Beer Forum

So I transferred my Janet's Brown into a keg a couple weeks ago.



When I was done I put the CO2 on it at about 20PSI and shot some gas into the keg to pressurize the keg and put it in the fridge to chill for carbonating.

A week later I put the CO2 on it and the disconnect leaked. I wiggled it a bit and tweaked it, but couldn't get it to not leak. I put a different disconnect on it and it still leaked. I futzed with everything I could and still can't get it to not leak. I've put both these disconnects on different kegs and they don't leak.

Last weekend I changed the post o-ring and it still leaked. I then pulled out the dip tube and changed that 0-ring and it still leaks. I just had this keg full of a Torpedo clone and had no issues carbonating or serving that beer. When that beer blew I broke the keg down, PBW'd everything, star-san'd everything and then refilled as pictured above and now I can't get the keg to seal.

Someone suggested replacing the post and I may end up giving that a try, but it just seems odd to me that the keg will hold pressure and I can get gas to go into the keg, but I can't leave the disconnect connected without it leaking.

If it matters any, this is an APC (Alloy Products Corporation) pin lock keg and the o-rings I've been using are the ones purchased in bulk from McMaster Carr.

My other thought was to make a jumper and transfer this beer to another keg. Do I need to connect the 2 beer out posts of the 2 kegs, put CO2 on the full keg gas in post and vent empty the keg I'm filling as it fills? If so, what pressure should I use to transfer?

Any help appreciated

Matt

Are you saying when you have the gas on you hear gas leaking? It is that much of a leak!? Odd. I would star san it when leaking and look for the bubbles to give you a clue where exactly it is leaking. Maybe replace the poppet since you have done the o-rings. If the poppet if messed up maybe the connection can't seal? I would think that is more an issue when disconnected and not connected but sounds like you have tried everything else.

Also, when you put the post back on did you crank the shit out of it to tighten or just go a little past hand tightened?

Don't crank the shit out of it.

I'll check and see if I can find a poppet for this keg. It's difficult finding anything for or even about these kegs, but I did find replacement posts on the CHI Company website. I'm guessing they'll have poppets for it too.

I didn't crank the crap out of the post when I attached it. Just tight enough.

I'll put the disconnect back on it tonight and hose it down with some starsan to see where the bubbles are coming from, but I can almost guarantee the issue is...under the disconnect. Where the little post pushes the poppet down. I know it's not leaking where the disconnect is screwed into the hose.

Any help on the jumper issues?

Did you lube the orings as you replaced them? I find that helps a lot.

To move carbonated beer from one keg to the other, I use a beer-to-beer jumper, a gas-to-gas jumper, and keep both kegs at the equilibrium pressure of the beer. Put the full keg up high and let the beer siphon down to the empty keg.

Sometimes I use a keg pressure tester with a variable pressure relief on the receiving keg. if the full keg is at 10psi, I will set the relief at about 8. It takes 20 min or so to do the transfer. If try to do it faster by just opening the relief all the way you will probably get a foamy mess near the end.

the beer is not carbonated. I just put a few seconds of pressure on it to seal it up before chilling.

Seems like I should just be able to run a liquid to liquid jumper and push the beer between the 2 kegs with gas on the full/non sealing keg?

It sounds like you have a bad poppet on the keg that is leaking. Sometimes this happens if you have more than one manufacturer of kegs and/or posts and the poppets get mixed up before re-assembly.
To answer your question, yes, you can use a liquid to liquid jumper to move the beer from one keg to another. You will want to equalized co2 pressure between the kegs and transfer to the receiving keg just purging enough co2 out to allow the beer to move.

Weenie Boy

I only broke down this keg when I cleaned it so there isnt a chance poppets were swapped between different brands of kegs, but that doesn't mean it has the correct poppet in there.

Maybe I'll swap the poppets between the 2 posts and see if that helps at all. If not I'll just pump it into a different keg and carb.

Eggsellant choice my friend. Unless you buy the kegs new, (I have not) you just don't know that the poppets are the "right" fit for your posts. I have bought several kegs (ball lock) in the past few years and have been surprised that 2 or 3 have come with the "wrong" poppets in them.
On the other hand... if you will notice the little rubber gasket around the tip of the poppet, sometimes they get chaffed or worn. That too will cause grief.

The Weenie Boy