Kegland in line regulators Help needed

[Gwen]

Am I being a bit dumb. I cant seem to get different pressures from my in line regulators.
So I have a gas bottle with a regulator showing 20psi. This feeds into a 4 way manifold in my kegerator. I have 2 kegs and about to connect a 3rd. From the manifold both gas lines have a kegland regulator attached, then the gas ball lock disconnect onto the keg. 1 of them I have wound the wing nut tight and the other is loose but they both are showing 18 psi. Do I wind the screw in bit all the way to take the pressure down or up. I have had them attached now for a week but do not seem able to reduce the pressure on them even when I have reduced pressure by turning the main regulator down and venting the pressure out of the kegs. Is there a trick with these? Any help would be gratefully received.

 

[MickDundee]

Are you trying to reduce the pressure by unscrewing the knob?

All these secondary regulators do is restrict the gas going into the keg, so if your keg is sitting at 18PSI it will stay at 18PSI until you pull the pressure relief valve to let some pressure out.

You can increase the pressure using the knob (limited to the pressure your primary is set to obviously) but to decrease pressure you need to do it manually.

 

[peebee]

Regulators come in two flavours: relieving and non-relieving. Relieving regulators are most common. They will show you the approximate "set" pressure on the gauge. The accuracy is variable between makes of regulator. The gauge may show slightly more than the "set" pressure. Some regulators relieve at very predictable amounts, so predictable I'll use such regulators as "spunding" valves.

But your regulator sounds like a non-relieving type. These work like @MickDundee describes. The gauge shows the pressure in the keg, not the "set" pressure. Many regulators that are of the "relieving" type function so badly they are best considered to be "non-relieving". As @MickDundee described, release most of the gas in the keg and wait for the pressure to build back into the keg. This will now indicate the set pressure.

Regulators for poisonous or explosive gases should be of a non-relieving type: You do not expect such dangerous gases to be released into the environment.

 

[user 4749]

I have the same setup and it takes a bit of getting use to it . Start by putting off your main regulator , relieve all the gas in the kegs by using the PRVs so you are starting from where you know the PSi ie zero. Have all the Kegalnd inline regulators wound fully out then turn on your gas.
At this point you should not hear the kegs gassing up as the inline regulators are at 0psi , start with one inline regulator at a time and wind them in a little at a time till you hear them gassing up the keg until you get the required psi in the keg . Then do the same with the others .
So if you go beyond the required psi wind out and relieve the pressure by the PRV. I normally have my main regulator sittiing a little higher than the required PSI .
Hope this helps .

 

[peebee]

Can't help noticing, but ...

You've got some tight bends in those gas lines. Using John Guest "push" fittings with relatively stiff polythene (mdpe) can lead to leaks as the tube deforms more than the O-rings can adapt to. I had too swap out my rigid MDPE gas lines and JG fittings for more flexible 6 or 8mm polyurethane tube and metal pneumatic fittings to get rid of all the annoying little leaks ("Kelm" metal pneumatic fittings can be cheaper than the JG fittings too).

 

[Gwen]

Thanks everyone,
I was releasing the gas via the prv to try and reduce the pressure in the kegs but was unsure which way to turn the valve to get the lower pressure as both were showing the same reading when one was closed and the other was wound out. I will keep playing as my Mango ale was mega frothy tonight

 

[Gwen]

Can't help noticing, but ...

You've got some tight bends in those gas lines. Using John Guest "push" fittings with relatively stiff polythene (mdpe) can lead to leaks as the tube deforms more than the O-rings can adapt to. I had too swap out my rigid MDPE gas lines and JG fittings for more flexible 6 or 8mm polyurethane tube and metal pneumatic fittings to get rid of all the annoying little leaks ("Kelm" metal pneumatic fittings can be cheaper than the JG fittings too).

Yes I know it's all a bit tight. I am about to put a third keg in there so was trying to get a feel as how to set the regulators up before I tried to fit to the wall of the fridge. To be honest I'm not really sure there is room unless I take the last shelf out. I have loads of spare (more flexible)pipe and also some corner joints I can use for tight bends.

 

[stripeyjoe]

You might find it better to use 3/8-3/16 reducers and have the majority of your gas line as 3/16”. A lot easier to manipulate.

 

[dave_77]

I have the same set up. When I'm setting the pressure I do this before connecting to the keg.
I'll loosen off the knob fully and push the poppet on the disconnect so it should show 0. Then I'll tighten the knob till the dial hits the target psi. The. I'll push the poppet in on the disconnect again purging the line and seeing if the pressure comes back to target level. Then I'll connect it to the keg. If it's a keg I have just filled and it's at a higher psi then I'll just leave it as it will balance out as the gas gets absorbed. Somebody may have covered this method. Seems to work for me
I have also changed all my gas lines to the 5/16 which step up to 3/8 to join to the disconnect..much more flexible.

 

[Gwen]

Thanks everyone. I have been playing with the pressures since putting the third keg in. To high then too low
They are really sensitive but if I listen yes I can hear the gas go in. I guess I was just turning them to tightly to start with and they really do not seem to need to much of a turn to allow the gas in. I seem to have them set pretty well now for each keg.
I won't have to reset too much on keg changes.