Testing new secondary regulator

Not sure how your display looks, but pics did not upload on Forum so difficult to follow your troubleshooting. But, you should be checking every threaded connection (gauge, coupler, shutoff-valve...even plug at end of last secondary) in addition to each hose/barb connection. If the bucket of water shows no leaks that's pretty solid.

There is a possibility the secondary has a leak internally (I've seen this) . . . but check those remaining threaded connections (gauge) first before we leap into that.

 

Your pics from Oct 10th post are displayed, but Jan 12th post shows a blank image.

From your description it appears at least one of your secondaries has an internal leak. This has happened to me. To confirm this you want to isolate your secondaries by pressurizing, then shut off primary valve on tank and shutoff valves on the secondaries. Note how long it takes for the pressure to drop to zero. I'm guessing this will be in the range of days. If yes, and you are sure the threaded connections are good then you are leaking internally (the mechanism has connections you can not see or repair). This was confirmed to me by tech-rep at Taprite. When it happened to me I figured the quantity of CO2 lost was the equivalent of pouring an extra beer over a ~4 day period . . . I ignored it and go 1+ years between tank refills.

Doing a disassembly is a Grade A PITA but will confirm this. When taking your unit apart inspect your nipples (hex couplers), they should be hollow as they merely connect and don't check any pressures. If a specific secondary is leaking internally you can isolate it after a period of trail and error. However, after each re-assembly you must run another complete leak check on every connection you touched.

Good luck and report back what you find.

 

Be forewarned, if you are tempted to unscrew the regulator bonnet and inspect the inside of the thing, don't do it. It is a pretty simple affair but successfully getting all the parts to sit correctly upon reinstallation is hit and miss. And there is not much rhyme or reason to it either. You may put everything in its place perfectly, and often it will still fail.

The valves, hose assemblies, threaded connections are all game. Also, even if the leak were to be originating in the actual regulator body you would need a repair kit to fix it anyway. If this is the case, replace the entire reg.

Cheers

 

I can't see your pics in either of your attempts. Does Google Pics give you an option to copy a Direct Link to your clipboard? The Google Pics url won't work in the Image dialog box here. What you insert in the dialog box has to come from a third party hosting site, and the direct link should have a .jpg ending.

 

Pics in posts # 4 & 21 don't display for me. The rest of them do.

 

Unique to Google Photos, another step is required: After you copy the link in GP go to this website: https://www.labnol.org/embed/google/photos/
Paste the google link in the box, check "I am not a robot" , then "Generate" . . . scroll down and copy the "Direct Image Link". This is what you want to paste in the pic icon on this page.

The pics are displayed on your page because you are signed into your Google account, while the Forum sees nothing. Why does Google do it this way? Only Larry Page and Sergey Brin know . . .

 

First the good news: Yes, pics came through. Give a Google Photos poster enough bananas and it can be made to work.

From your chart, it appears the assembly leaks more when the shut-off valve to the kegs are open, you might try it one more time to confirm and dunk those couplers in the water also. The rest of your description defies logic. If there are no bubbles there are no leaks. Highly unlikely the gauges are leaking "out the top" or the hoses have leaks in the length of their run. What is most likely is the leak is so small as to be near invisible (which is tough when submerged). When this happened to me I never found the leak (did not submerge body of secondaries) but determined it wasn't that much and have lived with it (7+ years). This was with the exact same 3-secondary Taprite assembly you have.

As for quantity loss; figure the volume of the entire run from tank to secondary (it'll be rough), that's what you are losing every ~3 days. Another possible leak point is where the tank master valve attaches to top of cylinder. This would not affect your pressures . . . tank will drain, but all outside of your pressurized lines.

You already know what to do to nail it down . . . a disassembly and reattach one secondary at a time and start the entire test over again. Expect Murphy to fight you every inch of the way. Of note: when I contacted my retailer (Kegco) they contacted Taprite and between the two of them told me they would "make it right" if I was dissatisfied.

EDIT: Just noticed what seems to be a shut-off valve from the output of primary reg to the line that feeds your secondaries. Is this correct? If yes ,this gives you more isolation options. Have you tried pressurizing your primary, then shutting off tank master valve and closing the primary's shut-off valve. Could be the leak is not in the secondary bank at all. Worth a test.

 

@CrazyPete - Are you having fun yet?

The upside of this exercise, such as it is, is that you'll come out the other end with a much better understanding of your system and where to focus when making changes or having problems.

 

Did you ever figure this one out? I literally have the same regulator from taprite and had the exact same issue across all the regulators! Their support is nearly impossible to contact. I feel like I've tried everything hear and more and still can't find the leak..

 

@CrazyPete

 

Welcome to the BA site, NLSurfer. It looks like it's been a year and a half since CrazyPete logged into the site, so you may not receive a reply from him. I don't have an answer to your problem, but maybe the conversation will pick up again as a result of your post, so monitor the thread to see what happens.