Need help troubleshooting this keg

[welly2]

Alright, so not sure what's going on. I'm assuming my keg isn't empty. Gas cylinder is open, regulator is set to 12psi and the beer is hardly even dribbling out. My beer line is about 4-5ft long - I've not measured it exactly. I've left gas going into it for about 24 hours. Haven't a clue what might be causing it. I can only think that perhaps one (or both) of the disconnects have a leak? Is there anything else that could be it? Certainly when I pull the relief valve, I get plenty of gas coming out. What else might be the cause of it? I'm using one of those bronco taps on it.

 

[michaeld16]

Blockage in the dip tube or beer out post ive had that happen from hop debris

 

[Vrtigo]

Check ur temp too i have heard of people having their beer freeze in the line or the dip tube

 

[welly2]

Just stuck some gas through the beer out and I heard some bubbling so that should have cleared any gunk in the dip tube. But still no luck. What occurred after was a bit odd, when I pulled the gas disconnect off the beer out post. Out of the beer out post, beer started pissing out, not a great amount but a fine spray. So I guess that isn't good. I'm going to do a few things - order brand new disconnects as the ones I'm using are years old and I suspect they're dodgy, and I'm going to order some of those poppet things for the posts. I think that might be a start to resolving this.

 

[paulyman]

Sounds like the poppet valve stuck open. Has happened to me a few times with IPA's, probably just hop matter.

I just take the keg out of the fridge and release the pressure. I take off the post and clean and sanitise the dip tube, post and poppet valve. Put it all back together, sanitise the post and disconnect, reconnect and it should be all good to go again.

* last IPA just kept getting clogged, had to resort to a keg to keg transfer, thankfully that fixed it.

 

[welly2]

Sounds like the poppet valve stuck open. Has happened to me a few times with IPA's, probably just hop matter.

I just take the keg out of the fridge and release the pressure. I take off the post and clean and sanitise the dip tube, post and poppet valve. Put it all back together, sanitise the post and disconnect, reconnect and it should be all good to go again.

* last IPA just kept getting clogged, had to resort to a keg to keg transfer, thankfully that fixed it.

Brilliant, thanks very much - I'm going to give this a go.

 

[boybrewer]

Just stuck some gas through the beer out and I heard some bubbling so that should have cleared any gunk in the dip tube. But still no luck. What occurred after was a bit odd, when I pulled the gas disconnect off the beer out post. Out of the beer out post, beer started pissing out, not a great amount but a fine spray. So I guess that isn't good. I'm going to do a few things - order brand new disconnects as the ones I'm using are years old and I suspect they're dodgy, and I'm going to order some of those poppet things for the posts. I think that might be a start to resolving this.

I believe you are on the right path . I have the same problem . If you swap out the beer out disconnect this may solve your problem . I was thinking that the pin that pushes down on the valve is not opening it enough , to open the valve fully , thus just getting a dribble .

 

[Danscraftbeer]

I may be being to basic here but the only times this happens to me its the beer line has frozen. It can just be that the coiled line gets in a cold spot in the fridge. To fix it you can massage the coil of beer line and sometime here it crack when its frozen. Or my impatience got out the heat gun for the quick fix and heated the darn line for a minute. The cold setting on the fridge is a variable tuning thing. When you like cold beer its inevitable you will experience frozen lines. Especially if left for days.

 

[welly2]

Bizarrely the gas disconnect really doesn't fit on the beer post. I had to force it on and pull it off with some. I'm dumping these and getting new ones. I reckon they're busted. I'll try the suggestions above though. But ordering new disconnects.

 

[welly2]

I may be being to basic here but the only times this happens to me its the beer line has frozen. It can just be that the coiled line gets in a cold spot in the fridge. To fix it you can massage the coil of beer line and sometime here it crack when its frozen. Or my impatience got out the heat gun for the quick fix and heated the darn line for a minute. The cold setting on the fridge is a variable tuning thing. When you like cold beer its inevitable you will experience frozen lines. Especially if left for days.

Definitely hasn't frozen. I did have a look and the fridge is cold but not that cold!

 

[Dae Tripper]

Bizarrely the gas disconnect really doesn't fit on the beer post. I had to force it on and pull it off with some. I'm dumping these and getting new ones. I reckon they're busted. I'll try the suggestions above though. But ordering new disconnects.

They are not supposed to be interchangeable, there is a difference in the post itself. Gas for gas and beer for beer.

 

[welly2]

They are not supposed to be interchangeable, there is a difference in the post itself. Gas for gas and beer for beer.

Oh ok, I guessed that might be the case but the suggestion of pumping co2 into the beer side made me think otherwise.

 

[QldKev]

hops or other **** blocking the tube/lines?

 

[Rambo]

hops or other **** blocking the tube/lines?

Or the tap... I've had hop debris block my flow control perlicks just this week. Bypass the tap (liquid DC-beer line-glass) to see if it's the problem.

 

[Benn]

Taps too high?

Image from http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-izG-WNKZfPU/T7EwZObMCaI/AAAAAAAA3ro/K0ehS4EhK9Q/s640/22.jpg.

 

[n87]

I had a similar situation recently....

found that my lines passed too close to the back wall where the cold comes from, and they froze in that spot
undid my whole system before finding it.

Now i try to make sure that the lines are kept well away from the back wall.

 

[Rocker1986]

Oh ok, I guessed that might be the case but the suggestion of pumping co2 into the beer side made me think otherwise.

The way to do this is not to use the gas disconnect on the beer out post, it's to put the gas line directly into/onto the beer out disconnect. The two posts/disconnects are slightly different to each other and aren't supposed to be interchangeable, but the line itself can obviously go on either one easily enough.

Initially I thought it might be because you'd not opened the shutoff valve on the CO2 regulator but given there is pressure in the keg it sounds more like a blockage somewhere in the system.

 

[welly2]

The way to do this is not to use the gas disconnect on the beer out post, it's to put the gas line directly into/onto the beer out disconnect. The two posts/disconnects are slightly different to each other and aren't supposed to be interchangeable, but the line itself can obviously go on either one easily enough.

Initially I thought it might be because you'd not opened the shutoff valve on the CO2 regulator but given there is pressure in the keg it sounds more like a blockage somewhere in the system.

Oh gotcha. I suspect I'd need different disconnect attachments then as the ones I've got are the barbed disconnects not the threaded ones. That'd be a bugger to swap over.

Actually, is there an inline quick disconnect of some kind you can get for the beer/gas line for situations like this?

 

[crowmanz]

Oh gotcha. I suspect I'd need different disconnect attachments then as the ones I've got are the barbed disconnects not the threaded ones. That'd be a bugger to swap over.

Actually, is there an inline quick disconnect of some kind you can get for the beer/gas line for situations like this?

I use MFL disconnects with John Guest fittings. I guess if you had 2 straight (http://www.truwater.com.au/john-guest-fittings-tube/john-guest-speedfit-3-8/john-guest-3-8-tube-3-8-tube-straight-joiner-speedfit-ci0412w?cPath) then you could still use your barbed disconnects with a short line.

 

[Rocker1986]

I have the MFL ones with JG fittings as well. I've only ever used that method once, when fast carbing a keg, but it worked well. I unfortunately over carbed it but that's another story. It would be rather a PITA to swap over barbed ones though yeah... that's why I went with the push in fittings, also it's easier to manipulate the lines inside the keg to fit where I want them because they can spin in the fittings unlike barbed ones.