CO2 regulator help

[giraffe]

I have just moved over to my first corny keg and am unsure on the best way to use the regulator. I bought a kit from brew keg tap that included an ODL regulator. My first mistake, I assumed the screw being tightened up would mean no flow. Connected the gas and it went straight up to 5 bar in the keg. It seems that unscrewing reduces the pressure, to a limit. It seems that it can only do a minimum of 1 bar, unscrewing it further then starts leaking gas from the regulator. Does this sound normal?

The other thing I was wondering is whether to leave the gas connected to the regulator and the keg if not being used? If disconnecting the ball lock connector from the keg can you trust it not to leak gas out of the John guest fitting?

Thanks

 

[yikkerman]

The other thing I was wondering is whether to leave the gas connected to the regulator and the keg if not being used? If disconnecting the ball lock connector from the keg can you trust it not to leak gas out of the John guest fitting?

I tend not to leave gas on all the time and shut it off at the bottle leaving all the connections in place.. A slight leak from lid of corny or regulator can easily empty your co2 bottle.
Turn it back on when you need it - not forgetting to turn it off too !!!

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi @giraffe
It's not "lefty loosey righty tighty" - it's the opposite.
You'll find that most members work in psi rather than bar.
Once your keg is over-pressurised, all you can do is vent it using the safety valve.

 

[Ghillie]

It seems that it can only do a minimum of 1 bar, unscrewing it further then starts leaking gas from the regulator. Does this sound normal?

The gas "leaking" from the regulator is actually gas being vented from the keg until it's balanced with the chosen pressure on your regulator. Pressure should equalise within a matter of seconds though - depending on just how much pressure was in your keg initially though...

I have an ODL regulator and it's good right down to about 1-2 PSI.

The other thing I was wondering is whether to leave the gas connected to the regulator and the keg if not being used? If disconnecting the ball lock connector from the keg can you trust it not to leak gas out of the John guest fitting?

In my personal opinion, absolutely! When I go back to work for a fortnight, everything is left connected and ready to serve. Never had any issues with leaks, but I do use good quality fittings. JG push fits, JG Y splitters, etc. No dodgy barbs and jubilee clips for me.

Your gas disconnect is also fine to be left uncoupled from the keg's 'gas in' post with the regulator open.

 

[peebee]

I wrote this (a while ago) for those new to CO2 management:

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/co2-management-primer.67424/

Sorry @Ghillie , it does contradict some of what you said! Dialling in less than 1/2BAR (7PSI) on a single-stage primary cylinder regulator is fine, but the mechanisms are far too crude to maintain those pressures (think about it - how precision-made things have to be to drop 860PSI to 2PSI in one go. Such precision don't come cheap, like add a few noughts to what you paid for the ODL regulator - but you might be lucky?). Dual-stage (expensive) or secondary regulators (complicated) is the only sure way of getting low-pressure settings.

Just to rub in the contradiction: JG push fittings are not good quality! They don't cost much and are pretty leak-free if the connecting hoses are kept fairly straight, but if the hoses bend close to the fitting they'll leak like sieves. It's why I switched to metal pneumatic fittings (which are actually cheaper than JG for the smaller bore tubes that are more than adequate for home-brew scenarios).

I switch off the gas between uses (on timer, so switch off is compulsory) because in fairly complicated setups it does your head in trying to track down tiny leaks from unexpected sources (like some unconnected Corny disconnects which have surprising leaks that don't show up when connected).

 

[Ghillie]

I wrote this (a while ago) for those new to CO2 management:

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/co2-management-primer.67424/

Sorry @Ghillie , it does contradict some of what you said! Dialling in less than 1/2BAR (7PSI) on a single-stage primary cylinder regulator is fine, but the mechanisms are far too crude to maintain those pressures (think about it - how precision-made things have to be to drop 860PSI to 2PSI in one go. Such precision don't come cheap, like add a few noughts to what you paid for the ODL regulator - but you might be lucky?). Dual-stage (expensive) or secondary regulators (complicated) is the only sure way of getting low-pressure settings.

Just to rub in the contradiction: JG push fittings are not good quality! They don't cost much and are pretty leak-free if the connecting hoses are kept fairly straight, but if the hoses bend close to the fitting they'll leak like sieves. It's why I switched to metal pneumatic fittings (which are actually cheaper than JG for the smaller bore tubes that are more than adequate for home-brew scenarios).

I switch off the gas between uses (on timer, so switch off is compulsory) because in fairly complicated setups it does your head in trying to track down tiny leaks from unexpected sources (like some unconnected Corny disconnects which have surprising leaks that don't show up when connected).

Nothing to be sorry for pal!

My experiences of low pressures on the regulator go as far as 1-5 PSI for using with my beer gun. Things seemed to work fine, although the pressure would drop off after the initial reduction from ~15PSI to a really low pressure like 1-3PSI, but then once I tweaked it back to 2-5PSI after trying to fill the first bottle - it would happily bottle 50+ remaining 330mls from a corny. But I agree with what you've said.

No negative experiences with my JG fittings, but my lines are straight and well laid out. Absolutely agree with bending at the shank connections, etc though. I can see that being a potential problem. I understand they are cheap/affordable; but they do a good job for what they are and I would argue that the build quality is exactly what you'd want from a piece of plastic. Mine have taken up to 50PSI without issue, so for a couple of quid I'd say that's definitely a good thing!

I agree that with a complicated setup (more areas for potential leaks) shutting the gas off would be a good safeguard against the worst case scenario. In my basic setup (upside down fire extinguisher, single regulator, Y splitter and two kegs) my scope for leaks is quite small.

 

[yikkerman]

I switch off the gas between uses (on timer, so switch off is compulsory) because in fairly complicated setups it does your head in trying to track down tiny leaks from unexpected sources (like some unconnected Corny disconnects which have surprising leaks that don't show up when connected).

I should have made my point a bit clearer.
My set up is not so straight forward either. I have main regulator to 3 secondary and 3 cornies. It can be a right faf trying to pin down a small leak - hence turning off at bottle.

 

[BeerCat]

I have recently installed JG 3/8 taps on mine about 10cm from the disconnect. I find it very useful when force carbing as I don't have to disconnect anything. I tried a barbed manifold and that seemed to leak at every so I gave up and decided to simplify it as above.

 

[giraffe]

Thanks for the responses, I think I understand how to use the regulator now. Probably wasted a lot of CO2 in the process but I'm learning