I'm looking for a little guidance with carbonating my kegs. I have a keg king setup and strike difficulty when I force carbonate. The problem I have is that when I turn the gas on the gas pressure continues to rise to a point where the relief valves on the keg open. So I can't set the pressure to a particular PSI. What I'm having to do is let it get to about 30psi then turn the CO2 off, then comeback later and do the whole thing over again. Is it a setup issue, gear issue or operator issue? Any suggestions to remedy?
Carbonating Kegs
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slcmorro
87 Warning Points. Bad Boy!
30 psi is 206 kpa.
Your kegs pressure relief valve shouldn't be opening until it reaches over 300 kpa (around 43-44psi) anyways.
Your kegs pressure relief valve shouldn't be opening until it reaches over 300 kpa (around 43-44psi) anyways.
Yob
Hop to it
I know that on the little party keg I had to change over the PRV, so the keg may have a PRV with a lower rating.
Pretty simple to change over and should be able to manage 30 PSI, its what I force carb at, 30 PSI for 3 days then knock it back to 12 PSI for serving.
Pretty simple to change over and should be able to manage 30 PSI, its what I force carb at, 30 PSI for 3 days then knock it back to 12 PSI for serving.
NewtownClown
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From what I understand from the OP is the regulator is creeping past the point he has set it. Sounds like a problem I had with a regulator in the past. I cleaned it and lubed the diaphragm and oiled the "pin". It would last a few weeks before needing a "service" again.shaunous said:
30 PSI is by no means way to high to carbonate, when in a hurry, 35-40 PSI gets my beer carbed in under 48 hours
BTW Using CO2 to carbonate is force carbonation, regardless of the time and pressure utilised. Priming with sugar or racking to the keg before FG is natural carbonation.
Thanks all for the feedback. I put the post on this morning before heading to my office. Just to confirm a couple of things
- I'll check tonight at what pressure the relief valve is opening (it is higher than 30psi) and add it to this post
- So I open the CO2 gas and the pressure starts to rise and I can't stop it - it just keeps going. The only way to stop it is to turn the gas off. So what I have been doing is turning it off at about 30psi so that it doesn't continue to rise
- Then, over time it drops - I assume because of the CO2 absorbtion into the beer.
NewtownClown
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You have adjusted the pressure on the regulator itself I assume but no matter how low the regulator is set it continues to rise?Pointer64 said:
Does the pressure continue to creep up if the regulator is wound right back? It sounds like a fault in the reg, as I have experienced.
shaunous
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Yeh my bad, quick head math conversion turned out incorrect. was generalising going off the fact that 101kpa, 1 bar and 14.7psi is all atmospheric pressure.
I'd be going with defective reg if you cannot control the pressure from 'off' to whatever the 'max' is with the reg tap. Make sure you actually have the reg adjust turned all the way off, anti-clockwise is off/lower (unless its some backwards brand that just has to be different). THEN open the bottle open/close tap.
I'd be going with defective reg if you cannot control the pressure from 'off' to whatever the 'max' is with the reg tap. Make sure you actually have the reg adjust turned all the way off, anti-clockwise is off/lower (unless its some backwards brand that just has to be different). THEN open the bottle open/close tap.
DU99
Well-Known Member
can you adjust the regulator pressure..
Ok a bit more info. I've got 2 kegs in the fridge. The relief on one blows off at 30 psi and the second 40.
I'm inexperienced with the setup so I'll explain what I see. There are 2 gauges on the regulator. One of these goes up to 3000psi but it's at zero & doesn't move no matter how much or which way I turn the control knob. Based on what Shaunous said, this should be zero right?
The other gauge goes up to 80 psi and as mentioned earlier, it just continues to climb unless I turn it off or the relief valve on the keg blows.
So, sounds like I might need a new spring on the pressure relief valve on one keg. And what do you reckon, a faulty reg? If so, I might take to my local gas supplier for him to test.
Thanks
I'm inexperienced with the setup so I'll explain what I see. There are 2 gauges on the regulator. One of these goes up to 3000psi but it's at zero & doesn't move no matter how much or which way I turn the control knob. Based on what Shaunous said, this should be zero right?
The other gauge goes up to 80 psi and as mentioned earlier, it just continues to climb unless I turn it off or the relief valve on the keg blows.
So, sounds like I might need a new spring on the pressure relief valve on one keg. And what do you reckon, a faulty reg? If so, I might take to my local gas supplier for him to test.
Thanks
shaunous
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Sounds though your reg is arse about, but I don't think it physically could be without looking at one.
When you turn the bottle tap 'on', the high pressure 3000psi gauge that reads zero for you, should be reading your actual bottle pressure.
The low pressure 80psi gauge is the gauge you use to regulate the keg pressures, with the reg tap.
The gauge is fuked, and sounds as if someone has fuked with it. If it's new well, Fuks me, something weirds going on and it's not setup right.
I wouldn't worry about touching the kegs until you sort the reg, chances are they are blowing higher than your reading but the gas is coming out at a large volume and don't have time to settle for a correct reading.
If the reg is new, return it. If it's a second hand one, right arm left shoulder it and buy a new one so you know where your at.
When you turn the bottle tap 'on', the high pressure 3000psi gauge that reads zero for you, should be reading your actual bottle pressure.
The low pressure 80psi gauge is the gauge you use to regulate the keg pressures, with the reg tap.
The gauge is fuked, and sounds as if someone has fuked with it. If it's new well, Fuks me, something weirds going on and it's not setup right.
I wouldn't worry about touching the kegs until you sort the reg, chances are they are blowing higher than your reading but the gas is coming out at a large volume and don't have time to settle for a correct reading.
If the reg is new, return it. If it's a second hand one, right arm left shoulder it and buy a new one so you know where your at.
Yes, that is weird.
Your high pressure 3000psi gauge should read about 1000psi until the bottle is nearly empty when the bottle tap is on, which as said, is the pressure in the bottle.
The other gauge should go up as you screw the regulator knob in.
What sort of regulator is it?, because I think its rooted.
Your high pressure 3000psi gauge should read about 1000psi until the bottle is nearly empty when the bottle tap is on, which as said, is the pressure in the bottle.
The other gauge should go up as you screw the regulator knob in.
What sort of regulator is it?, because I think its rooted.
Sadly the solution to this problem was quite simple. It was a clear case of operator error. Now I was either given wrong instructions when I got the gear or misunderstood the instructions completely. In short, I ballsed it up. All good now - pressure stable and beer flowing. Thanks for your feedback.
