Solution to Latest Corny Keg Problem, Please

Given your facts, it sounds like you have a mis-shaped gas post (unlikely) or a bad gas post O-Ring. Or (maybe) your quick disconnect is worn just enough that it leaks with this particular post/o-ring.

Also, are you sure the gas post on this keg is actually a gas post (and not a liquid post)?

 

Sounds like this may be called for:

 

I'm a Cutter man myself...

 

People don't change their O-rings often enough, nor do they use enough keg lube. These are two cheap and easy things that prevent a lot of problems.

 

At less than two cents each, I change my o-rings after every pour.
Actually, I change them every time I clean a keg. Definitely overkill, but, as your experience illustrates, it's better than underkill.
And, FWIW, once you get past the startup bumps, kegging will be a piece of cake.

 

The space shuttle blew up due to bad o-rings.....

 

I'll knock on wood then. My kegging is about as low maintenance as I can get it.

I clean my kegs and all, but only once a year do I care to take them apart, soak the posts and poppits really well, and lube everything up fresh.

I only take my lines down and flush my lines with cleaner every 90 days with BLC, too. I do happen to take a said kicked keg, fill with hot pbw, and pressurize it, and run it through my lines, let it hold for a bit, and then flush it out well. Then follow with starsan through everything.

One you find your suspect keg, mark it. I have one that the lid has to go on a certain way or it won't seal well under 11psi.


I once last year, had an IPA keg kick, and had another IPA to keg. I hosed out the keg, shook it around, cleaned it out. Filled with starsan, shook it, ran it through the tap to clean out the pickup tube, and dumped it. Filled it right back up with the other IPA and kept on rockin. Never had a problem with the beer and essentially just rinsed and sanitized.

 

Have you read this one?
Bottler's Guide to Kegging

 

we are talking about spoiled beer, not the space shuttle.
let's try to keep to the real tragedy here.



edit
too soon?

 

I realize this doesn't solve your problem, such as it is, but you seem to be the exception. When I started kegging (batch #1 of 82 - I've never bottled a batch), I fully expected leaks, foam, and the like, and simply assumed it would be a process of getting comfortable with the quirks and learning how to deal with problems as they come up. It turned out to be much less of a headache than I had mentally prepared myself for. Maybe I just got lucky with the kegs I bought?
Hang in there. It has to get easier.

Try bending the lid legs down, just a bit, to compress the o-ring a bit more.

 

This basically what I do. Any possible leaks are discovered either when dispensing star scan through the lines or after hooking up the gas to the keg. To me, kegging is a very easy process the only problem I ever have it forgetting to flush the keg with co2.

 

This basically what I do. Any possible leaks are discovered either when dispensing star scan through the lines or after hooking up the gas to the keg. To me, kegging is a very easy process the only problem I ever have it forgetting to flush the keg with co2.

 

I feel ya man, Ive had a few things like what you've described. I would just keep reading and posting on here for tips to the annoyances you have. My first keg of beer was foamy the whole time and it took a good bit of research to figure out but I finally discovered that the orings for pin lock kegs are different from ball lock and I used a ball lock kit to replace the post orings.

 

Peter,

I am sorry to hear about your kegging woes.

Thank you for posting though since it illustrates that not every homebrewers’ experiences are the same. Some folks will post that switching to kegging is the best thing ever and then you post about your experiences.

Everybody’s brewery is different.

I hope that you can resolve the issues that you are experiencing.

Cheers!

Jack