Tracking down co2 leak

[acarter5251]

I am currently trying to track down a co2 leak in my keezer. I pressurized my regulator so that the first gauge was reading 20 psi and the secondary gauge was reading 10 psi, closed off all valves, closed the tank and allowed to sit overnight. This morning the gauges were down about 2 psi each but pulling the purge tabs on each stage of my regulator got the needle to bounce back up to the original pressures.

Does this mean that I do not have a leak at the regulator and it's just my needles sticking and creeping down?

 

[acarter5251]

So I have pinpointed at least one leak source as a bad quick disconnect.

This morning, I closed off that line on my manifold and left all others open to the regulator. I pressurized the system to 10 psi, closed off the tank, came back this afternoon, and found that the pressure had dropped to 5 psi on the low pressure gauge. Turning the tank back on, however, resulted in no change in pressure, so it doesn't seem as though it was due to a leak as I would expect the pressure to go back up had air leaked out.

Does anyone have any suggestion as to why the pressure drifted like that over the course of 5 hours or so?

 

[stonebrewer]

Could be a leak in the regulator. I had one that the safety valve would blow from time to time for no apparent reason and lost more than one bottle of CO2 due to it. Replaced it with a new regulator and keep the gas off whenever I am not in the room using the kegerator. No issues since. I do have one keg that leaks as well...that reminds me I need to mark it and take it out of the rotation...good luck!

 

[acarter5251]

Could be a leak in the regulator. I had one that the safety valve would blow from time to time for no apparent reason and lost more than one bottle of CO2 due to it. Replaced it with a new regulator and keep the gas off whenever I am not in the room using the kegerator. No issues since. I do have one keg that leaks as well...that reminds me I need to mark it and take it out of the rotation...good luck!

Maybe, but I didn't notice a drop-off like that when I had my manifold outlets closed off to check the tank, regulator and manifold.

Is it possible that since my lines to the manifold are outside of my freezer and the ones leaving the manifold are inside, that maybe the cooler, more condensed air is pulling gas from the lines leading to the manifold and dropping my pressure reading at the regulator?

The manifold has check valves, so air shouldn't be able to flow back towards the tank? I'm just grasping at straws to explain it because it doesn't seem like I'm losing pressure but rather that my pressure readings are drifting for some reason?

 

[bradleypariah]

My setup is a piece of junk. Leaks all the time. I have an old post here showing how I permanently fixed one of the leaks:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=509613

I track them down by putting a fresh trashbag into a tall trashcan in the shower. If you have enough room, put the CO2 tank, regulator, and a StarSan water-filled keg into the trash can, get it all pressurized, then turn on cold water from the shower. Fill up the trash can past the top of everything, give everything a solid few taps to knock any bubbles loose, and then just watch for new, tiny bubbles to start popping up.

It's also possible to locate a leak with a spray bottle of sudsy water, but it can take a lot more patience.

You might only need new O-rings and/or some keg lube.

If you don't want to submerge, just pressurize everything, then disconnect everything. Come back 12 hours later, and look at your low-side when reconnecting to each vessel. Did one of them lower without any hoses connected to it?

 

[stonebrewer]

So my leak was not happening all the time. I just happened to catch it one night while pouring a beer for a buddy who had stopped by. The over pressure regulator just failed and let out enough gas to cause it to freeze up. My tank and regulator were also outside the kegerator and still are. Have not had a single issue since I swapped out the cheap regulator that came with the kegerator with a higher quality one. You may not have the same issue, just sharing my experience. I like what @bradleypariah says above as a test...except I have a 20# cylinder so it would be a little bit of a pain to do that on my setup.