Hey all - where are some common places a keg system might leak? I’m familiar with the soapy water test, but so far that hasn’t turned up anything. I’m just wondering if there are places where I need to pay extra attention, or connections where I need to focus on the gaskets. Much appreciated. - EME
I believe the o-rings under the gas in and liquid out dip tubes are the biggest culprits. YMMV
Do you lube your o-rings?
I had 2 valves on the gas manifold leak around the stems only when in the open position. Finally found it by taking the CO2 bottle, manifold and all of the gas lines to the kitchen sink and submerging the manifold and lines. Also had a CO2 tank with a valve that leaked around the stem when in the open position.
Just try to eliminate one thing at a time starting at the tank and working your way downstream.
You can eliminate everything but the kegs by disconnecting the them and opening the CO2 tank valve for just a second. Shut it off and watch for decaying pressure. Turn valves on and off while watching the pressure too. There’s such small volume of gas in the lines, regulator and valves that even a very small leak will cause pressure to decay in a matter of seconds.
Use keg lube or other food grade grease liberally on the lids of kegs and crank the pressure up to at least 20 lbs. to be sure they seal well. Spraying Starsan or soapy water around the lid is a good check for that. With the keg pressurised, disconnect the couplers and spray around the poppets and posts. Leave them disconnected overnight and see if they are still pressurized in the morning. Also be sure that the O rings on the posts look good and are well lubed.
There’s always a possibility that a line is leaking where it attaches to a fitting or has an abrasion that is leaking. It is rare, but the wall of the keg may be pitted and have a leak or worn disconnect is not sealing well. Again, a spray bottle of soapy water or Starsan.
The gas in has been my number one culprit.
Weak poppet valves not sealing back up properly. I’m in the process of replacing all of my poppet valves for that exact reason. Right now I don’t have enough lines and connectors to keep a beverage line or CO2 line on each keg. Both of my kegs have been seeping out of the line out valve unless I keep a line and picnic tap attached.
I just ordered all new gaskets… for poppets and the O-ring.
I drained a whole co2 tank due to my tangled gas tubing putting pressure on my gas in qd. That was on a brand new keg but I could get the qd to leak by just slightly putting upward or downward pressure on it. I replaced the stock o rings as they seemed a little small and always use keg lube now. Haven’t had an issue since
Same here…
And this fixes it for me the overwhelming majority of the time
I’ve had a couple tank leaks due to various reasons that frustrated me from time to time. In some respects it has kept me from using my draught system to the extent of justifying its existence. But speaking of diptube o-rings, I’ve noticed mine get chewed up pretty quickly. They seem to fit fine but maybe the post threads shread them upon tightening. Is this common? I should note this hasn’t been a source of leaks for me but it sure has potential. The way they look I should probably replace them every keg-fill or two.
I have one with o-rings that gets chewed up pretty bad. It was one with the small dip tube that I drilled out to use the regular diameter dip tube. I don’t completely disassemble every time. I dump the keg, sanitize and refill about three times. When I pull off the valve about every third time I replace the o-rings.