Vacation settings for kegerator

[dilvish]

I'm going to be away from home for several weeks. I'm relatively new to kegging, and I currently have a three faucet setup in my living room. My concern is that one of the kegs and/or faucets could develop a leak and I could come home to huge mess. Should I disconnect the gas/beer lines, or am I just being paranoid?

 

[Echoloc8]

I'd probably just leave it (never had a problem myself), but then again I'm curious what others think. Subscribed.

-Rich

 

[snowveil]

The only way to prevent a leak in the system if there *is* an existing leak issue would be to also depressurize the kegs. I wouldn't worry about it...if you haven't noticed leaks before, you shouldn't experience anything new.

If you're concerned about a gas leak, just shut off the valve coming out of your regulator.

 

[dilvish]

Thanks for the input. I'm just trying to keep the wife happy, and a major keg leak would kill any enthusiasm she may have for my new hobby.

 

[DrunkleJon]

I don't trust one of my roomates so I disconnect the beer out lines before I go away. That will keep any leaks from the beer out. You can disconnect both and turn off the gas if you want too. So long as you do not have any leaks in your day to day runnings you should be fine so long as you do not have any inquisitive furry creatures to knock your tap handles or anything roaming your place that likes beer.

 

[dilvish]

I don't trust one of my roomates so I disconnect the beer out lines before I go away. That will keep any leaks from the beer out. You can disconnect both and turn off the gas if you want too. So long as you do not have any leaks in your day to day runnings you should be fine so long as you do not have any inquisitive furry creatures to knock your tap handles or anything roaming your place that likes beer.

Thanks DrunkleJon. I'll follow your protocol.

 

[FermentedTed]

Based on my personal experience, I would leave everything connected. Once I disconnected the beer out line from one of my kegs and forgot to reconnect it for a few days. When I finally remembered, I opened the keezer to find it full of beer. Turned out that the poppet did not seal completely when I disconnected and resulted in draining my keg and CO2 tank. Waste of good beer and a major PITA to clean up.

 

[anico4704]

I would definitely not keep a kegerator in the living room, thats just asking for a huge mess.

 

[DPBISME]

Me? I would disconnet them... I do because something is always getting loose.

There are a lot of points of faliure.

I would put a little extra presure in the kegs, disconnect the "ins and outs", and tunrn off the gas...

It is a 2 minute thing that will insure when you get back you have GAS...

 

[DrunkleJon]

A visual inspection of the posts to make sure the poppits sealed wouldnt hurt.

 

[KegconnectionLLC]

Disconnect them and watch the poppets on the posts carefully for a minute to make sure they are not leaking. If they don't leak immediately, they probably won't...unless Murphy comes by for a beer while you are gone.

 

[dilvish]

Thanks for all of the helpful input. A day or two before I leave I'll disconnect gas and faucet quick disconnects and then watch poppets for any leaks. And yes, I realize a kegerator in the living room is asking for trouble, but it's darn convenient and it's a much cleaner environment than the garage.

 

[krenshaw]

^^^ same thing i do.. i just put a little extra carb in before i disconnect then just before i leave i pull the poppet up a sec to make sure there is good pressure.. once i had a slight leak on my out disconnect and i lost part of a keg to a trickle.. now i be sure to take a look into my keezer daily just in case, though thankfully it hasn't happened again