King Keg Problem!!

MattPark · Aug 16, 2012

I was excited to try my Coopers European lager today which has been sat in a King Keg for about 5-6 weeks.
When I opened up the tap, there was just a trickle and no pressure at all!
The keg is the one with a top tap and float and I put a brand new lid on it with seal when i kegged it.
So what have I done wrong?
Could it be the float not positioned right and if so what can I do about it?

Runwell-Steve · Aug 16, 2012

If there was no pressure in the keg then you either,

a) forgot to prime the keg.
b) have a leak.

I would say the most likely thing is you have a leak, and the likelihood is that it is around the neck seal, as thats where they always leak.

The trick to sealing a King Keg is less is more.

Less vaseline, and less tight.

You want a very thin amount of vaseline around the rubber seal, and only tighten the lid finger tight, or you will distort the seal.

Once you have done that you will probably be best off re priming, alternatively you could add some gas but it will take a lot of gas to get a pilsner fizzy in a King Keg. Plastic kegs are not ideal for lager as they can't easily hold enough pressure, they are much better suited to Ales.

RobWalker · Aug 16, 2012

it would still have pressure if the float was positioned wrong...did it hiss?

sounds like it hasn't carbonated or it's escaping from somewhere. could be due to over tightening - a co2 bottle would be useful here because you can gas it straight away, if not you will have to reprime.

open it up, vaseline the seal and see if it's ripped etc. have a look at the float too. make sure you reprime or you might be introducing oxygen to your beer...

(sorry if steve already covered this, which i think he has, as he posted as i posted!)

MattPark · Aug 16, 2012

Thanks for the quick replies guys.
So I will be OK to open the keg, check the seal and re-prime, when I reprime do I use the same amount of sugar (85g) and how long do I leave it for??
I do have a CO2 bottle (pub style) but I only use it when I buy a commercial keg. The lid of the king keg has a s30 valve.

RobWalker · Aug 16, 2012

you reprime the same amount. it should be carbed up in like 4 days, you may wanna plonk it in the cold after that so the co2 absorbs into the beer. : cheers:

TRXnMe · Aug 17, 2012

There's another possibility, check the tube from the float to the tap isn't kinked, I had this on one of my top tap kegs, had to transfer the beer to anothe keg, reprime and wait all over again

On the plus side I fixed the tube for next t nowt with a dip in hot water :)