S30 canister valve gas escaped?!

[lovelldr]

Hi. I have a s30 canister that I bought a few months back, and haven't really needed to use that often. Have probably used it abut 20-30 times max (at a high end guesstimate). Last time I used it (about 2-3 weeks ago now), worked fine, and just put it back afterwards (store it in the garage next to the barrels). Came to use it last night, and no air came out. Weird I thought, so unscrew, try again. Same problem. Look at the canister, and the valve part which I guess releases the co2 is loose. Hold it upside down and its pointing out, right way up, and it goes down into the canister. Got some pictures I'll try to upload to show (crap quality tho :p)

Any ideas why this will be? Could it be because of the cold in the garage? Any ideas greatly appreciated, as a bit miffed, as would've thought should last longer than that.

Many tia

[crafty john]

This has happened to me before, I just took it back to my LHBS and filled in a form and got a replacement free, the guy in the LHBS said it happens occasionally.

[The Dribbler]

Bummer, expensive gas to loose,

You should really test your bottle every time you use it for leaks afterwards. Tapping the valve or running the valve under hot tap water can reseat/stop the leak.

[gregorach]

Yeah, you always need to check that the valve has sealed properly after you use them - sometimes the valve freezes and the frost prevents it from sealing properly.

[Andy]

Ditto to the above, the valve pin often doesn't seat properly and needs a sharp tap to sort out. I always place the valve close to my ear to listen for gas leaking after using them.

[lovelldr]

Well I didn't see anything wrong with it after its last used it, and did give it a quick inspection... Going to the shop after work, will see what they say...

[Andy]

The only indication that the valve hasn't sealed properly can be just a slight hiss of escaping gas. So it's easy to miss.