Pressure Barrels - More than you wanted to know!

[Wherrypuzzled]

Hi BB

I am totally non practical and have been wondering what I could find to stop the gas and yes that is obviously proven technology and would be delighted to press it back into service

Thanks very much ....will DM you soon
cheers jt

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

You could try shaving off a sliver of the rubber tube in case it’s a little too long, it takes almost nothing to go from long-enough to too-long.

If that doesn’t solve your problem then you may have a mythical beast that I’ve never seen. I have heard, but never seen, that this joint can leak. If this is your problem I don’t think you can do anything to fix it - maybe lots of heat and a good squeeze in a vice to press them together?

I’ve dropped an email to Hambleton Bard asking for their view.

 

[Buffers brewery]

You could try shaving off a sliver of the rubber tube in case it’s a little too long, it takes almost nothing to go from long-enough to too-long.

If that doesn’t solve your problem then you may have a mythical beast that I’ve never seen. I have heard, but never seen, that this joint can leak. If this is your problem I don’t think you can do anything to fix it - maybe lots of heat and a good squeeze in a vice to press them together?

View attachment 54197

I’ve dropped an email to Hambleton Bard asking for their view.

I took a few of these apart in the past and the ones I had the non-return valve stem was threaded into the main body and I think they were thread locked as I had to heat them to unscrew them. Could be the thread lock wasn't done properly and is leaking

 

[Tanglefoot]

If the gas is escaping through the pin, if you leave the empty bulb in place it should stop it as it has nowhere to go.

I had this problem with one of the new tops I bought for my old Boots barrels.
If I didn't unscrew the bulb it would hold pressure as I remember.

Pin valves seem to be of variable quality and their poor design/construction is usually the weak link in keeping pressure in barrels.

I since have gone back to the old tops, without a valve just pressure release valve, and keep it simple with dextrose to carbonate.
Works ok for me, so long as I don't drink it too quickly it will repressurise on its own .

 

[Wherrypuzzled]

Thanks all for replies - will trim new rubber and try on different barrel

Will also leave empty bulb in situ if i have to regas - likely if I have this leak

cheers all

 

[CD]

a good squeeze in a vice to press them together?
It is screwed in so that won't help.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

If it’s screwed in, it clearly won’t help to give it a shove.

 

[CD]

They are, I’ve taken quite a few apart for various reasons. He might have a rogue that’s leaking up the thread. Incidentally I’ve never had the need to retain the inlet rubber tube with a small tie wrap, as you recommend. I would have thought someone would have to very heavy handed with an S30 cylinder to blow them off, or does it happen with Sparklet all-or-nothing applications? Replacement rubbers are best sourced from the silicon tubing used as fuel tubing for model aircraft glowplug engines, by the way.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

The seal on the 8g bulbs can be thick or thin and brands are different so you can get used to one brand and the same twisting action can result in a more vigorous discharge. I’ve blown the tube into my beer myself in the early days.

Model aircraft and home brewing are probably not good bedfellows but I’ve done both (Still have a loft full of 30 year-old aero engines, radios, and boxes of “stuff” ).

 

[CD]

Model Aircraft and Home Brewing make perfect bedfellows!

 

[RichardMW]

Hi. Great useful thread. Thanks for putting it together and helping us all.

To take things a bit further, has anyone managed to adapt their king keg to accept standard corny keg disconnects? Maybe using a solid lid if it such a thing is available?

I have two king keg top taps which I haven't used in ages but if I could convert them into proper pressure fermenters I'd be delighted.

 

[Stevieboy]

Hi. Great useful thread. Thanks for putting it together and helping us all.

To take things a bit further, has anyone managed to adapt their king keg to accept standard corny keg disconnects? Maybe using a solid lid if it such a thing is available?

I have two king keg top taps which I haven't used in ages but if I could convert them into proper pressure fermenters I'd be delighted.

Calling @Buffers brewery

 

[Buffers brewery]

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/buffers-brewery-pressure-barrel-“bung”.86949/

 

[RichardMW]

Hi. Great useful thread. Thanks for putting it together and helping us all.

To take things a bit further, has anyone managed to adapt their king keg to accept standard corny keg disconnects? Maybe using a solid lid if it such a thing is available?

I have two king keg top taps which I haven't used in ages but if I could convert them into proper pressure fermenters I'd be delighted.

In fact, thinking about it, you'd only need your gas in post as your beer out is your tap on the side with its floating dip tube

 

[RichardMW]

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/buffers-brewery-pressure-barrel-“bung”.86949/

Blimey! Making your own resin lid? That's dedication!

I was thinking more along the lines of drilling a spare KK lid to put a bulkhead ball lock post in, and keeping the existing S30 valve to act as my PRV. What sort of pressure can a KK take? They seem massively overengineered in terms of wall thickness compared to a fermzilla.

 

[Buffers brewery]

Making your own resin lid?

I 3-D print them now

You can go down this route…..

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/s30-hambleton-bard-connector-alternative.89178/

 

[Lee69]

In my limited use of pressure barrels, it's been the tap seal that's been the problem. Never thought of using ptfe tape, first time using it on this brew and no leaks!
Cheers for the write up

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Really all the info you could ever need in this thread. Great work.
I'm keen to convert my Tap to a bulkhead ball lock connector on the king keg. A bit more aseptic and easier to attach to the beer engine.
Just haven't had a chance to process the solution yet.
Will update once it's sorted.

 

[jondi11]

Great tips HB, Well explained.
It's very frustrating when your trying to get your brand new batch sorted and you can't get a good pressure.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Great tips HB, Well explained.
It's very frustrating when your trying to get your brand new batch sorted and you can't get a good pressure.

Absolutely! I of course went through all of this myself and gradually worked my way through all the issues. After seeing lots of people ask the same questions on this forum (and seeing some of the responses!) I put this together so folk can hopefully understand the issues and get working solutions for them.