Numpty! Beer in my regulators

[DocAnna]

Aghh
Numpty numpty and oh you plonker!

So I’ve been really worried about getting beer back into my regulators since I didn’t have a check valve on the gas passthrough on my secondary regulator. So I purchased said tap and backflow check valve and was going to fit them this afternoon after work. However: I did not disconnect the overfilled keg which was on for carbonation, when I turned down the gas pressure and promptly sprayed beer all over the garage through my two regulators.

i’ve read that I needed to take them apart and wash then dry them but I’ve reached a level of deconstruction that I am cautious about taking any further. Can anyone tell me whether I need to try to take apart the dials or the regulators any further?

Thank you for any help offered. I’m feeling really stupid right now.
Anna

 

[Rodcx500z]

You could try a hairdryer Anna, they are the same as mine i only have one check valve you have just reminded me i need to to move to before my splitter, i do hope you get them fixed

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I thought this was about a new beer called Numpty Beer

 

[phildo79]

I have the same reg and on a couple of occasions, I have had beer come back up the line. Once so forcefully, the beer hit the ceiling. I removed the reg from all the attachments, shook as much beer out as I could and ran some tap water over/through it. Never took it apart and (touch wood) the reg still works.

 

[Rodcx500z]

There a few vids on the tube Anna HBW 69 - Taking Apart a Regulator - Detailed Kegging info - YouTube

 

[DocAnna]

Well everything has been washed in hot soapy water, dried with kitchen towel and I'm leaving them to drain and dry overnight before trying to assemble everything again. I didn't go with the hairdryer option as I was worried the heat might damage some hidden plastic part, and I didn't try to disassemble beyond where shown above.

@Rodcx500z Thanks for the YouTube references - I’ll look through those just now. @phildo79 Also good to hear I might not have ruined the regulators.

Anna

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I would suggest a good rinse out with RO (or if available, DI) water to dissolve any sticky residues and then dry in a low oven - I very much doubt there will be any permanent damage

 

[Graz]

With the regulator I managed to do this to I only took it apart to the same level you have and that was several months after the incident. At the time of it happening I just blasted some CO2 through it to get rid of the worst of whatever had got in there.

There was some obvious gunky dried beer type stuff that I cleaned out. At that stage I also wished I'd been slightly more proactive about it as whatever was in there had started to cause a little corrosion but the regulator still works fine.

From the sound of it yours will be too once dried off and re-assembled.

Lesson though, check valves are good, but always drop the keg pressure by lifting the relief valve before attaching the gas line. That way it doesn't matter as the line pressure will always be higher than that of the keg so no backflow.

 

[DocAnna]

With the regulator I managed to do this to I only took it apart to the same level you have and that was several months after the incident. At the time of it happening I just blasted some CO2 through it to get rid of the worst of whatever had got in there.

There was some obvious gunky dried beer type stuff that I cleaned out. At that stage I also wished I'd been slightly more proactive about it as whatever was in there had started to cause a little corrosion but the regulator still works fine.

From the sound of it yours will be too once dried off and re-assembled.

Lesson though, check valves are good, but always drop the keg pressure by lifting the relief valve before attaching the gas line. That way it doesn't matter as the line pressure will always be higher than that of the keg so no backflow.

Thanks, I have now reassembled everything with previously planned check valve now in place. I had added an inline tap but it was an AliExpress special and leaked badly so decided against this. I think I might add a small manifold eventually rather than this inline check valve as they have built in check valves and I can isolate each line more easily. I suspect it might have been better to leave it another few days to assemble and dry off but I'm an impatient bee and my annoyance with myself too often translates into an urge to do something rather than wait and pause!

 

[Rodcx500z]

Nice to see it all up and running again Anna top job, i think you are right about a manifold more so if you have multiple kegs

 

[An Ankoù]

Another good reason to stick with bottles- in case I was ever tempted to part with some of my ill-earned dosh.
Unless the joy of dismantling, cleaning and reassembling is an end in itself. Forrest Gump seemed to enjoy cleaning his rifle.

 

[DocAnna]

Nice to see it all up and running again Anna top job, i think you are right about a manifold more so if you have multiple kegs

Now just to hope there's no leaks. The gas line shown is just being used for force carbonation and is outside the kegerator, so I can force carbonate while waiting for a space in the kegerator, or carbonate and then store elsewhere while conditioning. It takes the pressure from the pass through on the secondary which then supplies the kegerator - though showing a bit high pressure on the pictures, I've turned it down a bit since. Right now though I'm just relieved it all went back together simply.

One of the things I find really odd is that there's no instructions or specification sheet with the regulators, not even on ODL's own site : Pressure reducers , there's a dodgy reference elsewhere on the web to an instruction pdf but only on a paid for file-share service... that will be a no then! Surely there must be a specification sheet -operating parameters, service requirements etc. In writing this I thought this is daft, and so I've contacted the company directly as below:

Hi, I'm using your SC-1 and SC Secondary pressure reducers in a home brew setting and have been unable to find any specification for these, including operating parameters and service requirements. Please could you either provide copies of the specifications for use or make them available here on your site. Thank you.

Anna

 

[Rodcx500z]

Anna when you say pressure reducers are you talking about the little screw you turn to reduce the pressure, i have the same reg as you and i find when you turn it nothing happens at first then it will start hissing as the gas come's out rather quickly i think this is were the problem lie's, what i do is disconnect the ball lock and turn the gas off then turn the screw hope this helps

 

[DocAnna]

Anna when you say pressure reducers are you talking about the little screw you turn to reduce the pressure, i have the same reg as you and i find when you turn it nothing happens at first then it will start hissing as the gas come's out rather quickly i think this is were the problem lie's, what i do is disconnect the ball lock and turn the gas off then turn the screw hope this helps

ODL refer to their regulators as 'pressure reducers'. The hiss when reducing the pressure is a relief valve in the regulator that releases when there is a significant pressure differential between set pressure and current line pressure. Yes you are completely right, disconnecting the ball lock, and turning the cylinder gas off would have been much better .

 

[phildo79]

ODL refer to their regulators as 'pressure reducers'. The hiss when reducing the pressure is a relief valve in the regulator that releases when there is a significant pressure differential between set pressure and current line pressure. Yes you are completely right, disconnecting the ball lock, and turning the cylinder gas off would have been much better .

You can leave the disconnect on and reduce the gas SLOWLY. Just be sure to go a little under serving psi and then crank up to your desired psi or it will continue to reduce pressure. Some people will tell you that beer cannot travel up the line because it cannot defy the laws of gravity. But it can in a vacuum, as we have both discovered. I used to leave the disconnect on and reduce slowly but now I just take it off, vent and reapply at my desired psi.

 

[Rodcx500z]

ODL refer to their regulators as 'pressure reducers'. The hiss when reducing the pressure is a relief valve in the regulator that releases when there is a significant pressure differential between set pressure and current line pressure. Yes you are completely right, disconnecting the ball lock, and turning the cylinder gas off would have been much better .

I have forgotten on more than one occasion so i think a manifold is best

 

[phildo79]

Check these out!

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...exp_id=7d646e5c-9f91-4156-8862-c3e7c1591eb8-3

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Check these out!

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...exp_id=7d646e5c-9f91-4156-8862-c3e7c1591eb8-3

I have them on all the kegs, they do " steal " some psi in the system so you need to raise your overall pressure about 1 psi. But an idiot proof safety feature.

PS don't use them on your spunding valve though!!!

 

[foxbat]

I have them on all the kegs, they do " steal " some psi in the system so you need to raise your overall pressure about 1 psi. But an idiot proof safety feature.

PS don't use them on your spunding valve though!!!

Sold here at BrewKegTap:

https://brewkegtap.co.uk/products/ball-lock-disconnect-gas-in-mfl-with-check-valve
If it's the CMB German-made item then I'd buy it. If it's a no-name Chinese clone then I don't want it anywhere near my gas lines because I'm leak-free at the moment and would like it to stay like that!

 

[clyne]

Messing up with pressures on my system is probably my most regular mistake. But with 9 kegs those disconnects look lovely but would leave me short of about 100 quid. I’m TRYING to just think a bit more before I disconnect or reconnect any lines. The issue is when I’m brewing im not working and therefore my brain switches to dumb mode