41 replies to this topic

[Big Nake]

I got this thing from my wife's cousin who was selling kegs, keg parts, tanks, etc. for awhile.  $45 and full when I got it.  It's been in my "on-deck" fridge being used specifically for force-carbing kegs.  I carbed a keg of Bordertown Dark Lager this week and when I took the gas-in libe off the keg I checked the gauge and the PSI side shows "30" and the LEVEL side is pretty much at empty.  I know these gauges are notoriously flaky and I have very little experienced with a CO2 tank this big.  Should I just assume it's empty and take it in for a refill?  I guess I'm waiting for one of you to say, "My 20-pounder is like that and I can carb 5 more batches after it shows empty!".  I have not sampled this latest beer that was carbed but my guess is that it fully carbed.

[positiveContact]

that means it's about done at my house.  I'd still try to use it up somewhere before getting it refilled though.

[Big Nake]

I guess I'm wondering if it has enough juice to carb another batch.  If I'm doing a 2-day, 25-30 psi force-carb and at the end of that 2-day timeframe the tank is empty, I have no idea how much to carb the beer the rest of the way.  Clearly I have encountered this before and I just try to guess at how much longer it needs (12 hours or whatever).  I could take it now and pick it up Monday or just take my chances.  Maybe I'll sample this dark lager this afternoon and if it's not fully carbed, the tank is empty and needs to be refilled right now.  But the fact that the PSI gauge shows 30 tells me that it's not empty just yet.

[positiveContact]

I guess I'm wondering if it has enough juice to carb another batch.  If I'm doing a 2-day, 25-30 psi force-carb and at the end of that 2-day timeframe the tank is empty, I have no idea how much to carb the beer the rest of the way.  Clearly I have encountered this before and I just try to guess at how much longer it needs (12 hours or whatever).  I could take it now and pick it up Monday or just take my chances.  Maybe I'll sample this dark lager this afternoon and if it's not fully carbed, the tank is empty and needs to be refilled right now.  But the fact that the PSI gauge shows 30 tells me that it's not empty just yet.

 

worst case is your carbing is delayed a little bit.  i'm really cheap though

[Big Nake]

The other part of it is that these gauges sometimes send me bad signals.  I had a 5-pounder show ZERO one time and the timeframe to go from full to empty seemed to be right.  I didn't even think about it... I just disconnected the tank from the regulator and brought the tank to the CO2 place.  The girl at the counter picked it up and said, "Are you sure this is empty?" and then a guy from the shop picked it up and said, "Mmm, I don't think this is empty".  Apparently you can weigh the tank and tell whether it's empty or not.  He came back out and said, "I think it's still over half full".  I went back home, connected it to another regulator and BOINK, it showed it still had juice.  Very unpredictable.

[positiveContact]

huh - my regulators haven't done that.  only n=2 though.

[Deerslyr]

I only have a 5 pound tank, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

 

If your gas supply will top it off, you aren't losing anything.  You were going to go there at some point in the future.  Now you have assurances that it is a full tank.

 

If they only do exchanges... use that bad boy until it gives you its last hiss.

I know its not the same, but I loathe the exchange sites for propane... unless I know it is completely empty AND my tank is at the end of its certification.  The local hardware store fills up the tanks, so I'm not giving anything back.  I've resigned myself to exchanges for my CO-2 because its quicker for me and I've gotten over the hangup of the whole aluminum/steel tank.  

 

I know Airgas type stores are never convenient.  They tend to only carry weekday business hours.  Would be nice if they would have a partial day on Saturday.

[Big Nake]

The place I go is a refill place.  It's a fire extinguisher maintenance place and they do hydro-tests there as well.  I just went downstairs and grabbed a small sample of this beer... it's fully carbed.  When I was done I hit the keg with the CO2 again and got a decent SSSSHHHHHH! of gas so I guess I'll just use it until it's clear that it's empty.  I'm not in a hurry and I don't have any flat kegs to carb at the moment.  I'm not even sure how long I've been using this thing... at least a year?  Longer?  I only use it to carb kegs and it's sweet that I generally don't even have to think about it.  Cheers gang.

[MakeMeHoppy]

I have two tanks a 10 and a 20 just so I can run them empty before refilling. I'm the same I have the 10 for dispensing and the 20 for force carbing (I was able making seltzer for a while using a carb cap). When the 20 empties it gets refilled. When the 10 empties the 20 takes it's place until it gets refilled.

[djinkc]

The other part of it is that these gauges sometimes send me bad signals.  I had a 5-pounder show ZERO one time and the timeframe to go from full to empty seemed to be right.  I didn't even think about it... I just disconnected the tank from the regulator and brought the tank to the CO2 place.  The girl at the counter picked it up and said, "Are you sure this is empty?" and then a guy from the shop picked it up and said, "Mmm, I don't think this is empty".  Apparently you can weigh the tank and tell whether it's empty or not.  He came back out and said, "I think it's still over half full".  I went back home, connected it to another regulator and BOINK, it showed it still had juice.  Very unpredictable.

 

The tare weight should be stamped on the tank.  If it weighs more that's how much gas you have left.

[gnef]

Maybe it is time to get some new gauges? I recently bought some new low pressure gauges to play around with, and test my other older gauges (so far, most are pretty good, furthest off is off by about 1 psi). I doubt you would need an expensive high pressure gauge to get a trustworthy reading, maybe one in the 10-15 dollar range could work well for you, and help you trust your regulator.

[Steve Urquell]

My alum 20lb tanks are 27lbs empty. 47lbs full. I weighed them before and after filling. 20lbs of CO2 is exactly that--20lbs.

[Big Nake]

Update: It seems like in cold conditions the side of the gauge that tells you how much gas you have is always very nutty. Sometimes I get the tank filled, connect the regulator and the needle is already in the red "order more gas" area. Anyway, yesterday I kegged a pale ale I made and I purged the keg with CO2 from this tank and there was plenty of CO2 for that. I let the keg sit cold for 12 hours and then connected the gas last night around 10:30 (the 'level' part of the gauge showed pretty much empty and the 'PSI' side showed 30). Got up this morning and both gauges are the same. So my guess is that there is gas in the tank and I will see that the tank is empty when the PSI side starts dropping lower and lower. That could happen today, I suppose... or I might be able to carb up another 3 batches.

[MakeMeHoppy]

I actually do not know what the high pressure guage is for. As stated it reads incorrect when inside the fridge. Outside it reads full until it's almost empty. It would be like having a gas guage in your car that reads full until you have 5 miles of gas left. All if does is give you a moment of panic before it's empty. Of course, having a back up tank is the answer.

[Steve Urquell]

I keep an old bathroom scale in my garage to weigh mine.

[Big Nake]

I have this 20-pounder along with a 10 and three 5s. The 5s are typically for serving although I moved the 10 into one of my draft fridges recently so that 10-pounder should last awhile at serving pressure. MMH, I agree that the gauge that shows you how much gas you have left is pretty useless, especially if the tank is in the fridge. All of that said, I just went down to the on-deck fridge and noticed that the PSI gauge has fallen to about 25. This tells me that it's on fumes. I may get a full 24-hours of carbing on this keg and then I'll have to take it in and refill it and go another 24 hours. It's very nice to have this 20# tank because I generally don't even think about it. It may be close to 2 years since I put it into service.

[positiveContact]

as I said - use it until you've got nothing and then bring it in.  what's the worst that could happen?

[Big Nake]

I suppose so. The worst that could happen would be that I'm not really sure how well this particular keg is carbed and I just have to carb it for 6-8 hours at a time until it "seems" to be fully carbed. That's not really an issue and who knows... maybe this batch will fully carb. Update: The PSI is now at 15. Looks like it's going DOWN!

[positiveContact]

I suppose so. The worst that could happen would be that I'm not really sure how well this particular keg is carbed and I just have to carb it for 6-8 hours at a time until it "seems" to be fully carbed. That's not really an issue and who knows... maybe this batch will fully carb. Update: The PSI is now at 15. Looks like it's going DOWN!

 

my carbing methods are pretty coarse.  I just occasionally fill the head space with 30 PSI.  after a few days I start sampling and adjust from there.  it's a real hardship testing that beer

[neddles]

my carbing methods are pretty coarse.  I just occasionally fill the head space with 30 PSI.  after a few days I start sampling and adjust from there.  it's a real hardship testing that beer

I do it like this too. 30 psi shots for a couple days. Then dial it back to the psi you target and keep filling it for a few days until it stops taking it. 

 

I love the samples too. It's so interesting to taste the changes over the first week or so it spends cold. I kegged a pale ale a few weeks ago and it was tasty right out of primary. Then after it was carbed-up at around 4 days I took a sample. It was a big meh. Muddled flavors, kind of thin and bland, no off flavors but totally underwhelming. Couldn't believe it so I tried it again the next day, meh again. Waited 2 more days and it was like the lights came on, bright distinctive and delicious and no longer muddled or watery at all.