Keg leak help

[Gr390ry]

Hey guys,

Pretty new to kegging, I've had my system for a while but have always bottled. I've recently move to Sydney and have decided kegging will be the best as I don't have a stack of people to share bottles with.

My dilemma which I hope you guys can help this noob out with. Last time I tried to keg, I got my gas bottle filled and hooked everything up (force carbed because I am impatient) my issue was my gas drained out and emptied my bottle in about a week. I left it on serving pressure after the force carb.

My guess is I have a leak somewhere? Any tips on what the best way to find it is? where i should start? Is the the reg, the line or the keg? Or am I doing something else wrong with leaving the pressure at serving, do I turn the gas off?

Appreciate the help, noob kegger is stumped!

 

[Kev R]

You need to find the leek or leeks,99% you have one. Pressure up your system, get your self a small trigger type squirtie bottle, fill with water and a generous dose of washing up detergent. Spray all fittings and conections inclubing the top of the keg and the regulator (if the internals fail it will come out a small tel tale hole in the back). Leaks will cause the soap solution to make bubbles. If you don't have a spray bottle a small paint brush works well.
happy hunting

 

[nosco]

If it took a week it must be a really slow leak. If you use star San you could spray some on the parts and check for bubbles but it might not work on a slow leak or if the star San can run of quickly.

A bucket of water might be your best bet. I'm pretty close to being a noob but my advise from previous xp is....

Make sure you use the white washer that comes with your regulator to fit it onto the bottle. Your probably not as dumb as me and have already worked this one out.

I've had bad luck with taps on my 4 way manifold so if you can put your manifold and all your gas lines in a bucket of water to test for any leaks. This will test any hose clamps too. I have a tap on my manifold that won't leak when it's turned off but leaks when it's turned on. But I can hear the leak.

Unlike every thing else in life you can use too much lube on kegs. Too much can cause a leak. You only need a light smear of it. I've also had kegs leak if the lid isn't seated properly. I turned the lid around 180 and it stopped. But you can usually hear a leaky keg.

Like I said a slow leak will be hard to find so a bucket of water might be your best bet.

 

[Judanero]

All the above is solid advice, I personally turn my keg off- turn it on intermittently until sufficiently carbed and then turn it to serving pressure and turn the bottle off.

I will occasionally give it a little spurt once flow seems to slow a bit, this is to reduce the chance of losing a bottle if I have a leak but the downside is it can be a little fiddly to get the pour right which doesn't bother me too much i.e. if my beer is a little heady it does'tt bother me as I'm happy to wait until it settles a bit.

Start with every point there is a fitting, I think line itself might be the last place the leak would be.

 

[sponge]

I had myself a similar leak a while back. Sprayed all surfaces with soapy water and found a couple of leaking posts.

Took them off and pulled them apart, gave them a good clean and connected back up with a bit of food-grade lube. Haven't had an issue since.. In fact I went back and took all the posts off, cleaned them and put a bit of lube on them all as a precaution. I'll be doing this a lot more regularly now as it is friggin frustrating losing 2 large gas bottles in a short space of time.

I also replaced all disconnects with genuine corny brand ones as I had a couple of cheap ones fail on me also.

 

[Grott]

You need to follow an elimination plan. Remove gas disconnect from keg(s), (1) turn gas bottle on to 20psi and with soapy water check for bubble leaks at the gas bottle/reg connection/reg/hose connection. (2) using a suitable jar or bowl put gas disconnects in starsan solution or water and check for bubbles. (3) if these are all clear then check all other connections. (4) when leaks found and "fixed" test by leaving gas disconnect off the keg, apply the 20psi to the system and then turn the gas bottle off, leave overnight and if the leak(s) are fixed the readings should not have moved.
Cheers

 

[mosto]

Just to add to all the good advice above, of the odd leak I've had, it's almost always been the keg lid not sealing. Keg lube is prob the best remedy there, but I didn't have any last time I had one so just sprayed some StarSan on the seal. Once it's wet it 'should' seal properly. Another time, when I was fiddling with the lid to get it to seal properly, I had to bend the arm of the release handle in a bit to create a tighter seal. Also, check the little covers on the end of those arms. They wear over time and will cause the seal to be a little looser. You can buy replacements for bugger all. The only leak I've had which wasn't a loose keg lid was in the post, so give those a good spray as well to see if any bubbles appear.

 

[Moad]

I've had to replace a few poppets due to leaks. You can get universal poppets very cheap, I keep some as spares. It is a good idea to have a few spares of keg parts to quickly troubleshoot issues

 

[Weizguy]

I've had to replace a few poppets due to leaks. You can get universal poppets very cheap, I keep some as spares. It is a good idea to have a few spares of keg parts to quickly troubleshoot issues

That's why I just bought a Keg King keg repair kit with lots of spares.

 

[Gr390ry]

Thanks for the advice guys, will get to the legs when I get a day off after Christmas. I'm sure it's the keg but I'll make sure I go through the eliminate process to find the cause. Will keep my fingers crossed for some keg goodness in the new year!