co2 bulb - epic fail. :/ - fixed!

[nightsod]

Hi.

Our top tap keg was running out of puff last night. So, this being the first time we used a bulb in our keg, we followed the instructions: insert bulb; screw in till you hear the gas ; then leave the bulb inserted.

Not only did the keg not properly pressurise but all the pressurised gas in the keg must have escaped somehow....

So, we try with another bulb: Screw it in fully ; hiss ; unscrew. Again, nothing. I don't really want to keep wasting bulbs in the attempt to reflate the damn thing.

What have we done wrong? Or is something potentially faulty? Is this a common problem?

 

[StrangeBrew]

Most likely the screw top not holding a good seal. If you have no pressure then there's no harm in removing the top for a short while. Use a smear of vaseline on the sealing washer and screw the cap back on till you just feel a little resistance then tighten about 1/6 of a turn more ... DONT tighten it fully down.

If you previously tightened it down so hard as to deform the sealing washer drop the washer into rear boiling water for a couple of mins and it will recover. Then do as above...

The only other possibility (unlikely) is a dudd valve or safety vent rubber band on the valve causing the loss of pressure.

:

 

[nightsod]

Most likely the screw top not holding a good seal. If you have no pressure then there's no harm in removing the top for a short while. Use a smear of vaseline on the sealing washer and screw the cap back on till you just feel a little resistance then tighten about 1/6 of a turn more ... DONT tighten it fully down.

I don't think it's this. The keg has bee pressurised for a month or so. When we put a bulb in yesterday, there was still enough pressure to draw beer but it was clearly running out(less fizz / less force.). The keg only lost pressure completely as we were trying to refill it.

 

[andylanc1975]

I had the same problem with my keg (although its a bottom tap one), screw the bulb in, lots of hissing and then one empty bulb and not an awful lot of pressure in the keg, couple of pints and it was time for another bulb. With the last one, I think I cracked it... slowly screwed the bulb holder into the top, and as soon as it pierced and started to release CO2 into the keg, I stopped turning. Lo and behold, the hissing stopped after less than a second, beer started pouring under pressure and I was able to take a good couple of gallons off before having to replace it (by that time it was the bottom of the barrel, so just let air enter the barrel).

 

[nightsod]

Fixed!

Thanks Andy. I was going to try something like you suggested, but really that was what I tried to do with the second bulb I used.

However, based on that first reply, I thought I'd best check the cap to see if there was any obvious problem. There was. The rubber seal that prevents the pressure escaping had blown down around the base of the valve, exposing the wee hole to the outside world. Luckily it hadn't been pushed off and into the beer!

I have carefully replaced the seal back into its correct position and tried another bulb. Viola! Success.

Job done. Thank chaps.