Once a keg is force carbed the PSI is supposed to be lowered to serving level. Is that left on all the time or do you turn it down to zero when not dispensing?
Yes, leave the gas on. You can turn it off, but that’s a PIA.
Also, the pressure during carbonation might be the same as the pressure during serving. This will depend on how you are do it.
I leave connected at serving pressure, too.
The carbing (sparkling water) was @ 25, serving PSI recommended by the manufacturer is 8-10.
Yeah, turn it down while serving, but you might want to turn it up when not serving. As the keg drains the gas in the water will move to the headspace. You need to maintain equal pressure to maintain carbonation.
I have had seltzer water (carbonated tap water) on tap for years. I leave it set at 25 PSI for carbing and serving with 15’ of beer line. The system is a corny keg with a float inside to maintain a constant water level. The CO2 is never shut off.
I’m using the mini regulator with 45 gram co2 cartridges that I just purchased from Williams.
With the water nicely carbonated after 2 co2 cartridges emptied into the keg (overnight) I added another cartridge and set it at 5 PSI and left it. It also emptied out overnight making me think that there is something wrong with the regulator itself.
I e-mailed Williams about this yesterday morning and have not heard back yet.
I also e-mailed them about leaving the regulator set at serving pressure several days ago and never got a reply to that e-mail which is surprising as I’ve always been very happy with their prompt customer service.
Maybe it went to spam? Give them a call: Customer Service
I’ve been a little wary of the mini-regulators, even though they would be a good fit for a small-batch brewer like me. I hope you get this problem solved because they are a good fit for small-batch brewers.
I don’t think it did; all the other e-mails I sent to the same address received prompt responses.
Maybe they sense that I’m beginning to think of returning the system? I don’t really want to as it is really a neat little system, but if every co2 cartridge that I use empties out over night even at serving PSI then it’s really not worth the money especially for the endless number of cartridges I’d have to buy.
Williams sent a prepaid mailing label for me to return the system so they could trouble shoot it. Turns out the regulator was faulty. They sent the system back with a new regulator and a bunch of new CO2 cartridges.
I filled the keg with water yesterday and put it in the fridge to chill. Some time this morning I plan to put the regulator on with a cartridge and test it out. Hopefully this regulator is good; I have a batch of American amber that needs packaging soon.
This^^^^^.
If I start to notice that a beer is losing some of that snappy carbonation that I prefer (in some styles), then I will bump the psi a few points higher for a day prior to serving again. Seems to keep the level where it needs to be.
So far so good, I set the PSI at the level recommended for force carbing yesterday afternoon and the cartridge didn’t empty out over night like it did with the defective first regulator.