tightening the keg lid and replacing rubbers

[BIGTRACTOR]

hi, just thought i'd ask a couple questions to get it clear in my head , as i've had conflicting advice in the past. When tightening a king keg lid :

1) should i smear liberal ammounts of vaseline over the thread AND smear some over the O ring?

2) When tightening should i really give it some OOMPH and try to tighten as tight as i possibly can?

also, just how often should i replace the rubbers on the valve? I understand that the O ring is worth replacing every 3 or so brews but is it really necessary to replace the three valve rubbers as weltonhurst suggest? I've inspected them and the larger brown one on outside of valve has a very minor hole in it, but this didn't affect the pressure at all

[Jim]

I can only say what I do - I smear a very tiny amount of vaseline onto the o ring and wipe as much off as possible with a piece of kitchen roll. I put the lids on pretty tight (but not absolutely as tight as I can).

I did change an o ring once, because I thought I ought to, but basically I've used the same ones for at least 20 years! The CO2 valves are far more likely to leak than the o ring, I find.

[sparky Paul]

I would go with what Jim says, a coating of vaseline on the seal, and good hand tight should be fine...

If you grease the threads too, you will be able to tighten the cap further than necessary, risking splitting the cap, or even stripping the thread.

[SteveD]

Agree with above. I've never changed the o rings, and change the CO2 safety valve (large brown one on the outside) about once a year.

You need to grease the cap seal o-ring, and you can grease the thread, it makes the cap easier to remove, just don't overdo the tightening. Buy a cap spanner for about a fiver to make closing and opening the cap a breeze.

One thing..don't let any vaseline touch the beer. Don't grease the rim of the barrel....bound to go wrong, asking for trouble, so grease the cap & seal only and when you go to clean the barrel after use to make sure the vaseline is completely removed first or you'll catch it with your arm and transfer it inside.

...otherwise, next thing you'll be posting about is poor head retention!

[BIGTRACTOR]

many thanks chaps, thats cleared that one up. Not to go crazy with the tightening then! I must have read about changing the o ring wrong. I see our local hardware shop has a bag of all the valve rubbers for about £3.50.