OK, so I just wrote a hideously long thread below. If you have time and want the complete back story on CO2 leakage woes, please read it. Otherwise, read the “short” version. I appreciate any help you can give me.
“Short” version:
I had a CO2 leak. I thought it was from the keg, but I found a leak in the tubing. I replaced the tubing, left it disconnected from my keg and turned on the gas. I left it overnight and checked the internal pressure in the morning knowing that I had seen it drop into the red “Order CO2″ zone on the gauge when I had a leak. It remained at 700 psi so I hooked it back up to the kegs and put it in the fridge. 9 hours later, the internal pressure is just above the red zone around 500 psi so I took it out of the fridge thinking that once it warmed up, it should be back up to 700 if I don’t have a leak. I also read about another test to make sure I don’t have issues with the line where I turn off the CO2 and monitor the gauges. Tried that and the internal remained at 500 and the serving stayed at 14 (although I thought it dropped to 13 at one point, chock it up to too much homebrew). I turned on the gas and the internal bumped up to 700 and gas stayed at 14. Makes sense since it’s now at room temp. I turned off the gas and hooked it up to the keg. It immediately dropped to 0 psi on the internal gauge and 12 psi on the serving gauge. Not sure if that means anything since it had only been hooked up to the CO2 for 9 hours before whereas full carbonation takes a week. Does that sound right? I turned on the gas, left it running for a half hour and then turned off the gas. I’ll check the gauges when i get home, but I’m now thinking that won’t really tell me anything. Thoughts? Anything else I can try before I waste more CO2 (if I am)? I know Star San and water work better than soap and water to check for leaks, but would iodophor and water do the same trick? I appreciate any advice. Thanks.
Long version:
I know there’s been a million of these threads in the past, but every time I think I’ve found the damn thing, I end up with an empty CO2 tank. I sprayed everything with soapy water and couldn’t find a leak. However, on occasion I heard a hiss coming from the lid somewhere around the pressure relief valve. The valve itself was a little odd and evidently couldn’t be removed, but I tried tightening it as best I could, made sure the lid had a tight seal and stopped hearing the hiss. Despite this, I ended up with an empty CO2 tank after about a week or so. I decided to order a brand new lid, as well as a a leak stopper to replace the washer between the tank and regulator and a new gas disconnect since I had scratched up the old one when I accidentally put it on the wrong post. I get everything in place and immediately hear a hiss coming from the tubing. Unbelievable. Either this was the problem all along and I’m a complete idiot or I somehow managed to poke a hole in it after the fact. So, I replaced the tubing, but didn’t hook it up to my kegs just yet. Instead, I let it sit overnight to make sure my internal pressure remained around 700. I had seen my pressure quickly drop into the red “Order CO2″ zone on the gauge when I had a problem so i thought this would at least test whether or not I had a leak in my tubing. The next morning, it was still at 700 psi so I hooked it up to my keg and left it for the day.
That evening, I saw that my internal pressure is just above the red zone at about 500 psi. However, it had now been in the fridge all day so I know that doesn’t necessarily mean anything and it should be lower than 700 psi. Besides, I had seen it dip closer to 400 psi when I had a leak. Just to be safe, I disconnected it from the kegs and took it out of the fridge with the thought that once it warmed up, the internal pressure should get back to 700. I then read a post somewhere about testing the CO2 lines by disconnecting them from the kegs, turning off the gas and monitoring the gauges. My internal pressure was at 500 psi and serving pressure was at 14 psi. During the course of the night, I noticed that the serving pressure slipped to 13, but by the morning, it was back at 14 and the internal was still 500. That didn’t make much sense to me, but the tank had been in the fridge previously and was now at room temperature so this wasn’t a 100% scientific experiment. I decided to turn on the CO2 and see what happened. The internal pressure jumped up to 700 psi like it had previously been at room temp and the serving pressure remained at 14. Great, from what I can tell there’s nothing wrong with my CO2 line.
My next thought was can I replicate this experiment by hooking up my kegs and leaving the gas turned off. I tried just that and almost immediately, my internal pressure dropped to 0 and my serving gauge dropped to 12 psi. Is that normal? The way I see it, it had been hooked up to the keg for 9 hours the day before, but it should take at least a week to achieve full carbonation. Immediately sucking up whatever CO2 was in the lines and taking the pressure down to 12 psi is probably OK. I decided to then turn the CO2 back on and saw the pressure go back up to 14. That was this morning and since I had to get going, I asked my wife to turn it off after a half-hour and I would check the readings when I get home. Not sure that will actually tell me anything.
So what are your thoughts? Are any of my tests actually going to tell me anything? Is there anything else I can do to check for leaks? I know some folks use StarSan and water instead of soap and water to check for leaks, but I have Iodophor, not StarSan. Would Iodophor and water do the same trick? I appreciate any advice.
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