CO2 Leak or tank just done?

[JoeSpartaNJ]

Last August I had a leak on a keg. I was able to seal it, however I did have to switch from a 5lb tank to a 20lb tank due to availability.

Fast Forward to now.

I have forced carbed and served at least 15 kegs of that same 20lb tanks. I kegged a hefeweizen on Wednesday night with my normal method (30 psi for 48 hours, purge, dial back down to 12 psi and serve.) I will not be purging until tonight but I did notice that the gauge which normally reads just above 500 is below that. I have sprayed the posts and keg lid with Star San, but not getting any signs of a leak.

Do you think the tank is just empty of should I try to investigate more?

Thanks,

Joe

 

[Nagorg]

New to kegging myself but I believe that means you're on the way to empty. Is your tank in or out of the kegerator? If in, your probably closer to being out than you would be if it was out of the kegerator. CO2 pressure swings wildly with temp.

Either way, I think I'd swap tanks soon!

 

[JoeSpartaNJ]

Tank is in the kegerator (tightly with 2 kegs and random other beers.)

 

[Hello]

I don't think you have a leak. Even a slow leak would have taken the tank to empty quicker. I had a slow leak due to a racetrack lid being bad. It took 4 days for the tank to empty. It was hooked up to 3 other kegs and once I attached that 4th, 4 days later my brand new tank was empty and there was no pressure in the leaky keg. Star san did not reveal the leak.

I think it is from use. Are you sure it was 20# of CO2 in there and not maybe 5# in a 20# tank?

 

[zachattack]

The general rule is 1-2 kegs per lb of CO2, depending on your carb method, purging, etc. Ideally you'd want to see more like 30 kegs from that 20 lb bottle. Unless you just cranked down the fridge temp, the CO2 is starting to run out. I'd keep hunting for leaks just in case.

 

[JoeSpartaNJ]

Fridge temp is always around 38 degrees.


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[JDGator]

The general rule is 1-2 kegs per lb of CO2, depending on your carb method, purging, etc. Ideally you'd want to see more like 30 kegs from that 20 lb bottle. Unless you just cranked down the fridge temp, the CO2 is starting to run out. I'd keep hunting for leaks just in case.

i agree. i get from 8-12 kegs on a 5lbs cylinder depending on how i go about carbing the beer.

 

[JoeSpartaNJ]

I force carb same way as noted in first post.


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[JoeSpartaNJ]

Definitely a leak. I am going to change the lid seal and see what happens.

No good deed goes unpunished. This is what get for cleaning all the residual keg lube off of the lid seal.


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[JoeSpartaNJ]

Ok, so I may be an idiot. I shut off the gas at the regulator and tank, purged the keg, and turned regulator down. Turned gas back on at the regulator and got nothing, so I thought the tank was empty. I turn everything back off and start to disassemble to get a new tank.

I get everything apart and notice the tank is still heavy, so I decide to crack it a bit, and guess what.....still has gas.

Stupid me forgot to turn the gas back on after purging the keg. I tested the beer and it has some carb, but not done yet. I am going to let it ride at serving pressure.

One mystery remains, the gauge still reads in the red, under 500. Could this be just a temperature swing? Usually the 20lb tank sat in the front of the kegerator, but when I kegged this beer, I moved it to the back.

After putting everything back together again, I decided to love it back to the front.


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[shelly_belly]

I think you're getting low. If the tank contains any liquid CO2 here's what the readings will be:

F...psi
80 969
70 853
60 747
50 652
40 567
30 491
20 422
10 361
0 306

 

[Takuie]

Before taking your tank to have it refilled/swapped for new. Look all over tank and find what the empty weight of the tank is then weigh the tank and subtract the 2. If it gets down to around a pound to pound and a half, time to make plans to have it refilled. If you dont have a scale with that capacity, there is a workaround. Get your bathroom scale (the one your significant other yells at every monday morning) and weigh yourself. Add weight of EMPTY tank to your weight, step on scale while holding your bottle and subtract the 2. This will tell you how many pounds of gas you have left.

Also, when stored inside the kegerator, your high pressure gauge will drop to around 500 psi. This is normal, when you notice it dropping lower than normal levels, its on its way out. Mine hovers around 480psi. Soon as I see my high pressure gauge drop, i plan on going that weekend if I am going to be charging a new keg, if not I will wait till keg empties then have it refilled.

You had also mentioned that the high pressure side still held pressure a length of time after you had realized you turned the gas off. This is a good thing. This means you have no leaks. Had you had any leaks it would have dropped significantly.

 

[JoeSpartaNJ]

Yeah. It's probably on its way out but it's not done yet. I have poured 5 imperial pints and the gauge hasn't moved. I will run it until it's gone and replace with a 5lb tank. The 20lb tank takes up too much room in the kegerator.

I really need to move the tank outside or build a keezer.


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