Regulator overly temperature sensitive?

[PaintedRat]

I just got a new regulator for kegging, linked below, for the external 20# CO2 tank on my mini fridge. As the temps in the room swing day to night, the regulated pressure has a massive swing. My old regulator would swing maybe 5-8 psi at the extremes. The new one has been set to 20 in the morning, and it's 35 when I get home. Or last night I set to 20psi, and I woke up to 0. Is this normal for a 15F degree temp change?

http://www.birdmanbrewing.com/co2-regulator-dual-gauge/

 

[JuanMoore]

Not normal at all. The regulated pressure should only change if there are large temp swings in the keg of beer, and even then the changes should be minimal.

 

[PaintedRat]

Birdman said that for a 20F degree swing this sounds normal. I moved the reg to a 5# tank and put it in the fridge to see if it holds steady pressure at controlled temp. Overall, I'm still not impressed that this means I can't use it on my bigger tank, or on outings.

Also, as far as the temp/pressure changing in the keg, the reg and my manifold both have checkvalves, so shouldn't that prevent the keg affecting the regulator measured pressure?

 

[BirdmanBrewingCo]

Birdman said that for a 20F degree swing this sounds normal. I moved the reg to a 5# tank and put it in the fridge to see if it holds steady pressure at controlled temp. Overall, I'm still not impressed that this means I can't use it on my bigger tank, or on outings.

Also, as far as the temp/pressure changing in the keg, the reg and my manifold both have checkvalves, so shouldn't that prevent the keg affecting the regulator measured pressure?

Hi PaintedRat, just wanted to clarify what we said in our email exchange. We didn't say it was necessarily normal, just that a daily 20 degree temperature swing was significant enough to cause regulator pressure swings. As suggested in our emails, we're happy to check it out on our end if you continue to see such wide swings. Thanks!

 

[brewguyver]

Have you tried bringing it down to zero and slowly adjusting up to target pressure? I had a similar issue with a new reg (not from birdman) - the adjustment screw was sensitive. I'd adjust pressure down and end up with 0 or overcompensate.

 

[PaintedRat]

Sorry Birdman, I wasn't trying to misrepresent what you said, that was just what I understand from the e-mail. The regulator is now installed on a tank in the fridge, and after a few spot checks appears to be holding pressure where I left it. Before putting it in the fridge, I tried setting it at different pressures, but it would not hold high or low. Slowing adjusting up from zero, I had a hard time getting anything between 0-5, it wanted to jump up. Up from 5 it would rise smoothly. Adjusting down, I would bleed the regulator a bit to see where the regulated pressure would sit and it seemed to work normal as expected.

We are force carbing a beer for my friends wedding next weekend. I can't afford to test it much more than watching what it does in the fridge until after next weekend. After that I'll see just how much the temp swings are, and if maybe the regulator has smoothed out with a little use.

From Birdman
"Thanks again for the purchase. If your regulator pressure is fluctuating both up and down, then most likely the temperature swing is impacting is. 20 degrees is a significant swing. Do you have a way you can put the regulator and tank in a more controlled temperature to observe how it reacts? For instance,do you have a climate controlled space in your home that doesn't fluctuate as much? If so, you could observe the pressure over the course of a day or so and see if it stabilizes. If so, then you know it's temperature driven.

Note, if for any reason you continue to have issues with the regulator, you can ship it back to us, and we will take a look at it, and if there is a problem, we will ship you a new one. "