I've got a single regular running in a single tower freestanding kegerator with a double 1/6 keg setup inside. About 1.6 pounds left in the CO2 tank. Just got 2 fresh 1/6 kegs and when I hook them up and turn on the gas, PSI is jumping quickly to 20 and moving towards 30 in 10 seconds or so. The beers are a double IPA and a Wheat and I typically keep the PSI at 10. With the gas turned all the way off, it's holding at 20. Do I just need to run these kegs a while until enough beer is out that I can get the pressue under control? I've bled the line at both kegs and the coupling to the tank 4-5 times to no avail, it drops to 0 then shoots right back up closing in on 30 again. Any advice would be most appreciated. Something tells me this is the beer causing this and I need to keep the gas off until it gets drank down, but it's counter-intuitive for me to have them in there with the gas off.
From your description the fresh beer is probably not causing the problem. A sankey coupler should have a check valve . . . regardless of the pressure in the keg it shouldn't "back-flow" to the regulator. It sounds more like you have a defective regulator (metering too high a pressure) or an unreliable gauge. Suggest you disconnect coupler and bleed keg to zero. Then with coupler disconnected set your serving pressure (depress pin so CO2 is flowing steady) . . . make sure the pressure is holding at your selected setting. Then re-attach coupler. If pressure shoots up in you may have a dying reg. If you can not get a steady-state pressure reading with coupler disconnected you definitely have a reg/gauge problem. Gauges are simple and easy to replace. What brand reg do you have? Age? It's possible your check valve has failed but there is no way these beers have 30 psi of pressure (when chilled). Hmmm, these kegs are chilled to the high 30s aren't they?
Thanks so much for your reply. The regular is the kegco dual model with single gauges and a splitter. Two 1/6 tanks hooked up and they are cold. When I bleed the tanks with the gas off the pressure stays where I leave it. So if I turn the gas on, he gauge shoots up to 30, turn off the gas and then bleed the kegs until I get it to 10 psi, it stays there. As soon as turn the gas on even slightly The pressure shoots way up, if I turn off the gas going to one or both of the kegs the pressure shoots up even faster. I want to try what you are saying but I’m not exactly sure where you want me to disconnect. You want me to leave the gas running connected to the keg or remove one of the hoses going into the coupler? I’m not sure how I can bleed down the tanks if the coupler is not attached. Beer rapidly shoots out of this thing even with the gas off which is worrying me that the kegs have been overly pressurized by all this. I don’t want to drink the beer until next weekend st a party so I am not in a spot where I can run a bunch of beer out of the kegs. Any insight is appreciated even if you think the kegco has gone bad. Thanks so much.
I deal with Corny (homebrew) kegs and have limited knowledge of sankey couplers so if I get any of this wrong some of the regular sankey-posters please jump in. Suggest you bleed everything to zero (keg, reg, tank master valve), then disconnect coupler and set serving pressure (10 psi). Pretty sure you can depress a pin in the coupler than will allow gas to free-flow (coupler is disconnected from keg, CO2 is venting into your room). See if you can stabilize the pressure with coupler disconnected and static (no gas flowing) and pin depressed (gas flowing). You should get only minor pressure fluctuations (with gas flowing) and it should recover immediately to the set point when you release the pin (stop gas flowing). If it doesn't pass this test you have a reg (and/or gauge) problem. If pressure holds steady as described above, then attach coupler to keg. There should be a noticeable rush of gas into keg and within a few seconds it should stablize very near the set pressure. If pressure jumps up to 30 during this step you have a check-valve problem (or maybe gauge). CAVEAT: when you de-pressureize your keg the absorbed CO2 will start to off-gas (just like when you pour into glass) into the headspace . . . if the keg is near full the headspace pressure will rise to very near what it was before you vented, so work fast here. Don't worry too much about too much/little CO2 in the beer. Once you straighten out the problem you can re-balance the pressure levels in just a few days.
First and foremost you are my hero on this, thank you for sticking with me. You are my hero seriously. Because I had no idea what to do. Still don't but now I have more info for you. Left tank connected to the regulator, removed both couplers from both 1/6 kegs. Gas is off and I bled everything. Then, while disconnected, I turned the gas on and made some quick adjustments, and was able to get to the point where I pulled BOTH pins out to release CO2 from the couplers, at the same time, I could get the PSI at a steady 10-12 PSI where I wanted it while gas was flowing in the room. As soon as I would release those pins, pressure started to build again in the regulator sky high. So, I'm not sure if even THAT is normal. Because above you said, when I release the pin, the pressure should recover to the set point, but it's not. With the couplers disconnected from the kegs. pins not pulled, pressure is building like crazy. Figured now maybe I need to connect them back up, so I tried both, and then just one, and the same issue happens. While I believe I have the regular set right, unless I have the pins released to let CO2 bleed out at the keg coupler, the pressure builds up to 30 PSI and then I get nervous and turn off the gas. What's next? Bad regulator? Oh and in the meantime I should just leave the kegs cold inside but disconnected from the couplers right?
From your description it sure sounds like the reg is bad. To confirm, when disconnected from keg the gauge shows a steady 10 psi with no gas flowing . . . then when you vent some gas and then stop venting the pressure jumps to 30 psi? Sure sounds like the reg is failing to do it's one and only job. Has the reg been behaving for previous kegs? I would top off kegs to 10'ish psi and just keep 'em cold, they will do just fine until you get a new reg. I've seen regulator rebuild-kits advertised but have never tried them. You might want to speak with manufacturer and see if they will work with you. FWIW, you may just need a reg body and not gauges/shut-off valves.
I'm with the Sun Brewer here. Bad regulator. Everything you are describing says bad regulator. Could be a simple swap of the psi gauge, or the body. Both go fubar on occasion for no real reason. The gauge is just a 1/4" threaded POS you can get at Lowes, so use their generous return policy if needed. $5. Resist the urge to man handle the gauge, they are delicate. It may help to remember when diagnosing these things, the regulators are one way. They will add gas only. The regulator will not put gas back in the CO2 tank, it is a one way valve that uses a spring and a diaphragm. Simple. To reduce pressure you must pull the safety pin and allow CO2 to go into atmosphere. So, if you think your regulator is lying to you, you can figure it out usually quite easily with logic. Cheers.
Thank you gents, I'll certainly check with the manufacturer to get their take on it, maybe they can even swap me out a unit knowing that if that solves the problem they can use the working parts or something. I'd rather pay for just what I need than a whole new unit, as you guys are saying. I like your ideas of trying a couple parts. So to confirm - I can get it to a steady 10 PSI with gas flowing and the pins released to allow the gas to come into the room at the coupler (not connected, just gas running out freely with the tank on, no kegs connected. I adjusted the regulator until I got it to 10 PSI. I'm not touching the release pin that's right back near the tank and the regular. Just the pins at the couplers, as you said to see if I could get it to 10 PSI with gas flowing into the room at the couplers. So I did that, then I turned off the gas. After that, as soon as I turned the gas back on (with no pins being pulled to release gas), no matter if one or both couplers were connected to a keg or just hanging there, as soon as I turned the gas back on, the PSI just went up up up (I am not sure how dangerous it would be to let it keep climbing, I always turn off the gas valve when it hits 30, not sure if I have any other options here). So I'm really not sure what's going on, but from your responses above it seems to be the consensus that something's not right after my tests.
See how smart you are now? And that's after only a day or two of trouble shooting. This may border on "beating this to death" . . . but you might still be testing incorrectly. The idea is to set the regulator to serving pressure (10 psi) with no gas flowing and coupler disconnected from keg. Then release some gas (without making any adjustments to pressure setting). The pressure will drop some, this is normal. But when you stop the flow of gas it should return to the original setting (10 psi). This is what happens when you pour a beer normally. The space created in the keg by the poured beer is replaced by CO2 on demand from the gas tank. The amount is typically so small there isn't a noticeable rush of gas and pressure drop is almost undetectable. But in all cases you want the pressure to return to the original setting . . . this is vital. My keezer goes for years without any adjustment. As the Disciple from the Empire State mentioned, everything is 1/4" threaded NPT on your reg. Buy some plumber's tape (<$1) and don't be afraid to make repairs. Just be sure to leak-check with soapy water after any maintenance. I also leave the master tank valve "off" for an overnight to make sure the pressure holds. The only thing tricky is occasionally you'll see a "left hand thread" (Taprite and maybe some others), but that should be marked. By necessity, a kegerator operator is a better'n average plumber.
With this latest post, I think you have helped me more at least to realize that I have a regulator problem. With the gas turned on, even with the couplers both disconnected from the kegs in the "up" position (so no gas flows from them when the gas it turned on), the PSI shoots way way up immediately. It's as if the regulator isn't doing any "regulating" at all. So, regardless of the connections on the other end, unless I'm letting gas flow out, the regulator pressure (at least according to the PSI gague) never stops, and shoots up from 0 to 30 PSI in around 15 seconds. Sounds like it's off to the hardware store today.
Your knowledge base is skyrocketing! While you're trouble shooting you can still drink beer. You've probably over-carb'ed the kegs slightly but that's easy to fix. Just vent some gas and the beer should equalize with the headspace. But you will still have some pressure that will allow you to pour. Some trail and error involved here to get enough headspace pressure but not so much it pours foam. You are gradually lowering the beer's carb level, so hit it with a smidgen of gas periodically . . . this is not ideal, but it provides beer for the soul whilst repairs are underway. So in addition to becoming a skilled plumber you are now a Gas Law aficionado . . . is this a great hobby or what?
Thanks. I bought these kegs for a party this weekend so haven’t been wanting to run the beer out into pitchers to waste it or drink it so I’m just looking to conserve and preserve for now. Once I fix or swap the regulator, would you recommend I just run the beer tap this weekend with the co2 gas off once I hook the system back up until the flow slows and prsssure drops (basically no co2 on at all until they stabilize) or would you recommend a different approach? When I had it connected even with the gas off the beer was flying out of the taps but I only ran 1/2 beer out of each.
If beer is over carb'ed (likely), just vent the headspace. The beer will off-gas and fill the headspace with a slightly lower pressure (within an hour or so). You might have to do this a couple of times but at some point it will be near the desired serving carb-level. Some trail and error involved and it's possible you may vent too much and have under carb'ed beer. The best outcome is to have the beer slightly under-carb'ed, then hook up the new reg and it will bring up to desired level within a day or two. If you let the beer go completely flat it may take up to a week to re-carb to desired level. No real danger in adding/venting CO2, just a little bit of time and expense. You'll get a feel for all of this after a few times. You didn't ask, but here's a good carb chart (press/time/carb-level) that may be helpful: https://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table/
Thank you again for all the help. My neighbor who has a dual kegerator was kind enough to loan me his regulator as a test proved your theory correct. My regulator died! That's crazy! I guess it happens. His regulator was able to immediately establish pressure before and after connecting the kegs. For lack of time, I'm borrowing his regular and will look to either repair or replace mine. I at least feel vindicated in that I wasn't doing anything wrong or going nuts, I am just shocked to see it malfunctioning like that I guess. It really wasn't working at all. Hopefully the beer will be good for the weekend. I imagine after the first few pitchers get poured I'll need to keep an eye on the PSI, but it's holding at a steady 10 PSI right now as I wanted. Thanks again, it's nice to know what happened now at least. Hate it when stuff breaks, standing still like that, but that's stuff for you.
My original regulator used to go wonky when the CO2 tank started to get below a certain threshold. Generally everything was fine but all of a sudden after a few months the pressure would start to go up and up. Kind of similar to what seemed to happen to you but only when the tank got on the lower side. I have a dual tower and replaced my single pressure regulator with a dual pressure regulator. Went with a Taprite T752HP, its currently around $88 on Amazon. I usually have an IPA on my side and my wife has either Allagash White or Sam Summer on her side. I like being able to have different pressure's on each side. Its not much of a difference between the two and you could run them at the same pressure without a problem but its nice to have the option. My wife prefers her's a slight bit lower carbed than I do. I think you are looking at maybe a $30 difference in price to go with a single pressure vs dual. On the negative side the dual takes up a bit more room and makes the tank top heavy so you need to be able to secure the tank.
