Help Please --Kegging newbie

[jeniablakebear]

Hello all!

I got a pretty sweet deal on craigslist for a kegging system and I have no idea what i am doing wrong but I am pretty sure I am doing something wrong:

I just bought a brand new filled tank from Midwest Supplies, stamped 2011 etc. I hooked it up in the following way:

Regulator---> (valve is opened at the bottom of regulator)
Coupler ---> (only one side is open on the coupler heading to the-->
Keg In---> and Keg out is a picnic tap.

My problem is that when I open the valve on my CO2 CANISTER, I can feel CO2 escaping out of the bottom of the valve. Its not subtle either, its quite loud. I am guessing I messed up and didn't put the something together properly but does anyone have any suggestions? Or is this supposed to happen (kind of doubt it but thought i would check)

Any suggestions appreciated thanks!

 

[SnakeAnthony6375]

Which valve is leaking?

 

[jeniablakebear]

sorry a bit more info:

The keg does get pressurized so the lines are working properly---
THe regulator pressure gauge does respond to the pressure but the total pressure regulator does NOT respond---i was told by the owner that it would be flaky though so that might not be that big of a problem. -- just in case this info helps

 

[jeniablakebear]

Which valve is leaking?

Im not to good with names but its the valve on the CO2 canister that says "Open/Close" on it. I can feel it coming out of the bottom of it when i open so i immediately close it.

 

[mountainman13]

You might have your regulator set too high. Turn the adjusting screw on the front of the regulator (may be a knob, may be a screw with a jam nut depending on which regulator you have) all the way out to where it feels like it is going to almost fall out. Then hook everything up and turn the adjusting screw or knob in(clockwise) until you get desired serving pressure (usually 10-12psi).

I know my integral safety valve will start blowing off around 30 psi

 

[mountainman13]

sorry a bit more info:

The keg does get pressurized so the lines are working properly---
THe regulator pressure gauge does respond to the pressure but the total pressure regulator does NOT respond---i was told by the owner that it would be flaky though so that might not be that big of a problem. -- just in case this info helps

Im not to good with names but its the valve on the CO2 canister that says "Open/Close" on it. I can feel it coming out of the bottom of it when i open so i immediately close it.

You might need to replace this valve

 

[SnakeAnthony6375]

Yes - I agree that you probably need to replace at least a gasket within that valve, if not the entire valve.

 

[SnakeAnthony6375]

For what it's worth, I would take it to your local gas supplier and see if they'll swap the tank out for you. Usually they do not refill your tank for you right there. They'll give you a tank that is already filled. It might be an easy replacement for them. I guess they might charge you a couple bucks. Not sure.

 

[jeniablakebear]

Well Midwest has quite a decent return policy and I trust they would honor a broken CO2 tank. I will give them a call and see what will happen. Thanks for the information guys.

 

[jeniablakebear]

Hello all!

I got it to work, turns out I was just missing a gasket between the regulator and the tank, which ran me 50 cents at midwest...and I bought a kit because I couldn't resist (oops). Anyways now that everything is connected I did have just a few follow up questions:

1. What exactly is the huge screw in the regulator? I see MountainMan13 Mentioned it. I was playing around with it and it seems to be a threshold for the pressure coming through, am I getting that correct? I unscrewed it until I got to 12 psi, but I turned off the tank because CO2 was "hissing" through it. Will that hissing stop eventually?

2. I purged out the O2 in my keg and am now refridgerating the keg. Anybody have a reasonable estimate on how many "volumes" I should put into the keg when I am force carbing? I have seen the huge charts, and I assumed I could just pick a middle volume for it until I got used to force carbonation but if anyone has a recommendation for a Brown Ale that would be appreciated.

Thats all for now I guess. I appreciate all of your advice, I am sure these questions have been asked thousands of times on this forum I just can't seem to find the answers I am looking for so thank you for your patience with me.

 

[mountainman13]

Hello all!

I got it to work, turns out I was just missing a gasket between the regulator and the tank, which ran me 50 cents at midwest...and I bought a kit because I couldn't resist (oops). Anyways now that everything is connected I did have just a few follow up questions:

1. What exactly is the huge screw in the regulator? I see MountainMan13 Mentioned it. I was playing around with it and it seems to be a threshold for the pressure coming through, am I getting that correct? I unscrewed it until I got to 12 psi, but I turned off the tank because CO2 was "hissing" through it. Will that hissing stop eventually?

2. I purged out the O2 in my keg and am now refridgerating the keg. Anybody have a reasonable estimate on how many "volumes" I should put into the keg when I am force carbing? I have seen the huge charts, and I assumed I could just pick a middle volume for it until I got used to force carbonation but if anyone has a recommendation for a Brown Ale that would be appreciated.

Thats all for now I guess. I appreciate all of your advice, I am sure these questions have been asked thousands of times on this forum I just can't seem to find the answers I am looking for so thank you for your patience with me.

The big screw you mentioned is where you adjust the pressure going into your keg. If that is the source of your leak, I'm afraid you may have a bad regulator. Not sure if something like that can be repaired. Someone else might chime in

 

[jeniablakebear]

Seems to be working fine so far, not sure why it was releasing pressure before, I think I over pressurized it, so it had to release CO2 to compensate? So far so good I guess. Thanks MountainMan!