I am having a problem with my C02 bottle going empty after a few days and the keg is getting loaded with c02. the pressure I set to 8lbs and is staying consistent but the bottle goes empty and I get a lot of foam. any ideas?
Sounds like you might have a bad regulator but there still must be C02 leaking out if it empties in only a couple of days, which is def. a problem. Spray the seals with soapy (or starsan) water to see if there are any obvious leaks, including bottle and keg.
if your bottle goes empty you have a leak. you may also have a bad regulator. you can't properly carb beer if there is a leak as the applied pressure is anyone's guess. fix the leak. Cheers.
Crank the pressure up to 50psi or so. Most leaks of any consequence will announce themselves audibly at that pressure. Spray all of the connections with soapy water or StarSan. Fix every connection where you see bubbles forming. Many of the smaller ones will likely go away when you drop the pressure back to normal - fix those, too.
I would start by doing this with keg uncoupled. Otherwise you have a over carbed keg too.. What kind of beer you pouring because running at 8lb psi sounds low...
The few minutes this will take will not be significant. But it is, indeed, something to keep in mind. If, for no other reason, than as another reason to turn the pressure back down when you're done.
You've got a leak which is emptying the tank and an unbalanced system which is causing your foam. The keg is not "loaded with CO2" and causing foam. The keg is supposed to have CO2 in the head space, that's how it works. As zero is heading towards, 8 psi is too low (assuming you're in the 38-40F temp range) to keep the CO2 in solution and you are getting break out.
