Testing a pressure barrel for leaks?

[jamesymurray]

Hello All,

After a few brews worth of bottling, I want to stick the next batch into my old PB. It's one of the standard 2" cap ones.
I've not used it in over a year, and would like to test it for air leaks before committing 40 pints of liquid gold to it.

Does anyone have any cunning suggestions as to how I could do this?


Cheers

 

[chewie]

I seem to remember someone saying coca cola and mentos sweets and close it up, then use a spray bottle with a soapy liquid in it to check round the top and valve for leaks.

 

[jamesymurray]

I did think at first about doing something like filling it with cheap sparkling water and pumping a bulb of CO2. But the coke/mentos method sounds inspired, not to mention cheap.

 

[Razor]

Try sealing it up empty and putting it in a bath/sink/bucket of water and see if there's bubbles.


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[Sandimas]

Buy a replacement lid with an S30 valve (Ebay or elsewhere) and get a Hambleton-Bard small CO2 cylinder, seal it up and give it a squirt or two and see if it leaks.

I do the above even when I put beer it, no point leaving sealing it to chance - too many stories of no CO2 after 2 weeks gassing up, had it myself many times due to distorted lid gaskets and poor seals.

 

[terrym]

Do the normal checks on cap seals and smear seals with Vaseline etc etc.
Fill it about a quarter full of water and add some yeast nutrient if you have any.
Chuck in about 60g of table sugar, plus some trub from a brew or some bakers yeast.
Seal it up.
Put in a warm place.
Wait with fingers crossed and it should pressurise within in a few days as for a brew.
If you think its leaking place the liquid over tap then cap etc and you should find it. Also try soapy water which is good for finding leaks.

 

[Robin54]

soapy water sprayed around the cap will show any leaks. Its what I did when changing HUGE gas cylinders in a big hospital. In fact its what BOC recommended.

 

[Ale]

I checked mine recenty, I just filled it with water to about an inch or two below the top, dryed it thoroughly and put a bulb of CO2 in. You said you thought about a bulb so I expect you can do this. First of all it escaped from the lid because I hadnt done it up tight enough, so I tightened that quick. Some gas came out for the S30 valve and I then left it for 24 hours. It was still completely dry (not even a sign of a drip) and when I undid the cap there was a fairly good whoosh indicating it had maintained pressure. I'm going to take the plunge and put my next brew in it.

I had put my last brew in it but it leaked from the tap pretty much straight away. I tipped it over and replaced the tap with the one from my FV (I didnt have any spares) but it still leaked so I put it in bottles in the end. It still came out ok, except one bottle that didnt carbonate properly. I then bought 4 new taps and have a new one in the PB which seems to have solved the problem. Prior to using it last time the cap didnt let any gas out so I think it might have been blocked. I gave it a good clean before using it last time (and this one) and its fine now. Just on case I have problems again I have enough bottles to move it over if need be,

 

[jamesymurray]

Thanks for all the suggestions chaps. Will have a go at testing it this weekend.