Kegged and Let Down...

[Col224]

So I kegged my first beer today! But...I found out my pressure relief valve is leaking. It's an old firestone keg. I've read about a few similar issues online so I went ahead and bought a new lid.

In the mean-time, I'm worried about my beer. I kegged it, pressurized it, and then disconnected the CO2 so as to not drain the entire tank.

Will my beer keep just fine? I placed it in my kegerator for now.

Also, one question I haven't been able to find a clear answer to is if you should "force" carb your beer at room temperature or in the fridge.

 

[Thanks_Yeasties]

I think as long as you don't introduce oxygen by agitating it to much you'll be fine.

You can force carb at any temp. warmer = higher psi, cooler takes much less.

http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

 

[bbohanon]

you have any keg lube? You might be able to put some around the valve and get it to not leak for the short term. I have used keg lube to patch up quite a few kegs in the past.
:fro:

 

[Col224]

Unfortunately no keg lube...hopefully if I get a new lid on saturday, I can get it carbed up then!

 

[wardens355]

Unfortunately no keg lube...hopefully if I get a new lid on saturday, I can get it carbed up then!

Beer will be fine, but get some keg lube, especially for sealing the lid. A little goes a long way.

 

[zachattack]

I would have bought keg lube before a new lid

Some of my PRVs used to leak, a little keg lube and they're all fine now.

 

[LKABrewer]

Do you know that the pressure release valve screws out of the lid? You probably have some junk stuck under the value and it is not sealing correctly. Unscrew it, clean, put some keg lube on, and screw it back in.

 

[Col224]

Do you know that the pressure release valve screws out of the lid? You probably have some junk stuck under the value and it is not sealing correctly. Unscrew it, clean, put some keg lube on, and screw it back in.

This is an old firestone keg...the actual valve came off (a plastic "nut" underneath and the dome-like piece screwed together) but the valve piece didn't appear to unscrew. I did disassemble that part though, cleaned it, and put it back together but no luck.

I bought both keg lube AND a new lid now.

 

[Gavin C]

for future reference. You can buy PRV separately. You can even get the little o-rings that go on some models.

You probably already looked a that and decided on the new lid for cost reasons. Lids are not to expensive. Don't mean to dispense redundant info.

As your getting a new lid you could maybe seal the PRV with silicone caulk. Not sure it would be air-tight but might serve.

You can pick it out later on I would think.

It's not food grade I'm sure but it's not touching the beer only CO2 in the headspace so probably be fine. Worth a try. Others may have much better ideas.

 

[Col224]

Ok, now I'm REALLY at a loss.

I bought a new lid and Keg Lube. I sanitized the lid and then put keg lube on the relief valve and the o-ring. Unfortunately, the keg continues to leak. The little holes all around the relief valve continue to hiss away when under pressure. I did use Starsan to ensure that the only leak was coming out of those little holes around the relief valve. Is this normal? I can't imagine this brand new lid leaks, especially with keg lube applied.

If I turn off the CO2, eventually it will stop hissing after ~5 minutes but I can't imagine I'm actually carbonating the beer in the meantime. If I left the CO2 on, I imagine my tank would be empty overnight.

What do I do?

 

[day_trippr]

It's definitely not normal. Not even close.
While all this is going on, what is your regulator pressure set to?

Cheers!

 

[Col224]

It's definitely not normal. Not even close.
While all this is going on, what is your regulator pressure set to?

Cheers!

I've got it set to 30 psi as I'm trying to force carb it. I did check if it still leaked when brought down to ~15 and it was doing the same (though not with the same amount of force).

 

[day_trippr]

A ball lock PRV should not open with 30 psi. It should require at least 65 psi and as much as 85 psi. Kegs are rated around 135-150 psi burst pressure so you want the PRV to pop long before that - but not at 30 psi!

Is this a ring-pull PRV or lever-actuated? fwiw, I had a couple of the latter a few years ago and for whatever reason they were entirely unreliable, so I changed them out for the ring-pull style...

Cheers!

 

[passedpawn]

I've never had any CO2 come out of a PRV. Not normal.

Are you sure the PRV is closed? If there's a ring attached to it, turn the ring 90 degrees so that the PRV seats (and closes).

 

[Col224]

The first lid was a pull lever, the second is a ring PRV...It has the "U" shape where it seats fully and closes...though I did try the 90 degree thing just in case.

 

[Col224]

I finally solved this one. Turns out that I'm about as unlucky as they come. After many many hours of researching and trying different things, I finally noticed a little "void" in the weld below the new lid which was driving the leak not through the little holes which I originally thought but at the base of the PRV on the new lid. So...I went back to the original lid, was a bit generous with the keg lube, and got everything screwed on tight. As of now, I'm holding a seal.

I'll send the new lid back...

Thanks ALL who helped!

 

[Col224]

Here are pictures of what I saw on the "new" lid that led me to believe there's a void in the welding.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=285972&stc=1&d=1434909613

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=285973&stc=1&d=1434909613

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=285974&stc=1&d=1434909613

 

[k1ngl1ves]

Interesting. Where'd you buy the new lid? I don't want to start having "bad luck" too...

 

[MindenMan]

Silicone II is food grade. I don't know about the color versions, but clear is 100% safe.

 

[Thetonymartin]

I just diagnosed/ found a similar issue on a "new" to me, keg. Fortunately, I found it before losing a tank of CO2. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1434913570.165473.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1434913587.430932.jpg

 

[passedpawn]

Wow, that is bad luck. I can see how that caused some confusion. Take a sharpie and write "DEFECTIVE" all over that sucker before you return it.