S30 Cylinder Problems

[suttonbrewer]

Has anyone else been experiencing problems with S30 gas cylinders?
The last two I bought have had problems with sealing on the valve. Despite replacing all the rubbers on three different valves, gas was pouring out between the rubber o ring on the valves and the threads on the cylinder every time the cylinder was screwed on and no gas was entering the barrel. I got round the problem by wrapping PTFE tape around the nozzle surrounding the pin on the cylinder. On both of the cylinders the brass valve assembly looks new.

[Moulview]

I have been having the same problem, 2 out of 3 barrels developed a leak. I thought that the valve was to blame on both of them but it turned out that one of them was the barrel seal. I am going to replace all the seals when the barrel is next empty. The good news is that I haven't lost a brew yet. I use a midget widget system and re-gassing whenever the flow from the barrel gets low keeps the beer fresh. By giving the barrel a squirt of gas before taking the cap off the beer you can make sure that the beer has CO2 over the top to give it a bit of protection. I'm using the Young's / Ritchie pressure barrels and I am finding that I have to replace the 2" seals every 3 or 4 brews. I also leveled the the top edge of the barrel with some glass paper on a flat board. I found a thread elsewhere that said the way to get the seals on is to soak them in hot water. I presume that you then twist the top one down the thread until it sits on the section with a groove and the pressure release hole?

[Eric]

Yes, I had exactly the same problem with my last bottle and lost a lot of gas. Like you I needed to narrow the gap by inserting tape. The only obvious visual difference was the tape seal on the gas bottle valve was white rather than the usual red.

[suttonbrewer]

I have just looked, and the tape seal on my last two cylinders that I have had the problem with are white. I wonder if the diameter of the nozzle has been reduced on these ones?

[DEV]

Yeah, same problem, tape colour on mine is yellow instead of the usual red. hav,nt tried ptfe yet.

[boingy]

I'm wondering if they are now being manufactured by a different company. The cylinders have been in decline for years now. I can imagine a move to reduce the costs by re-engineering them or by changing supplier/manufacturer. It's only a guess...

[alethos738]

Just exchanged a cylinder and I am having the same problem. First on a kingkeg with an original s30 with no pin insert and was able to get some gas in but most came out around the valve thread. Then on two valves of the type with the reversible pin insert (no pin visible) and all the gas escaped around the thread. The cylinder to valve fit seems very sloppy so i tried ptfe tape around the valve thread but this was mostly unsuccessful. I found that if i kept the cylinder vertical and screwed it down slowly I could occasionally get gas in. Hambleton Bard have a new all stainless steel valve so is it possible that tolerances have been slackened to allow for this. What ever the case i am very unhappy with them. Has anybody contacted Hambleton Bard about this. I am going to try returning the cylinder to the HBS and get the dealers involved. BTW the cylinder has a yellow seal.

[alethos738]

Update: The HBS (Butterworths Bury St Edmunds) were very obliging and replaced my cylinder. When I got home I tried it on both valve types and success both times, so the problem for me is solved. Hambleton Bard however have some work to do. This cylinder seal is red; is it significant?

[suttonbrewer]

I have solved the problem by cutting a roughly 1mm length of syphon tubing with a scalpel which I then pushed in the top of the valve body. I then screwed on the cylinder which pushed the piece of syphon tube to the bottom of the valve. The cylinder now seals itself against this piece of syphon tube rather than the rubber o ring. Hey Presto no more leaking gas.
Shouldn't have to do all this though.