Used corny keg - possible leak

[phildo79]

Cheers. I totally forgot about the other end of the spanner. I'll be at my dad's on Sunday, and like most dads, he has an Aladin's cave when it comes to tools. I'll bring the post with me.

 

[phildo79]

So I got the posts tightened up and filled it with CO2. Left it for a week before checking it again. When I purged it, plenty of gas came out so I figured it was airtight now. Put a batch in it last Sunday and primed it with sugar. My other keg kicked yesterday so I switched it out. Just poured myself a glass and it was pretty effing flat. Not completely, like last time, but not far off.

Not sure I have ever tried a beer that has been kegged only 1 week beforehand. Could this have anything to do with the lack of carbonation?

 

[HarryFlatters]

I'm having similar problems, phildo. I've tried rocking and rolling and leaving kegs on their side to increase the surface area exposed to the gas, but I'm still left underwhelmed by the levels of carbonation.

 

[-Bezza-]

Have you tried the set-and-forget approach? Just set to 10PSI and then leave like that for a week, i.e. with the cylinder valve open.

 

[BarnBrian]

Adjustable spanner works for me

 

[phildo79]

I had to use the set and forget method with the last batch because I transferred to a tried and tested corny. I set it at 20 psi for 48 hours and that seemed to do the trick. I have this one now set at 20 psi and will pour a sample tonight, when it has been on for 24 hours.

But I am still not convinced this used corny is working 100%. I even thought the beer was coming out of the tap a bit slower than it should be. If there was something wrong with the liquid out post, could this be the cause of the problem?

 

[HarryFlatters]

i.e. with the cylinder valve open.

That's what I'm concerned about - if my keg does have a slow leak, I could lose all the gas overnight. It's only £5 for a refill, but it's still a bit irritating.

I guess I should just bite the bullet and get on with it.

 

[-Bezza-]

That's what I'm concerned about - if my keg does have a slow leak, I could lose all the gas overnight. It's only £5 for a refill, but it's still a bit irritating.

I guess I should just bite the bullet and get on with it.

You could set it to 10PSI and turn off, go back a few hours later and repeat. Just more of a faff. You'll just have to do that over a few days.

Have you tested all the seals with soapy water (dilute a bit of washing up liquid in water)? You'll see bubbles forming on the smallest of leaks pretty quickly.

 

[HarryFlatters]

Not soapy water, but with starsan shaken up in a squirty bottle so that it foams up. Couldn't find any leak so might have to try soap as you describe.

 

[phildo79]

I'm having similar problems, phildo. I've tried rocking and rolling and leaving kegs on their side to increase the surface area exposed to the gas, but I'm still left underwhelmed by the levels of carbonation.

UPDATE: So I had the psi set at 20 for 24 hours and poured myself a sample about an hour ago. I think it was actually flatter than it was last night. So strange. I was going to transfer to my other keg but decided to try force carbing it first. Set it to 30 psi and rolled the keg for 20 mins. This is the result:

So it's safe to say it's carbonated. Tastes great as well. I will be unhooking the gas tonight and trying a sample tomorrow night. I guess that will be the acid test.

 

[phildo79]

UPDATE #2 - So I am on my 4th sample and everything is cool. I will put the extra foaming last night down the force carbing method. The extra day has settled everything. It is now pouring a perfect glass of beer at approx. 10 psi. I'll try it again tomorrow night, no doubt, and report if anything has changed. I'd be very disappointed if it did.

I am still confused as to why the batch priming didn't work though. If there is no leak, then surely it would have worked? Does the fact that it only had a week to do the job and the batch was in the primary for 8 or 9 days have anything to do with it? Bizarre. However, the positive to take from this is the new knowledge gained about force carbing. It really is very quick and easy.

 

[The Baron]

Just a thought when you carb with Co2 it does help to seal the lid on the corny as a massive injection of it pushes the lid up hard. Now batch priming is a slow build up of Co2 and probably even though you thought you had not got a leak it may have not sealed fully and wept out so as you got some pressure build up but with some also weeping away that would be hard to detect

 

[phildo79]

I always seat the lid with CO2. I used to close the lid before pressurising the keg but I now hold the lid in place and hook up the gas to seat it, then close the handle. I hear ya though and if you didn't do that, you could easily get a leak. I thought there might have been something wrong with the O ring but it held pressure for over a week. That's why this is so confusing.

I dry hopped this batch for about 4 or 5 days and thought the extra time in the primary might have used up too much yeast and, therefore, affected natural carbonation. Not that I have encountered this problem before. Having said that, I have only been kegging for about 4 months. At the same time though, a keg is just one giant bottle so the principles are the same. It's a head scratcher.

 

[HarryFlatters]

I always seat the lid with CO2

I've put 40psi in the keg and it appears to be a bit better, however I'm not sure if the pressure drop I'm seeing over a few days is because of a leak or CO2 dissolving into the beer.

I haven't used any grease on the large gasket, so I'm not a bit concerned that this may be the issue.

Or maybe it's fine and I'm a noob worrying over nothing