S30 valve problem

[brewbrew]

I have a new (Chinese import) keg with a basic S30 valve in the top. The valve does not have a pressure relief provision because that is in the keg lid. I'm using it with a new HB S30 cylinder.

I have used S30 valves on plastic barrels before - no problem.

When I gas my new keg, there is a lot of spluttering and spitting (looks like small blobs of dry ice) that comes out on the outside of the lid.

As soon as I take the cylinder off, the gas just escapes from the hole in the centre of the valve (there is no pin there in case anyone thinks I might have the bulb version). There is no gas loss from the side of the valve where it is mounted to the stainless wall of the keg.

I changed the valve for a genuine HB S30 that I had on a plastic barrel that worked fine last month (with a different cylinder) - now this one leaks too.

The valve on the Chinese keg looks OK and rubber looks new.

I was wondering if I could have some water in my HB cylinder that is causing ice build up under the rubber (because it spits and splutters).

Having said that, I have tried putting my finger on the valve to stop gas escape and flooding it with warm water to melt any ice and it still leaks minutes later.

Any ideas?

Cheers

Brewbrew



I

[Kev888]

'Some' ice is quite common, due to the CO2 suddenly expanding and causing freezing as it leaves the high pressure cylinder (it doesn't imply water in the cylinder). If this gets bad enough, it can indeed prevent the valve's rubber seal working - it can also prevent the S30 cylinder's own valve sealing, so watch out you don't lose all the gas.

The build up of ice is usually quite modest when giving bursts of a second or so, with the cylinder inverted. With the new keg, are you perhaps injecting gas for longer than previously, and/or using the S30 cylinder at a different orientation?

Though.. it should still later seal when warmed up again. So either your warm water isn't melting the ice (which will be 'extremely' cold) or you may also have a leak. Could be worth checking the rubber didn't become damaged whilst frozen and brittle.