Newbie Question - King Keg

[wolfofwolves]

Hi folks,

I'm ready to keg my 3rd brew - cant say i've had much joy with the first two! On my first two brews, my King Keg was leaking from underneath the lid, leaving me with two flat beers. I think I have now solved the problem by sanding the lip of the keg a little (a pressure test with washing up liquid brushed on now shows no leaking). I am however still worried that I might end up with another flat beer if it was for whatever reason not to seal properly again. So my question is this...Would it be OK to inject C02 into the keg after adding immediately priming sugar in order to confirm there are no leakages?

Many Thanks!!!

 

[Kevin Wood]

Sounds like you might have got a bit of a ridge on the top from where the keg was moulded? Mine was the same and I get a 100% success rate now I've ensured the rim is flat where the sealing ring meets it.

I have found the best bet is to completely dismantle the whole thing before use - take the tap off, remove the pressure valve and big silicone sealing ring from the lid and the rubber bands from the pressure valve, clean, sanitise, inspect and reassemble the whole lot with a thin smear of vaseline on all the sealing surfaces.

A shot of CO2 would do no harm, and also probably displace a little air out from above the brew, leaving it better protected from oxidisation.

If you then have a problem with the tap seal, for example, though, you're going to have to mess about with the brew still in the keg, so I would say, as an additional safeguard, fill it with water and add a squirt of CO2 first, leave it for a while and check for leaks, then rack off the brew and do as you suggest.

For the first few days of conditioning, just drain off a dribble from the tap on a regular basis to ensure it's holding pressure.

 

[TRXnMe]

I've given my last 3 kegs a quick squirt from my S30 cylinder as soon as they've been filled from the FV, no problens so far.

I've also used the S30 to test a previously iffy keg, fix it, chuck in 30 litres of water, tighten cap and pressurise for a second or three and then check all possible leak points. It was fine once I'd put some vaseline on the cap O ring seal.

 

[wolfofwolves]

Thanks for that guys. I've kegged the beer now and given it a shot of C02 once the beer and sugar was in and sealed. The only place the gas was escaping was through the pressure valve itself so no worries there! Gonna resist temptation this time and not try it for a good few weeks as well. Fingers crossed!!!

 

[31bb3]

Glad you sorted it