Hi all,
I'm new to kegging, on my first attempt, and having some troubles with what appears to be a leaky setup.
This is the first batch I've kegged, and I'm on my second (5 lb.) CO2 tank. I force carbonated and then it took me some time to get the pressure dialed in, but eventually I got it worked out. I don't run through things too quickly, but after about a month of keeping my beer in my kegerator (probably about halfway through the 5 gal. batch), my tank ran out of CO2. It seemed way too fast, but I chalked it up to poor connections (as I didn't have a proper wrench and had tightened some things with a vise grip).
I just picked up a new canister today and connected it, this time with a legitimate wrench. Tightened all the connections. Tried a soapy water check, though I did it with a soapy dishcloth, rather than a spray bottle. Everything looked good. Beer poured really well.
It's been about 12 hours and I decided to take a look at my regulator:
It was in the green when I connected it. Obviously, a drop is expected, but this seemed more drastic than I expected, especially considering that the last canister went so fast.
Like I said, I'm new to all of this. Does this look like a probable leak? Or am I just panicking over something normal after an early mistake? I've disconnected it, but my soapy water test didn't seem to yield any results. If it is a leak, any recommendations for tracking it down?
I'm new to kegging, on my first attempt, and having some troubles with what appears to be a leaky setup.
This is the first batch I've kegged, and I'm on my second (5 lb.) CO2 tank. I force carbonated and then it took me some time to get the pressure dialed in, but eventually I got it worked out. I don't run through things too quickly, but after about a month of keeping my beer in my kegerator (probably about halfway through the 5 gal. batch), my tank ran out of CO2. It seemed way too fast, but I chalked it up to poor connections (as I didn't have a proper wrench and had tightened some things with a vise grip).
I just picked up a new canister today and connected it, this time with a legitimate wrench. Tightened all the connections. Tried a soapy water check, though I did it with a soapy dishcloth, rather than a spray bottle. Everything looked good. Beer poured really well.
It's been about 12 hours and I decided to take a look at my regulator:
It was in the green when I connected it. Obviously, a drop is expected, but this seemed more drastic than I expected, especially considering that the last canister went so fast.
Like I said, I'm new to all of this. Does this look like a probable leak? Or am I just panicking over something normal after an early mistake? I've disconnected it, but my soapy water test didn't seem to yield any results. If it is a leak, any recommendations for tracking it down?
