Is my regulator broken??? WITH AN UPDATE

[Chris_J]

I set my regulator to 12psi. Fine no problem, it was steady. The next day the pressure climbed to 25 psi....WTF? So I vent the keg and disconnect the gas. Venting dropped the psi back to 12, ok back in business right? Well right when I disconnected the gas from the keg the psi started climbing back to 25 in a matter of seconds. WTF? So I reconnect the gas, and it settles at 12psi. I tried lowering the psi hoping that it would climb into where I wanted it. No luck, still up around 25psi. So all in all....WTF?

[mattruffle]

Is this a fresh tank? The keg already carbonated? Did you do the good ol' shake and bake to carbonate it? What temperature is it sitting at right now? Both tank and keg.

I see some fluctuations in mine all the time, especially if I just shook in 30 psi into the keg. I've also had some situations where I'm pretty sure I managed to suck some liquid CO2 into the regulator assembly. Liquid is fine until it warms up then it'll expand pretty quick. I have one reg right now that isn't being used, it went from 0 to damn near 30 without me resetting it at all. I still trust it. Mine also goes through some major temp changes, which could be part of the issue.

Probably doesn't help much, but if it's not really old and you've used it for a while it's probably OK...

Great if you have some Trappists that need more carbonation?

[Chris_J]

They're both at the same temp in my fridge. The psi had been set at 12 for a week to carbonate. It's a fresh tank, everything is less than a year old. It doesn't matter if I vent the keg and re-apply pressure, I get the same jump.

[IshInTexas]

on mine when it jumps like that dont vent from the keg. i find mine works best if i just adjust the screw down until you hear hissing and adjust it until your are about 5 psi from where you wanna be, if it is still hissing then leave it be and check back on it in 15-30 min, it should be right where you want it. I hope this helps.

[dresselbrew]

Do you have a valve on the output? If so close it and set the regulator to desired pressure. If it's too high pull the relief open and set till it's the right pressure. Then if that holds open it to your keg and see what happens. If it jumps now then you might have an over carbed keg. Not sure if that helps but it's what I'd do.

[Chris_J]

Do you have a valve on the output? If so close it and set the regulator to desired pressure. If it's too high pull the relief open and set till it's the right pressure. Then if that holds open it to your keg and see what happens. If it jumps now then you might have an over carbed keg. Not sure if that helps but it's what I'd do.

Definately worth a try. We'll see what happens. Though if the keg were over carbed wouldn't beer start working its way into the gas line?

Edit: So I didn't get to this point yet but I noticed the pressure on my regulator was where I wanted it.....because the tank was empty. WTF? I'm losing it! Now I'm thinking my keg was leaking. Anyway, I'm running out of ideas. I might call b3 and trouble shoot over the phone with them