Interesting phenomenon with one of my regulators over the last few weeks. Whatever I set the regulator at, it wants to carbonate at a higher PSI. I kegged an amber ale, and force carbonated it by setting it at 12 PSI. Pressure kept rising to about 20, I bled the keg, cranked down the pressure in the regulator back to 12, and overnight it was back up to about 20. This went on for a week or two, I even opened up the release valve in the lid overnight to let carbonation release from the beer, then reset the PSI at 12, and again within 12 hours it was back up around twenty or so. It was impossible to pour, with half the glass full of foam. The beer tasted fine, didn't taste infected, and it fully attenuated during fermentation to 1.012. Finally I switched the keg over to another CO2 tank and regulator that I normally use to make seltzer with kegged well water, and using that regulator I was immediately able to get the keg to 12 PSI. No more foaming over, steady carbonation. Looking bad at the other regulator, even with the tank turned off, and the valve coming out of the bottom of the regulator turned off, the gauge is still reading pressure that I can bleed off by bleeding the regulator from the release valve at the bottom. So what's up with the regulator that can't stabilize at a constant PSI? Is the regulator body shot? Something else I'm not understanding here? Thanks
Yep, bad regulator. I had the exact same thing happen to me. The pressure continually crept up. I threw it away.
I've never force carbonated by rolling the keg on its side. Sometimes I'll rock the standing keg back and forth to help force the gas into the liquid, but the keg always stays upright.
Just checking. I think you already have an answer. I've ruined a regulator by doing that. Beer worked its way up the gas-in hose and into the regulator before I noticed.
I'm new to the kegging scene, but would a check valve prevent this issue? I've only rolled a keg once, but don't want to end up tossing my regulator. I asked when I bought the gear and they said the manifold had checkvalves, so I didn't worry much about this.
I guess. Mine must be internal and not in-line. THe tubing on mine is pressed on a bard that just screw into the regulator body. A check valve with dried beer on it would likely foul as well. And actually, the first thing I noticed was mold growing in the lines. Instead of trying to sanitize, and wondering in the future, I chunked the line and the regulator, in case it did have beer that had gotten into it. That's what convinced me to just be a little patient and adopt the set/forget method.
