Another Leaky Keg

[Maffa]

Hi all,

Hi , I'm New to the forums and new to brewing (1st brew is in progress) but have hit a snag.

I've got a plastic keg and the seal around the tap leaks when the pressure build up. Its 4 days in since primed and it has leaked twice much to the annoyance of the wife (although the house does smell much better). When it does leak, turning the seal seems to stop it but then the pressure builds up again and ...well the wife gets the bucket out!
I've seen a similar post viewtopic.php?f=36&t=30203 but this has raised some questions.

1. Can I stop the process now, empty, clean and sanitise and start again? How much sugar should I go with for a second prime?

2. Its suggested to lube the seal, what with? any suggestions guys.

3. Will re-priming ruin the finish, i.e can it get carbonated properly a second time?

Luckily I split some of the brew into bottles so all is not totally lost, but the majority of the beer just stares at me most nights from the keg and I just dont know whether all of it will still be in there come the morning!

 

[Ian...]

Do you mean a significant leak or a bit of seepage? I find seepage quite comforting because it tells me that the brew is carbonating. I have a couple of kegs and they both do this. The solution..... easy..... draw a pint off and drink it!

If its a proper leak then either the tap is overtightened buckling the rubber washer, or it's not tight enough. Sounds like its not tight enough as you say that you tighten it and the leak stops. So tighten it.

Next time a bit of vaseline on the thread (the cap too) and the rubber seal will also help.

 

[eggman]

Don't mean to be condescending but have you checked whether the tap is tight enough? It might just need a 1/4 turn but be careful not to over do it as that could make it worse.
How much sugar did you use to prime with? I've had seepage problems before mainly due to over priming (sometimes the pressure relief valve rubber on the lid can stick and the pressure forces a bit of beer out of the tap seal, or it did with me anyway ) As already pointed out by Ian the best solution to that is to have a sample to reduce the pressure :drink:
If it's leaking a lot I would very carefully tilt the keg on it's back, remove the tap and check the washer for splits etc put a tiny amount of Vaseline on the seal and replace the tap, then re-prime with 80g of sugar

Hope this helps, and welcome to the forum :

 

[Maffa]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Its only seepage, but left at night it covered the table/floor so I probably lost near to a pint. Trust me the tap is very tight so was I thinking it was too tight - but it does stop when you tighten it further (it is a struggle to do this though as it is tight). Did i mention it was tight?

Vaseline - Gotcha, great tip will go with this for the next brew.

As I said its only been 4 days since priming (I added about 80g of dextrose for about 17 litres in the keg), so if I get back tonight and its seeping again I will try the first pint. Failing that I shall tip back, remove the seal and vaseline and re-prime.

I will let you guys know how I get on.

 

[Maffa]

4 days further in and no more leaks, so I'm hoping its calmed down. I think it was probably over primed, as I added in all the sugar for the entire batch (40 pints) forgetting that I had bottled 12 of them, so probably about 25% too much sugar went in. Easy mistake to make :whistle: , that wont happen again.

Not sure why the pressure release valve didnt work. Is there a way to manually check it in future?

 

[winelight]

In my very limited experience the tap seal or even the tap itself will always leak before the pressure valve.

I lay it on its back remove tap regrease replace if it's serious. Depending on how many days it's been, you may not need to re-prime, like if it's only a day there'll still be enough sugar left, probably.

I like the idea of drawing off a pint, though. Got to be the best answer.

25% extra sugar isn't really enough to matter, especially if you drew off 12 pints, because you've made twice as much space (approx) for the CO2 as it would normally have.

 

[Maffa]

Little Update

3 weeks in the keg now (no more leaks thank god) and I tried a sneaky pint last night. Lots of froth so it seemed well carbonated, but half way down the head disappeared and it became a bit lifeless.

Will another few weeks fix the problem? Am I being too eager here, is this just another case of lack of patience again? :drunk:

 

[boozy_shoes]

Little Update

3 weeks in the keg now (no more leaks thank god) and I tried a sneaky pint last night. Lots of froth so it seemed well carbonated, but half way down the head disappeared and it became a bit lifeless.

Will another few weeks fix the problem? Am I being too eager here, is this just another case of lack of patience again? :drunk:

What sorted it out then?? I can't work out if this is the problem i've got with my king keg or not, it's leaking out the tap very slow drips, the same keg / tap has had four brews in previously and there were no problems but now it is as if i need a third hand when pouring (two for the tap and one for the glass) as the tap is so stiff to stop. Has anybody experienced this and if so how can I resolve it??

 

[Maffa]

In all honesty, it was additional tightening of the tap that did it. It was extremely tight to begin with but this was the only thing that stopped it. It was gently seeping/bubbling out of the seal around the tap, you could hear it (and smell it) before you saw it.

As this is my first brew, I probably shouldn't offer much advise boozyshoes, but when the keg is empty, I plan to remove the rubber seal and check it to see if its in crooked or damaged in any way. Then coat it with vaseline before the next one goes in.

 

[boozy_shoes]

In all honesty, it was additional tightening of the tap that did it. It was extremely tight to begin with but this was the only thing that stopped it. It was gently seeping/bubbling out of the seal around the tap, you could hear it (and smell it) before you saw it.

As this is my first brew, I probably shouldn't offer much advise boozyshoes, but when the keg is empty, I plan to remove the rubber seal and check it to see if its in crooked or damaged in any way. Then coat it with vaseline before the next one goes in.

I always put a bit of vaseline in the tap threads (both male and female) as the only other problem i've had with my king keg is losing pressure but i think this was the main thread on the 4" cap. I might try de-pressurising my keg and taking the barrel tap to bits and seeing if theres some gunk making it stiff or leaky before repressurising with CO2. I might need a new tap but its only 4 brews old....

 

[winelight]

Those taps do need to be done up incredibly tight. And yes you need to Vaseline both the thread and the rubber seal.

 

[boozy_shoes]

Those taps do need to be done up incredibly tight. And yes you need to Vaseline both the thread and the rubber seal.

I always shut the tap then manage to wrench it another 10 degrees or so to definitely seal it (well in the past this has stopped leaks) it's just now the tap is getting stiffer and stiffer and even this last 10 degrees isn't stopping leaks out the tap end.