Faulty regulator?

[chrisb8]

Hi all, I've just had a disappointing introduction to the world of corny kegs. Everything seemed to be working fine when I cleaned and sanitised the keg at the weekend. Tonight I have filled it with beer which was a revelation compared to bottling. I connected the gas and turned up the pressure to seal the lid etc. However when I released pressure to purge the headspace I noticed that the pressure gauge needle on the regulator was stuck at around 20psi. I have disconnected everything and it's still stuck.

Unless I am really missing something I guess it's knackered?

Now I am left with a full keg with no way of carbonating because I have no idea how much pressure would be going in. The keg is sealed and purged so I hope it will be okay until a replacement arrives...?

Any help would be much appreciated

 

[foxbat]

Has the printed scale warped or creased so it's lifted up and caught the needle?

 

[chrisb8]

Has the printed scale warped or creased so it's lifted up and caught the needle?

That was something I checked but unfortunately not

 

[chrisb8]

The needle wobbles so I believe it is free to move. It's as if the gauge has set itself to 20psi being zero. But could that be trusted?? Even so it's a brand new gauge so it really should work correctly.

 

[foxy]

Hi all, I've just had a disappointing introduction to the world of corny kegs. Everything seemed to be working fine when I cleaned and sanitised the keg at the weekend. Tonight I have filled it with beer which was a revelation compared to bottling. I connected the gas and turned up the pressure to seal the lid etc. However when I released pressure to purge the headspace I noticed that the pressure gauge needle on the regulator was stuck at around 20psi. I have disconnected everything and it's still stuck. View attachment 39393
Unless I am really missing something I guess it's knackered?

Now I am left with a full keg with no way of carbonating because I have no idea how much pressure would be going in. The keg is sealed and purged so I hope it will be okay until a replacement arrives...?

Any help would be much appreciated

Before you fitted the regulator did you quickly open and close the bottle?
Always wise to do that before fitting any regulator, to any gas bottle, it blows out any little bits of dust and other foreign objects.
It sounds like something has lodged in the regulator inlet prevent the needle from returning to zero.

 

[chrisb8]

Before you fitted the regulator did you quickly open and close the bottle?
Always wise to do that before fitting any regulator, to any gas bottle, it blows out any little bits of dust and other foreign objects.
It sounds like something has lodged in the regulator inlet prevent the needle from returning to zero.

It's a sodastream bottle so I'm not sure if it's possible to do that (?)

If something is lodged up there then do you think there is a way to clean it?

 

[foxy]

It's a sodastream bottle so I'm not sure if it's possible to do that (?)

If something is lodged up there then do you think there is a way to clean it?

I don't think there is.

 

[foxbat]

Are there any calibration holes on the back of the gauge with recessed adjustment screws? If so you might be able to use them to persuade the needle to overcome whatever it's caught on - if it's caught on something and not actually got a blocked inlet hole to the gauge.

I assume you don't want to unscrew the gauge and take a look in case you leave marks and invalidate your warranty?

 

[peebee]

Further speculations on cause:

If the gauge is over-pressured (needle bangs up against stops) the lineages are easily bent resulting in what you see. Skin-flints like me might try and bend the linkages back to get it to read zero, but that requires a bit of determination and a steady hand (that counts me out , but what the hell).

If that sounds like it will mess up the accuracy: Who told you they were accurate?

 

[peebee]

Solution?

My primary regulator doesn't even have a low pressure gauge (and the pretty useless high-pressure gauge is suitably diminutive). But further along the (bus) line I have a tee piece that breaks out to a larger, more suitably placed, gauge. This does suggest ignoring the regulator's gauges, but does avoid the temptation of buying another regulator.

 

[chrisb8]

With a bit more patience I have had another play with the regulator tonight and it seems like it is working correctly but just with the gauge having 20 as the 0 point. So I have connected the gas and going to see what happens so at least I can get some co2 into the beer.

Kudos to jonny at brew keg tap who is sending a replacement next day delivery. Apparently it's not the first time one has been returned with this issue. Can't fault the customer service and a nice guy to talk to

Thanks for all the replies