Regulator losing pressure during force carb?

[SixStar]

Hey guys I'm doing the set and forget force carbonation. I set my regulator to 20 PSI with ice cold beer in the keg fridge yesterday.
Today the regulator dropped down to about 18 psi. I had to adjust it back up to 20 PSI.
So is the CO2 being absorbed into the beer or do I have a leak? I checked it carefully for leaks. Why isn't the regulator maintaining pressure after it's absorbed into the beer?
Maybe it's a crappy regulator? It's a used one.
View attachment 95681

 

[barls]

was the bottle open?
if not id assume its been absorbed if the keg was uncarbed

 

[Grott]

The pressure wouldn't drop if there was a leak as the set pressure is the set pressure meaning less would be going into the keg if there was a leak.
You don't know how long after originally setting the pressure it dropped as you noticed the next day. It could well have happened quickly meaning the system settling down.
Has it dropped again or gone up? If not I wouldn't worry, just check soon after when you do your next keg.
Cheers

 

[Grott]

You obviously sorted your problem out therefore don't need to respond to barls or myself.

Hey guys I'm doing the set and forget force carbonation. I set my regulator to 20 PSI with ice cold beer in the keg fridge yesterday.
Today the regulator dropped down to about 18 psi. I had to adjust it back up to 20 PSI.
So is the CO2 being absorbed into the beer or do I have a leak? I checked it carefully for leaks. Why isn't the regulator maintaining pressure after it's absorbed into the beer?
Maybe it's a crappy regulator? It's a used one.

ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1488063096.353800.jpg

 

[SixStar]

Sorry guys, little one been sick.

No they're still taking forever to carb. Although I've got a ton of gas in the tank. Used hardly any, I weighed it. Taking forever, maybe not cold enough?
I had I had the one keg hooked up at 20 PSI and rolled it for 15 minutes. Hardly any bloody carbonation.
The other keg has been on 20 PSI since Sunday now I'm just noticing a slight carbonation. The kegs do not seem to be leaking. I've checked them again and again with starsan solution. I'm also not losing any gas.
Maybe I just need to be patient?
Going to try to rapid carbonate the same one again tonight for 10 minutes on 30psi. If that doesn't do it they've filled my tank with air.
I appreciate the help guys. Is my first adventure into kegging.

 

[Lethaldog]

I'm not sure on the reg but 20 psi over night probably won't do a great deal, I usually pump up to 40-50 psi then turn gas off and let it absorb then set at 8-10 psi and it still takes about 3 days to get a good carb!

 

[Grott]

Thanks SixStar. I wouldn't force carb at 30 psi for 10mins, that will make it well over carbed. You say you do not have leaks and are not loosing gas, therefore it can only be that co2 is not going into the keg. 1)Do you have non return valves? If so how many. 2) with the disconnect off the keg, depress the gas release at say 20 psi and check you have good gas discharge from the disconnect. 3) check you gas line isn't kinked anywhere particularly after you close door.

 

[goatchop41]

Thanks SixStar. I wouldn't force carb at 30 psi for 10mins, that will make it well over carbed.

If he/she is do the rocking/shake method of force carb, yes. If he/she is hoping to force carb with high pressure while letting it sit, 30psi for 10 mins will do **** all.

 

[Gloveski]

Ah Grott your at it again the keg whisperer helped me out to no end at christmas time.

Can you hear any gas bubbles when laying keg on its side and rocking ?

 

[TheWiggman]

If the regulator's dropping it the problem isn't leaks. The regulator only controls the pressure on the discharge side.
HOWEVER...
If you increase the gas in the keg to 140 kPa and wind the regulator valve back the pressure on the gauge will stay at 140 kPa until it's absorbed/lost. An uncarbed keg of cold beer will definitely absorb enough gas to drop the pressure down 15 kPa overnight.
The other possibility is the regulator isn't keeping a stable pressure. I have a cheap reg and it will swing depending on the temperature. No biggie, just adjust accordingly.

Also if you're force carbing the beer needs to be COLD. The colder it is the more readily it will absorb CO2. 140 kPa overnight isn't exactly force carbing, rolling it on the floor is but it works far more effectively when the gas is being released into the liquid through one of the posts.

 

[SixStar]

Ok guys, noticed a couple of things just now.

The second keg that was really not carbonated at all, had a bad oring on the in-post. The starsan showed a leak on the quick disconnect. I just rocked that keg at 30psi for about 6 minutes and now letting it sit. Post is solid no leaks out the QD anymore. Luckily this keg wasn't on the gas long or for days otherwise might have taken a hit on my bottle.

The other keg that showed some carb, I just nailed with 40psi and disconnected. Will let it sit and absorb.

One of the mistakes I think I was making is that I was purging the kegs after the rapid forced carbonation procedure and not letting the co2 to sit in there at pressure. That surely didn't help?!

Other thing is that my beers cold but not really cold so I fixed it and put a thermometer in there.

I don't have any non returns and do have excellent pressure when I depress the gas release inside the disconnect. Line is not kinked.

Thanks, and the reg is dropping during rocking but does come back up to pressure. Seems to be maintaining pressure but not perfectly but good enough I'd say.

I can't say I hear a lot of bubbling but I can hear the co2 traveling through the regulator. I try not to let the beer wash over the co2 in post tube when rocking or rolling it. I've seen set ups are they at the CO2 up to the out/product post.

I might get a extra product disconnect and have one of those set ups, lets see.

I'll pour some beers tomorrow and see how we go.

 

[Grott]

I'm glad things appear to be coming together and let us know the results.

Warning- it is unwise not to have a non return valve between your keg and regulator, particularly if you force carb quickly by rolling etc. Beer can get into your regulator and truely stuff it.
Cheers

 

[SixStar]

Thanks! I bought one just yet to install
Will do asap.
It's the keg king one

 

[Dae Tripper]

Personally I don't use this method. But here it is for a read. http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/8535-ross-method-of-forced-carbonation-of-kegs/

If you are carbing keep the gas on, chuck them in your fridge with the gas bottle. Big pressure for a day or two then back to serving pressure. Good carbonation comes to those who wait.

Also helps if you have a dual reg in the fridge, one for serving pressure the other carbing or different styles.

 

[Rocker1986]

My regulator did this at first too. Initially I only had one keg in there and I used the set and forget method and it pretty much stayed where it was set to. Then I added a second keg at some point and the pressure began to drop over a day or so and I would re-adjust. After a while it settled down.

Now I put three full kegs in at the same time, hit them with CO2 at 45PSI for around 20-22 hours then turn off the gas and let them sit for 5 or 6 hours before re-connecting at serving pressure. They're usually at full carb in 2-3 days. The pressure gauge on the regulator doesn't drop overnight now either.

There seems to be a misguided idea that force carbonating means it's done ASAP. It doesn't matter whether you are rocking the keg at high pressure, using the method I just described or simply carbing it over a week or two at serving pressure - if you are injecting CO2 into the keg from a cylinder then you are force carbonating it. The latter is just a slower version of it.

 

[Grott]

I force carb all my kegs with the roll method (a modified Ross method)so they can then sit in the fridge on serving pressure all ready to go when required. I did this after 2 set and forget methods at serving pressure failed due to a non return valve being stuck and not letting the gas through. Pissed me right off and current method now works well for me.

 

[JDW81]

I force carb all my kegs with the roll method (a modified Ross method)so they can then sit in the fridge on serving pressure all ready to go when required. I did this after 2 set and forget methods at serving pressure failed due to a non return valve being stuck and not letting the gas through. Pissed me right off and current method now works well for me.

Interesting. I've had the opposite experience.

I carbonated a few kegs with the Ross method, and had no end of trouble (over-carbed, under-carbed, beer up the gas line). Also found that the carbonation wasn't as consistent.

Now I just set and forget at serving pressure for 7 days, and have had almost perfectly consistency since.

 

[Grott]

Interesting. I've had the opposite experience.

I carbonated a few kegs with the Ross method, and had no end of trouble (over-carbed, under-carbed, beer up the gas line). Also found that the carbonation wasn't as consistent.

Now I just set and forget at serving pressure for 7 days, and have had almost perfectly consistency since.

I force carb to an exact method that gives the same result every time and just slightly undercarbed. To achieve this 1) the kegs are filled to same level each time 2) the Reg pressure set the same each time (30psi) 3) Rock keg on side with gas down gas post to a stop watch so it's the same every time. I use sets of a 12 & 9.5 litre kegs for each 23 litre batch. The 12 litre is rocked for 63 seconds and the 9.5 litres for 50 seconds. In both cases the gas is then turned of at the bottled and continued rocking until pressure drops to 20psi, gas on again and straight off rocking until it drops to 20 psi again. Disconnect gas from keg and re fridge. Has never failed me. For @ 19 litre kegs 100 seconds ( 1min 40 secs)