Faulty regulator?

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Onthebrew

Faulty regulator?

Post by Onthebrew » Sun Nov 19, 2017 3:43 pm

After connecting regulator to gas supply and the keg it starts of ok, showing gas full and psi of 12, but after half an hour both dials have dropped to zero despite there being plenty of gas in canister?

Any ideas anyone?

Fil
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Re: Faulty regulator?

Post by Fil » Mon Nov 20, 2017 2:46 am

you sure the bottles full?? the empty bottle weight should be stamped on the bottle somewhere? both gauges reading 0 sounds off ??

IMHO they are not really user serviceable due to the glue/thread sealer employed..tho my experience is limited to needing a 4ft lever to budge the gas supply hose i needed to replace on one reg.

If using corny kegs with prvs you can use a basic welders reg just get one with an output gauge showing psi and not flow rate ;)
ist update for months n months..
Fermnting: not a lot..
Conditioning: nowt
Maturing: Challenger smash, and a kit lager
Drinking: dry one minikeg left in the store
Coming Soon Lots planned for the near future nowt for the immediate :(

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Kev888
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Re: Faulty regulator?

Post by Kev888 » Mon Nov 20, 2017 11:17 am

Are you turning off the gas at the cylinder? If so, then the pressure on the dials will drop as the beer absorbs CO2; this is common - only when the beer has reached equilibrium (for the pressure and temperature it is at) should the pressure remain stable after turning off the cylinder.

If you are NOT turning off the cylinder, then something is wrong; the high pressure gauge in particular should not drop to zero with the cylinder turned on. If it does then either the cylinder is empty or there is some blockage/connection-problem between cylinder and regulator. (Technically it could also be leaking so much gas so quickly that pressure can't build, but you would be 'very' aware if it were doing that!)
Kev

Onthebrew

Re: Faulty regulator?

Post by Onthebrew » Mon Nov 20, 2017 12:06 pm

It’s a new canister ( soda stream). The previous one was left attached to regultor between brews and seemed to empty so suspected a small leak but could it be via the regulator? I I set the second one up at it was ok for half an hour or so then everything dropped to zero. This had happened before with the previous canister but once I took it apart and put it back together it worked fine and kept pressure,

However this time when after I turned the regulator off and removed from keg I was met with a Big Bang when removing sodastream canister. That gas was trapped somewhere, maybe under pressure between regulator and canister?

There is no control on sodastream bottles so switched on and off via regulator. The regulator is the standard duel gauge one from brew uk.

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Kev888
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Re: Faulty regulator?

Post by Kev888 » Mon Nov 20, 2017 12:45 pm

Onthebrew wrote:
Mon Nov 20, 2017 12:06 pm
I was met with a Big Bang when removing sodastream canister. That gas was trapped somewhere, maybe under pressure between regulator and canister?
That may suggest some high pressure gas was present, but if so it is odd that the high pressure gauge wasn't showing it. I'd guess either you are right that the gas isn't making it into the regulator or else that the bang was just from residual low pressure gas (and the rest had leaked away).

Unfortunately I've no first hand experience with soda-stream cylinders or how they couple, so can't really help much here. Hopefully someone else can.
Kev

Onthebrew

Re: Faulty regulator?

Post by Onthebrew » Mon Nov 20, 2017 2:03 pm

cheers Kev.

Fil
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Re: Faulty regulator?

Post by Fil » Mon Nov 20, 2017 8:37 pm

There was a great resource for everything co2 related hosted by a bunch of paintballers known as 'team onslaught'. Unfortunately the web site has died and they have moved to facebook which i dont subscribe to. but i suspect they will have moved the information there too?? they had info on connecting every co2 bottle to everything safely its a bookmark i will sorely miss. if the information isnt available as a lookup recource im pretty sure someone there will be able to signpost you better.
ist update for months n months..
Fermnting: not a lot..
Conditioning: nowt
Maturing: Challenger smash, and a kit lager
Drinking: dry one minikeg left in the store
Coming Soon Lots planned for the near future nowt for the immediate :(

Onthebrew

Re: Faulty regulator?

Post by Onthebrew » Tue Nov 21, 2017 2:24 pm

shame, i am not on facebook either! sounds like a good reference source though. i am considering stepping up to using regular canisters, only concern i have is that what damage could they do with a faulty regulator, given the loud bang the little sodastream bottle made.

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Re: Faulty regulator?

Post by sbond10 » Tue Nov 21, 2017 8:38 pm

We have large o2 bottles in the ambulance (2400litres) and some times we forget to de pressurize the line and it makes a loud bang and some times the line will whip backwards theses have inbuilt regs so its not a solid lump of metal just a braided pipe with a s/s barb on.it coming at you if it does whip. I imagine if your just screwing the bottle into a cap with ypur hands then the worst it will do is spin and pop out your hands. Its not like your smashing the entire valve off and dumping the entire contents in one hit like they dod on mythbusters.

Tho these are my own personal thoughts and finding s and if it does blow your hand or face off i wont be held accoutable

Onthebrew

Re: Faulty regulator?

Post by Onthebrew » Wed Nov 22, 2017 2:39 am

Haha, most reassuring! Probably gonna risk it though! 6 kg seem to be the preferred option?

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Kev888
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Re: Faulty regulator?

Post by Kev888 » Wed Nov 22, 2017 11:11 am

6kg (or a tad more) is a standard size for pubs etc so is quite common, and often most economic for refills. But there are smaller options too, for instance some fire extingisher people will supply cylinders which are common sizes in their trade. The ~6kg cylinders are fairly large/tall and weighty so don't suit everyone.

A lot comes down to what you can get locally too, especially since many suppliers will only refill/swap their own cylinders. I've been quite lucky with a local hydroponics place that only charge a deposit on the cylinder. Some may charge rental which can be less cost effective at our modest rate of use, but not necessarily a deal breaker since the gas is usually quite cheap. I think the newer "60L" soda-stream cylinder refills are around £12 for 410g of gas(?), whereas I pay about £24 for a 6.35kg swap/refill, which is a fraction of the price per gram.

With these larger ones, safety is a bit more important - they're just like having largish CO2 fire extinguishers so nothing terrible, but IMO worth briefly considering. They are fairly heavy, and should they topple they can apparently break off the regulator and turn into heavy steel rockets, so just strapping them to a wall or something can be prudent. If they are kept in a small inhabited room then ventilation may be important in case all the gas were to leak out in short order. Best not to leave in (say) a hot car or conservatory in summer too. Just obvious stuff, really.

Of course if your regulator is broken then swapping the cylinder won't help. But I've not heard of what you're experiencing before, so it seems at least likely to be due to the sodastream adaptor/coupler or something of that kind. If unsure, it may also be worth checking that your regulator has a standard CO2 cylinder thread - there are different ones (e.g.) for small disposable gas canisters, US paintballing devices and so on.
Kev

Onthebrew

Re: Faulty regulator?

Post by Onthebrew » Wed Nov 22, 2017 12:42 pm

Ok cheers, I’ve sent the regulator and adaptor back for the store to check. Think I would be more comfortable with a 2kg one. Seen one on geterbrewed, buts it’s finding somewhere to refill it. I can get a 6 kg one from a local fire supply store but would be more comfortable with 2kg for the reasons you outline above.

Fil
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Re: Faulty regulator?

Post by Fil » Wed Nov 22, 2017 5:44 pm

check out local aquarium shops, we have one which stocks iirc 500g ,1kg, 2kg bottles of co2 with a standard valve for attaching a standard thread regulator. They are NOT cheap, one was £65 thing it was 1 or 2kg?? I was stood waiting for 50l of free ro water feeling the gaze of the staff behind the till looking for anything of interest to a brewer to buy as a token gesture as i was walking out with 2x 25l jerrycans gratis ;)

Buying from such a store will provide access to refills and an easy route to bottle re-certification which will become your responsibility after buying the bottle. As I use a bottle i exchange that remains the property of the supplier i dont have to worry about that sort of thing but when you own your co2 container it will need certifying as safe every few years 5? and legit co2 re fillers wont touch it without the cert.. however your local welder with a huge bottle will probably still fill it ;)
ist update for months n months..
Fermnting: not a lot..
Conditioning: nowt
Maturing: Challenger smash, and a kit lager
Drinking: dry one minikeg left in the store
Coming Soon Lots planned for the near future nowt for the immediate :(

Onthebrew

Re: Faulty regulator?

Post by Onthebrew » Wed Nov 22, 2017 11:50 pm

Cheers fil, will look into it

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