King Keg Top Tap Leaking?

[redskinweasel]

Hi,

Just noticed that my King Keg top tap is leaking just below the tap. Bit of a pain really coz the beer (coopers bitter) is now in the keg and has been for 3 days(ish) to condition in the warm before I move to the garage tonight as it is cooler there (where it will live for 3 weeks - if I have the will power).

I have a couple of questions though re how I should approach this one:

Firstly will my beer be OK at the moment as I'm assuming if beer is leaking then so is the CO2 produced by the priming sugars?

Secondly should I draw off the beer to below the tap level and crack off the top so I can tighten the tap from the inside or is that too risky from an infection point of view?

Thirdly, should I do nowt? If I do nothing, beer will stop leaking once it has gone below the level of the tap. However as CO2 will probably also be leaking will I end up with about 35pints of undrinkable p*ss?



Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated as apart from the tap situation, this is potentially my first successful brew after a failed wherry


Cheers

[Ditch]

Wherry and Top Taps; Two things I avoid like the plague!

Sanitise ye hands, up to the elbows, and get in there. How much above the tap is the beer? Could ye maybe lean the keg back and support it thus? Either way, make haste slowly. Don't go panicking and rushing the job. Do that and ye may over tighten and crack something made of plastic. Don't squash the rubber ring out of all rubberyness either.

Once ye done, a split second shot of gas from the bottle should take care of the beer, whilst testing ye handy work. Especially the pressure relief valve

[redskinweasel]

Cheers Ditch,

The level of the beer is about half way down the tap now. It's not leaking fast - I reckon I've lost about 1ltr in 3 days.

Agree with you totally on Wherry, not using anything but Coopers kits with either Nottingham or Safale yeast from now on. Also, not overly impressed with the top tap either. Which keg would you recommend? Do you use bottom tap King Keg or a budget keg?

Re tightening the tap are you saying hand tighten only and don't use a spanner for fear of breaking something?



Cheers

[Ditch]

Christ, yes! Don't Ever take a spanner to a plastic fitting, mate! Just hand tighten. And don't try to show it how strong ye are either. That's how people squash their grommets all out of place.

Anyway; Kegs? I just use Budget Kegs now. I've been through much of the other stuff and just don't see it as worth the expense and drama. After all, I only want something to hold my beer, then let my beer out according to my requirements. BK's suit me.

I'd like bottom taped 's. If only for the big necks. But what the hell; I get along fine as it is. And I can afford a lot more BK's for my hard earned

Regards the yeast? Nothing wrong with Coopers own as it is. I like SafAle myself. But I only used that a couple of times ~ on recommendation ~ when I was making other than Coopers!

[redskinweasel]

Hey Ditch,

Just been sortin the tap out. Unfortunately it looks like the rubber must be on the way out as I've tightened it up but it still leaks just the same.

Put a blast of CO2 in after as advised and then drew a pint off as I couldn't resist.


Can't believe it, it looks and tastes like beer already and I'm only on day 3 of conditioning. Can't wait to taste after a couple of weeks.

Think I'm just gonna leave the keg alone now and see what happens as i don't wanna risk infecting the batch by tinkering too much.


Cheers for the advice!

[mickhew]

If it continues to leak, consider the valve to be at fault. I know you are using a King Keg, but on a budget one, I had a problem with the valve, not letting out excess CO2, so the pressure built up too much, and found the weakest point, the tap seal. Might not be the case here, but thought I'd throw it in !
Presume you also use Vaseline on the seals ?

[redskinweasel]

Cheers Mick,

Think you might be right here.

Last night after I tinkered with the kg, I gave it a shot of CO2 to provide a protective blanket and it was then that it started leaking again. Plus, I've never noticed the valve letting gas out.

Is it worth me letting out gas manually on a daily basis to prevent explosion of the keg or is this not a risk?

Re seals, vaseline was applied to the O-ring.


Cheers

[Ditch]

RSW; When the seal fails like that, it's often as not simply that the 'rubber band' has 'sweated' and stuck to the metal, sealing the hole.

Simple enough. Just get something small, round and blunt tipped (ye'll know what, when ye find it) and gently push it down between rubber and brass. Then, once ye get a bit of rubber band safely up, work it away from the valve, going round the valve till ye hear the gas hiss out. That small action of itself should free the seal and ye should have little more problem.

Obviously though; ye'll want to pick up a fresh, new rubber band, next time ye visit ye LHBS. Those seals ~ like any sort of rubber bands ~ are prone to perishing under certain conditions.

[redskinweasel]

Cheers Ditch,

Did what you said and it seems to have worked but I'll check again in the mornin.


Thanks for the advice!