to the flare fitting connecting to the grey disconnect. It just wasn't tight enough to make a gas-tight seal. These days, I use a spanner to hold the flare, and lever the disconnect by hand to get a good tight seal. I had thought about switching to a barb disconnect to avoid the problem, but this seems to be working. I check the seal on the disconnect and on the keg posts and lid with a spray of well-shaken starsan to detect any escaping gas. I am getting a bit more paranoid about turning off the gas cylinder valve when it doesn't need to be open.

I only turn on my gas when i need it. I want to move to flare disconnects as its too easy to twist the screw on them

I usually spray some starsan around posts and lid. If there's a leak you should see the bubbles.

Quote from: Pheeel on March 01, 2016, 02:01:06 PM
I want to move to flare disconnects as its too easy to twist the screw on them

Would plumbers tape not sort that out for you?

Those barb fittings are crap, use proper JG push fittings and gas line.

I still say the beer is absorbing co2 under pressure

CH, what are you using for gas line?

Quote from: cruiscinlan on March 01, 2016, 03:25:55 PM

Quote from: Pheeel on March 01, 2016, 02:01:06 PM
I want to move to flare disconnects as its too easy to twist the screw on them

Would plumbers tape not sort that out for you?

Well that'll seal it if it's screwed tight. The problem is when I'm removing the keg, adding a new one in the screw part can come loose

You can use beer line if your stuck, but I use proper grey or green gas line

I finally got it sorted last night it was a combination of problems. There was a small rubber seal missing from the release valve which let the gas pour out. I replaced that but still the leak was slow, slow enough to assume it could be absorption. So I pressurized an empty keg which held its pressure until I connected the disconnect with the gas off. The pressure slowly dropped over a few hours. It turned out to be the grey JG screw fitting. It wasn't fitting properly. That's replaced now and the pressure seems to hold now. We'll see tomorrow!!

@CH do you have a link to the kind of line you mean, Is it similar to the kind of line you have on a gas BBQ?

You buy it on the reel at mlh in Dublin, one for a group buy, somebody here might have some as I think there was reel bought recently, where u based?

Thanks CH. I'm based in mayo, I've a friend who owns a bar. He might be able to get a meter or two