Can I Force Carbonate At Low Pressure

[haysie]

I have a very frustrating piece of brewing equipment, namely a messer brand gas reg that reads 400+ kpa on the dial, yet i can only get a maximum of 170kpa. Today again i tried to carb with gas in and rolling keg for about a minute, seems to take a little gas, i then turn off at the bottle and continue rolling yet pressure doesnt fall much at all maybe 10-20 max.
Any suggestions of doing it another way?
Should i just return it and get a refund/exchange?
I have had another reg and got great pressure out of it, so i figure that clears the bottle of any fault, I also have a one way valve in the gas line and taken it out with no change.
Once beer is carbed (finally) pouring pressure holds and no worries.
Cheers
Haysie

 

[SJW]

I am no expert but the way I see it u got 2 ways to go.

1- If the reg holds good serve pressure ie. around 50 - 100 kpa, dont worry abour force carbing and just give em a couple of weeks at serve pressure.

2- If u must force carb and u have your docket for your reg take it back and get a Harris 601 or a Micromatic. I know the Harris is a cheaper brand but they work fine. Mine makes a few good sounds but it still does the job.

IMO its not worth hanging on to a dodgy reg as it may have a real fault.

But what do I know?

Steve

 

[Uncle Fester]

Steve's on the money. A week or so at serving pressure (as long as serving pressure is >10psi) will get you there.

I intend to have a t piece on my gas line going into my fridge, so I can have 3 beers inside connected to taps and 1 outside at 14 psi slowly carbonating at room temp.

I am aiming at having the keg like this for about a month before going into the fridge. hopefully room temperature beer will still carb up ok over an extended timeframe.

Festa.

 

[devo]

I gas my kegs for no less than a full week at 15 psi, works for me.

When I was recently away OS for 4 weeks I had them sitting on 5 psi and they were perfect when I got back.

I did also disconnect any other kegs that were already well and truly carbed.

 

[haysie]

thanks for the replies folks, patience/delay seems to be the order of the day, and i agree, but...... I should be able too force if required.
Nevertheless i have 3 full kegs in there and cant have a drink (just got back from buying some megaswill). Along with a visit too autocheap for the 3x grainstorers, but that was another post.
I think i will bite the bullet and return it for a refund.
Cheers
Haysie