Corbonation Noob Question

[Logman]

Kegged my first brew today!!! Decided to go with the 240kpa for 3 days method of carbonation.

Every time I go back to check the gauge it's back down around 210. Is that normal and you turn it back up to 240 every so often or do you start it at 240 and just leave it alone to do it's own thing? Or is that not supposed to happen at all and my house is about to blow up :huh:

 

[michael_aussie]

Kegged my first brew today!!! Decided to go with the 240kpa for 3 days method of carbonation.

Every time I go back to check the gauge it's back down around 210. Is that normal and you turn it back up to 240 every so often or do you start it at 240 and just leave it alone to do it's own thing? Or is that not supposed to happen at all and my house is about to blow up :huh:

I don't exactly understand what you are doing....
Are you turning your bottle off?
If so then, yes the pressure will go down as your beer absorbs the CO2.
However, you won't need to touch your regulator ("turn it back up to 240"). All you'll have to do is turn your bottle on again.

Either way, if the most pressure you have put into your keg is 240kPa, you won't blow your house up.

They are rated to 900kPa from memory.
I crank my regulator up to 400kPa when I first fill the keg, to ensure the seals are firmly seated.

 

[Logman]

I haven't turned the bottle off - just turned the tap up to 240kpa after loading the keg into the fridge this afternoon, but each time I go back to check on it, the gauge has dropped down to around 210kpa. It's the first time I've used the gear, just wondering if maybe I have a slow leak or whether it does that naturally.

 

[Logman]

I sprayed a bit of Starsan around, there is a few bubbles coming up around the top of the pin lock disconnect where the grey part meets the red part.

 

[michael_aussie]

I haven't turned the bottle off - just turned the tap up to 240kpa after loading the keg into the fridge this afternoon, but each time I go back to check on it, the gauge has dropped down to around 210kpa. It's the first time I've used the gear, just wondering if maybe I have a slow leak or whether it does that naturally.

If you are leaving your bottle on, and not turning down your regulator, you shouldn't have to keep turning it up.

Even if you have a leak somewhere, the regulators are very repeatable.
Does the regulator have a "lock nut" to allow you to lock the bolt in place after you set the pressure?
If it does, and you're not tightening the lock nut, it could be winding itself out over time = but I'd be surprised if it does that quickly??

Once again == you are safe.. and you beer will be safe too... although maybe over-carbed if you have it on 240kPa for too long.

 

[michael_aussie]

I sprayed a bit of Starsan around, there is a few bubbles coming up around the top of the pin lock disconnect where the grey part meets the red part.

Bubbles = leak.

You will probably need to disassemble the disconnect and try to properly seal that cap.
Obviously, isolate the bottle first.

 

[Logman]

Cool, ok, I'll take a look....

 

[Logman]

I've got two gas lines so I tried both, same result with either line.

Before hooking it all up today, I replaced the rubber washers on the post as they looked pretty old (kegs came with replacement new ones). I changed those again just now and used keg lube - same problem. Not sure if I'm imagining it, but the replacement washers seem slightly too small.

 

[Logman]

I salvaged an original washer from one of the other kegs, it is a little larger. Lubed it up and stuck some lube up in the QD but it still bubbles up the top. Will it affect the beer if I totally remove that post to check it out? It's been carbonating for about 8 hours or so....


Edit - looks like it's ok - pulled the top out of the disconnect again and it seems fine