Corny Keg Seals

I was in the process of getting ready to do my first kegging and while cleaning the keg I noticed something that worried me. I filled the keg with some warm water, put the lid on and was shaking it around while cleaning it and I noticed that when I had it upside down there was water leaking out around the lid. When I pulled the pressure release before popping the top a bit of gas came out, maybe shaking up caused a bit of pressure to build.

What does this mean? If liquid came out it doesn't seem to be sealing, but at the same time when I pulled the release gas came out. Was it because it was upside down that it leaked?

I am going to quite worrying and have a homebrew and just let this sit in the secondary for a bit longer.

Oh, on a side note, does anyone know if there is some trick to using an auto siphon? I tried using it and just managed to aerate my beer and get it to move a tiny bit at a time.

Thanks!

I wouldn't worry about the keg thing. . .

Mine frequently do the same thing. You may want to put a bit of keg lube on the seals, and when you pressurize it, hit it with about 30-35 psi to seat the lid. You should be fine.

And if you didn't get your autosiphon to work, its probably defective, or the hose is blocked. It should siphon after about 2 pumps.

Don't mean to thread steal, but I've had a similar problem. Is the soda keg supposed to seal completely w/o pressure. I bought the keg(my 1st), and it was pressurized and the soda came out carbonated so it was sealed. But then when I was cleaning it and flipped it over closed, it leaked around the main/large opening. I feel like such a noob in the kegging department....because I am.

I'm drunk and didn't really understand what the others were trying to convey, but when you put your seals under pressure it's a lot like wringing a towel...any liquid (around the rubber) is going to flow. Chances are your "leak" is not a leak at all, but just excess water from "the squeeze".

thing is, most of us buy used kegs. when you buy used, the lid area could be damaged somewhat, or the bale could be loose, etc.

kegs should be able to seal with just the pressure from the bale tightening down. the reality is that most of our kegs (most of my kegs at least), need some pressure to fully seat/seal the lid. do use keg lube, and make sure the rubber for the gaskets are not brittle, and be careful of dinging the lid or the lid area of the keg.

Both of my kegs leak after I seat the lid with sanitizer in it and I turn it upside down. Once I hook up CO2 to it and pressurize it, I've never had a leak. The lid might be tight without the CO2 pressure, but the pressure actually seals it by pushing the lid up.

First things first. Did you rebuild with new O-rings? Take a close look at the lid O-ring. Is it flattened on top and bottom? If so, it needs to be replaced. Did you get any keg lube? A light coating on all O-rings help a lot. Also, I like to pull up on the bail and wiggle the lid to seat the Oring, then snap the bail down. This will seal most of my kegs but I have one that's a little tweaked that needs 10psi on it to seal.

Another thing....keg seal kit at the LHBS (mine anyway) is $5. The 4 little orings at Ace or True Value are about $2.25. The big oring I get at work

go to mcmaster, and you can get all the o-rings in either 12 packs (lid), or 100 packs (dip and post), for a very fair price. this is really only worth it if you have a number of kegs though.

Well, you could buy a single keg O-ring set from one of our usual vendors:
http://morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=18234
$2.95 for the set + shipping

or got to McMaster Carr (Part no's)

9452K172 Dip Tube O-ring 100 for $1.89
9452K23 Post O-ring 100 for $2.15
9452K218 Lid O-ring 10 for $12.50
+ shipping

Hmmmmmmmmmmm?

i personally prefer the silicone for the post o-rings, that are a bit more expensive.

i also prefer the double-seal, or h-ring, for the dip tubes

edit: here are the other part numbers from the brewboard: http://www.brewboard.com/index.php?showtopic=34669

My LHBS told me when I bought my first cornie that it is designed to seal at 10psi. They come already rebuilt with new seals etc.

I had to go out of town last week, so I just got around to messing with it again.

I took the keg I had cleaned well, made sure the o-ring looked good. It did as far as I could tell, no cracks etc. Hit it with 30PSI and it didn't seal at all. So I switched the top of that one with the top of the second keg. This one seemed to clap tighter. Hit it with 30PSI and it started to seal, but I could still hear a tiny bit of leaking as it gurgled though the water that had been splashed around the lid/o-ring.

Next I will try putting some keg lube on it, will that make a big difference? Or is there something wrong with these kegs? The mouth doesn't look that out of shape, maybe a tiny bit on one part but not that bad. I will try the second keg next and report back what I find.

how maleable was the o-ring?

also, move the lid around some try to find a 'sweet spot' for sealing.

make sure the pressure relief valve isn't open too.

gnef said:

how maleable was the o-ring?

also, move the lid around some try to find a 'sweet spot' for sealing.

make sure the pressure relief valve isn't open too.

Click to expand...

It don't seem hard or anything, like I would expect rubber to be.

The valve wasn't open. I am pretty sure it was seeping out around the o-ring.

definitely try reseating it then. sometimes i need to get certain keg lids at certain points for them to seal. it's not ideal, but it is something that I, and many of us, have to deal with when purchasing used kegs.

Okay, thanks. I will keep playing with it. Will the keg lube help? I read somewhere it could help old used kegs seal.

gnef said:

i personally prefer the silicone for the post o-rings, that are a bit more expensive.

i also prefer the double-seal, or h-ring, for the dip tubes

edit: here are the other part numbers from the brewboard: http://www.brewboard.com/index.php?showtopic=34669

Click to expand...

Thanks Gnef I have 20+ kegs I need to rebuild what about popetts in bulk? any ideas
JJ

keg lube definitely helps. it also helps to seal, it also helps to keep the rubber healthy and in good shape.

as far as poppets go, i don't really know of a place for bulk poppet purchase. search around for the cheapest place. are all your kegs the same model?

gnef said:

. are all your kegs the same model?

Click to expand...

Ya all are the same I do have some pin lock stuff too but I dont want to mess with those untill I have ALL these kegs full
J

if they are all the same, you could try to get volume pricing at your LHBS, or at an online retailer? i've never tried this though.

barring that, just shop around for the cheapest place for poppets shipped.

gnef said:

if they are all the same, you could try to get volume pricing at your LHBS, or at an online retailer? i've never tried this though.

barring that, just shop around for the cheapest place for poppets shipped.

Click to expand...

Ya Ill try the online bulk priceing.... Sad though my LHBS closed some time ago
thanks
JJ

gnef said:

also, move the lid around some try to find a 'sweet spot' for sealing.

Click to expand...

That's a very good tip and I just wanted to expand on it a little.

I found on 1 of my cornies that leaked when it was upside down and didn't completely seal under pressure, that if I turned the lid around 180 degrees and had it facing the opposite direction that it sealed so that it did not leak when upside down and held pressure in the normal position.

McMaster Carr is the shiznit... I love rebuilding kegs