To lube or not to lube

[SpottedDogBrewing]

Some people suggest to put keg lube on o-rings every keg'n time and some suggest not to unless you have a leak :-/

I lube up all the time!!!
What do you do?

 

[wildwest450]

There's two types of people, those who lube, and those who post about leaks.
That being said, I don't think every time is a necessity, the lube I use doesn't easily come off.


_

 

[superjunior]

I always put just a fresh smear of lube on each time, but like ww said probably isn't necessary. keg lube stays on pretty good

 

[fishkid]

I currently don't lube and I don't get as many kegs out of a 5lb CO2 tank that I should. I even have a lid that I can hear start to leak if I turn the pressure down to 2psi for the BMBF, but that could be a lid problem more than a lubed o-ring problem. In any case, keg lube is on my list for my next trip to the LHBS, it actually has been for a few trips and I always seem to forget it...

 

[DeafSmith]

Those of you with TapRite regulators - do you lube the built-in o-ring where the regulator attaches to the tank valve?

 

[bannonb]

I always clean and check the Oring. When it's no longer slippery I add keg lube.

For those with pinhole leaks, you should have a sprayer with starsan in it so you can check for leaks every time you attach a keg to your CO2 lines. Even good lids need to be tweaked by leaving pressure up and unlatching the top and turning until the pressure makes it seat properly.

My 2 cents.

 

[cyclonite]

I always clean and check the Oring. When it's no longer slippery I add keg lube.

For those with pinhole leaks, you should have a sprayer with starsan in it so you can check for leaks every time you attach a keg to your CO2 lines. Even good lids need to be tweaked by leaving pressure up and unlatching the top and turning until the pressure makes it seat properly.

My 2 cents.

+1 My brother lost a whole bottle of nitro from a small leak. I always spray them down with StarSan just to be sure.

 

[jvh261]

I haven't been kegging long, but use lube every time. One of my "good lids"... just drank from it last night, now leaked. Just went to pull a brew and my co2 is empty, dual regulators at zero and my dunkel keg has no pressure. I could hear it "tapping" a slow leak. First time for everything I guess. Gonna go get refilled tomorrow and change the o-ring. Poured a Boulevard Porter out of the fridge instead. After having to do 2 hours worth of work from home with me tonight after a 10 hour day, and then finding a leak, I was definitely having a brew.

 

[shortyjacobs]

I never lube. Don't even know where my tube went. My kegs need 30-35 PSI to seal, and I'm sure they'd seal with a lot less if lubed, but honestly it's not a problem to crank em up to seal. Once they are sealed, they stay sealed, lubed or not.