9 replies to this topic

[Big Nake]

I have been sporadically chasing a leaky keg which came to light because my CO2 tank would be emptied quicker than it should. I checked the kegs when they came out of service, looked at the pressure relief valves, used lube on the o-rings, etc. Last weekend my tank was empty so I decided to look closer. I put a new tank on and sprayed the lids of both kegs in that fridge with starsan solution. The one keg was okay, the other one [after some time looking] appeared to be leaking where the star-shaped, gas-in post was. I grabbed my star-shaped socket and tried to tighten it but it would not go any further. I put the gas back on it and it still leaked. To make sure it wasn't the gas fitting, I connected it to the other keg in the fridge and hit it with the starsan... fine. No leaks. So I left that keg "offline" for the time being. It's a keg that's about 75% full of a nice pale lager I made with 830. So tomorrow I'm going to bottle the remainder of that beer and then break down that keg, clean it and then pressurize it to see if it holds. Haven't bottled in awhile, that's for sure.

[Poptop]

Report back.  Let us know if bottling still sucks, mkay?

[Bklmt2000]

Report back.  Let us know if bottling still sucks, mkay?

 

Still?  Bottling has always sucked, but in this case, it's a necessary evil, methinks.

[djinkc]

I had a leak like that once.  The after messing with it a bit the whole post fell off.  I guess they're spin welded on.  I'm luck it didn't come off under higher pressure and hurt me.  Still have the keg.

[Big Nake]

Yeah, my hands hurt already from all that scrubbing with the bottle brush. I have done this a number of times before but I don't prefer it, that's for sure.

I had a leak like that once.  The after messing with it a bit the whole post fell off.  I guess they're spin welded on.  I'm luck it didn't come off under higher pressure and hurt me.  Still have the keg.

I have 10 kegs but only the ability to keep 8 cold so if this keg is out of commission as a result of this (or until I can fix it), it's fine. When I have a questionable keg, I clean it, let it dry, put the lid on it and pressurize it and then just leave it for a week or something. If I come back and there is good pressure, I call it good. Otherwise I look further. Wasting Co2 makes me really, really stabby and that's why I choose to bottle this batch. I need to verify that this beer hasn't gone flat under these conditions. If it has... I'll have to think of something else.

[Bklmt2000]

Probably for the best to take this keg out of service, knowing that it leaks.

 

I need to verify that this beer hasn't gone flat under these conditions. If it has... I'll have to think of something else.

 

You could jumper the beer to a sanitized/non leaking keg and avoid bottling altogether, if you have a keg free. 

 

And if it's gone flat (but is otherwise ok), you could probably carb in the new keg just fine.

[Big Nake]

Probably for the best to take this keg out of service, knowing that it leaks.
 
 
You could jumper the beer to a sanitized/non leaking keg and avoid bottling altogether, if you have a keg free. 
 
And if it's gone flat (but is otherwise ok), you could probably carb in the new keg just fine.

Yes, I do have another available keg and that's a thought. I'll check it tonight and see how it is. This is the part of 'brewing' that I dislike... the 'infrastructure' part.

[Big Nake]

Hey, I caught a break. I had dragged about 36 bottles and some caps out of their cobwebs this afternoon in prep for this bottling day tomorrow. Tonight I reconnected this keg in the draft fridge and tapped a glass... delicious, carbed beer. Hooray. I can bottle it. Then I went back into the bunker and sprayed the gas-in side with starsan again and saw the bubbles. I moved it over to the other keg and there were no bubbles. But if the keg has a leak, how is the beer still carbed after about a week of being off the gas? I put the gas line back on the suspect keg again (bubbles). I pulled the gas line off and sprayed. No bubbles. For giggles I replaced the o-ring on the gas-in port. Put the gas QD back on... no bubbles. It was a bad o-ring. I replace the large O-rings anytime I think there is an issue but the gas and liquid rings I typically don't need to change. Hooray. No bottling tomorrow! Cheers Beerheads.

[positiveContact]

that was a close one!

[Steve Urquell]

I knew what that one was in the first post. Only 1 seal on the posts other than the QD Oring--the oring on the dip tubes.

 

I recently had a strange leak. Leaking from the tops of my QDs. The tiny flat orings under the QD top caps. Disassembled and lubed them up and they stopped.