Keg won’t increase in psi

Djangotet

I’ve got kind of a 911 situation. I just filled up a 2.5 gallon keg and it won’t pressurize. There’s no leaks, it’s brand new. I emptied the keg of sanitizer using co2 and I put beer in. I thought I may have overfilled it? So I poured a bunch of beer out and it still doesn’t do anything. I’m not sure but I lost a good amount of beer trying to fix this. I had my co2 all the way to maximum and the gauge read 20psi. I let some air out and it’s dropping at the proper rate so it seems accurate. I have it sitting at 10psi right now and I have no idea what to do. I was hoping to have it for Christmas bunch I need to let it sit at 40 to quickly carb it. Anyone had something like this happen?

brewsmith

Is gas audibly leaking out? Can you hear it? O rings are all good? Ball lock posts are on tight? I’ve had the lid not quite seal before and required pulling up or rotating it slightly to get it to seal.

Djangotet

It’s a new keg, this is my 3rd batch with it. No sounds at all. Dead silent and I’ve never had a leak before. I took the posts off and cleaned them, now they are tightened. I will actually spray it with Star San to see if there are any bubbles but it didn’t seem like it. UPDATE: sprayed the whole thing with sanitizer and didn’t see any bubbles. I’m at a loss for what could be causing this.

brewsmith

If it’s not leaking, how do you know it’s not pressuring? If you pull the pressure release valve does CO2 release? Or is no liquid coming out of the liquid out when you try to pour?

Broken-Crow

For me, the best way I've found to check a keg for leaks is to turn it on its side or right upside down... I found a bad poppet that showed itself immediately that way, and once a very fine hair under the lid o-ring that took a bit longer.
Are you sure it's the keg and not your lines? How slow/fast does it leak?

Djangotet

It is pressurized but it just won’t go over 20 psi even if I turn my co2 tank all the way on. It’s definitely got some pressure inside. I had a mini regulator and co2 tank which wasn’t working so I attached a larger co2 tank with a different regulator and that wouldn’t go above 20psi either. I’ve never had this problem before, the last 2 times I’ve kegged it easily went to 40 psi

balrog

Try a different line. If two different gauges stop at 20, I question the gauges (both) and the line leading to the keg.
Pulling the PRV on the keg releases pressure, yes?
And frankly, with enough agitation and time, 20 psi will easily quickly carb. You just have to rock the keg for a couple hours.
Try turning keg on side, with gas in on the bottom, connect to CO2, hear bubbles going in. Rock keg, you should hear more bubbles going in.
I still question the line though.

Djangotet

Yeah I think you are right. I had this cheap mini regulator that broke when I needed it. The only backup option I had was this co2 tank that I got off of OfferUp which I haven’t used yet. It’s possible both regulators are bad. I can’t afford to replace either atm and I was hoping to have beer for Christmas. I have it set to 15psi now and I was gonna let it sit there for the next few days hoping for the best because I don’t know what the pressure really is set to. Lines are brand new. When it comes to serving I’ll just turn it down till it doesn’t foam as much. I’m bummed because the beer tasted super good and I’ve never made a good beer so far.

balrog

Remember that simply turning down gas in does not solve foaming if foaming is from overcarbonation. Carbonation, or solution of CO2 into or out of solution (beer) is not instantaneous but like dissolving a giant spoonful of sugar crystals in a glass of cold iced tea, it can take a while.

hotbeer

Is the valve in the connection supposed to be opened mechanically when the connection is made? If so, maybe it's worn too much to open the valve and just the differential pressure is opening the valve.
But at some point the differential pressure wont be able to overcome the spring pressure in the valve. And it will close when the pressure in the tank gets to a certain differential between the supply line side and the tank side.
You might can check this by turning up the pressure from the CO2 tank and see if the keg responds with a similar increase of it's pressure.

IslandLizard

Carbonate at 20 psi, not 15. Rolling the (cold) keg for 5-10 minutes* under 20 psi will get you there 3-5 days quicker. It may be a tad overcarbonated, so you can blow some off over the next 2-3 days. Perfect for Christmas morning brunch!
* Keep the gas post pointing up, rocking/rolling the keg about 60° forth and back rather quickly. You can hear the gas streaming in while rolling, a medium frequency "hiss." Once you don't hear the gas not streaming in anymore, while rolling, you're getting close to it being done, 5-10 minutes in.

IslandLizard

A tank valve should always be turned all the way open when in use. Besides, that valve does not control pressure, anyway.
Can you post a picture of the tank and regulator, all connected?
How big are those tanks? Are they paintball tanks?

balrog

Why keep the gas post up, rather than down which would let the incoming CO2 bubble up through the beer?

hotbeer

I guess one of the important parts to this story is where are you measuring the keg pressure.

doug293cz

It takes a very large (i.e. easy to detect) leak to prevent pressure from increasing when using a properly functioning regulator, and a CO2 tank that still has some liquid in it. I suspect you either have a bad regulator, or an almost empty CO2 tank. You should be able to weigh the CO2 tank, and subtract the tare (empty) weight to determine how much CO2 is in the tank (this does require a scale accurate and precise to a tenth of a lb, or better.)
Brew on

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Djangotet

Yeah for sure, I’m almost positive that this entire batch will be ruined. I can’t afford a new regulator right now and I have no idea how much psi is actually inside the keg. If I’m lucky in a few days from now it will be either slightly under or over carbed. I’m not counting on this turning out well for me unfortunately.

SanPancho

its not necesssarily a lost cause. if you're saying you cant get it to 40, and wont go over 20, then you're actually in a decent spot. we can probably assume the regulator is somewhat reliable until it hits 20. so typical serving pressures - 12-15-16 psi are hopefully pretty "accurate" still.
go back and read what the lizard says. you can carb this to a pretty decent degree between now and xmas. he says 20, but personally i would go down to whatever pressure/temp combo gets you the co2 volumes you want. i would NOT go over that figure, by staying at that pressure you literally cannot overcarb it. personally i'd prefer it to be slightly undercarbed vs overcarbed in this situation, as overcarbed typically means foam.
you'll just do like noted above. get it as cold a possible. calculate the right pressure for your carb volume. gas it, and swirl/shake that bad boy. it works best if you've got some headspace for co2, i.e. the keg isnt filled to the brim. (sounds like you already poured some off) if you keep it damn cold, under pressure, and rock that sucker for a good 30 seconds at a time at least 5 or 6 times a day you'll get close enough for xmas.
just stop rocking it probably on the night of the 23rd, or at least by the 24th to try and let any yeast/hop gunk settle out.
EDIT: forgot to mention a good trick i got from someone here on HBT. make yourself a keg pressure test gauge. you need a gas QD with flare ends, a 1/4 female flare to 1/4 female npt adapter , and a pressure gauge. in this case its worth it to get one thats got a big dial for easy viewing, and i'd say 30psi max, which means its most accurate around 15psi, which is close to serving pressure. makes checking on keg pressure easy peasy. especially when your regulator is questionable.

Djangotet

Thanks!! I will give this a shot

IslandLizard

You could, although it's not really necessary, the rocking motion does most of the gas assimilation work (slushing on each return).
With a mostly filled keg the rocking will likely submerge the gas diptube for brief moments at the extreme positions anyway.
I've never had an issue, as long as you don't ever lower the pressure from the tank without doing the same for the keg, or you will get flow back into your regulator...  

balrog

Truly, that would be crossing the streams.

MikeCo

A nearly empty CO2 tank was my first thought when I read this.

Bobby_M

TLDR: If you can't get your regulator to put out more than 20psi, it has nothing to do with the keg and everything to do with the regulator. You can verify that by temporarily disconnecting the QD from the keg and seeing that the pressure still can't climb.

Odie

are you using the standard "grey" PRV? or a low PSI one, Red, Blue, Purple?
But I would say it's not your keg. either very low CO2 tank or regulator issue.
Are you using a dual gauge regulator? so you can monitor tank pressure?
If the keg will pressurize at all, then it will hold 100+ PSI.

Djangotet

It's definitely my regulator, I have a used CO2 tank. One of the dials is already broken so the second one must have gone out unfortunately. :/