A little gutted.

[fbsf]

So, off I go to my garage to pour myself a nice pint of porter from my nice new corny setup.

Put glass under, open tap and... nowt.

Check gauges - both on zero. Odd. Try fiddling with regulator knob - nowt. Try closing and opening bottle tap - nowt. :hmm:

Lift cylinder...bugger . That's a shed load lighter than it was when I put it in about a fortnight ago. So I must have a leak somewhere, but I've now got to wait until BOC can deliver me a new cylinder (for another £25), so I've got no porter until at least next week.

Note to self - regardless of how quiet and sealed things seem to be, do the fairy-liquid test rather than just assuming everything is sealing correctly.

 

[Shug]

Thats a bugger, but isnt 9:24 in the morning a little early for a pint?

 

[PD]

It is....leave it till 0930 in future.

 

[boozy_shoes]

The fairy liquid test? How is this done? i'm having trouble wih pressure loss from my king keg at the minute and wonder if this could help.

 

[richc]

I'd suggest ordering 2 gas bottles then when one runs out you have a spare while you reorder....

 

[Vossy1]

The fairy liquid test? How is this done? i'm having trouble wih pressure loss from my king keg at the minute and wonder if this could help.

Make up a solution of strong fairy liquid in a cup and then pour/run it round all your connections....any leaks will be shown as bubbles :thumb:
Turning off the gas after the last pint is a lot easier than losing it all

 

[Andyhull]

The fairy liquid test? How is this done? i'm having trouble wih pressure loss from my king keg at the minute and wonder if this could help.

If your useing a semi permanent conection gassed system in my opinion a cheap sprayer bottle from a garden centre is essecial kit.
As Vossy says, fill it with a solution of dishwasher liquid and every time connect a new bottle (etc) check all connections for tightness then wipe clean.
I say all conections as when the gas is turned on it surges through the pipes and can stress a weak conection.
If there is a leak you will get alot of foaming.

 

[Dieseljockey]

+1...I always turn my gas off... :pray:

 

[fbsf]

This was a pretty-full corny (and no - I wish it was a brew at that time of day, but the only brew I can get at 9.30 in the office is tea...), so I was assuming that when the dial went down a little it was just being absorbed into the brew.

The second cylinder is an option, but at another £3.50 a month rental, I'd rather not if I can get away with it.

BOC are delivering me another on Monday, so hopefully I should be back up and running quite quickly, but will definitely be fairying all the joints to check for leaks before I leave it to it's own devices in future - I can't be losing another £25 worth of CO2 - that's the same cost as the ingredients for two AG brews!

 

[Baz Chaz]

another reason to simply bottle beer, hope you find the leak though, very frustrating :!:

 

[beermaker]

+2 for turning off the gas when not needed. Learnt the hard way with a very large bottle of ArgoShield for my mig welder Won't get fooled again!!

 

[Shug]

+2 for turning off the gas when not needed. Learnt the hard way with a very large bottle of ArgoShield for my mig welder Won't get fooled again!!

I did that with a 6 foot tall coogar5 bottle (airproducts equivalent of argoshield light)
Expensive mistake.

 

[fbsf]

So am I being a little thick here - are you saying I should gas the corny to get it to absorb the CO2, then turn the tap off and only turn it back on to dispense?

What happens if the pressure drops (getting colder will allow the beer to absorb more CO2) - I was under the impression that whilst there was beer in there, I should keep the tap on...

I'm happy to listen to any advice!

Oh, and whilst I understand bottling works very well, I was getting increasingly bored with cleaning and sterilising 80-odd bottles per brew (I only tend to drink a half at a time, so generally use 330ml bottles), to the point where it was spoiling my enjoyment of brewing - hence why I went over to cornies.

 

[beermaker]

the soapy water trick is a good one mind, I usually use a soft paintbrush to daub it on to joints and seals. Don't forget to test the regulator, both where it connects to the bottle, where it connects to the gas line, and the gaskets on the reg itself as this was the problem with the reg on my welder! Also worth doing periodically on propane regs if you have them - don't want leaks there!!

 

[jonewer]

Can you not get a cylinder rent free? I get mine for £18 flat from Calor. No deposit. No rental.