Pressure leaking from my King Keg valves.

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JohnF
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Re: Pressure leaking from my King Keg valves.

Post by JohnF » Mon Oct 29, 2018 10:13 am

Jim. I only use the 8g bulbs so are they likely to cause the ice crystal problem?
Thanks

RobP
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Re: Pressure leaking from my King Keg valves.

Post by RobP » Mon Oct 29, 2018 11:12 am

I have endless problems with these valves too, I wish someone would come up with something that works better.

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Jim
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Re: Pressure leaking from my King Keg valves.

Post by Jim » Mon Oct 29, 2018 1:15 pm

JohnF wrote:
Mon Oct 29, 2018 10:13 am
Jim. I only use the 8g bulbs so are they likely to cause the ice crystal problem?
Thanks
I haven't used those small bulbs for donkey's years, but with the old sparklets sodastream bottles, anything more than a 2 or 3 second burst could cause problems.
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JohnF
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Re: Pressure leaking from my King Keg valves.

Post by JohnF » Mon Oct 29, 2018 2:42 pm

I am glad I am not alone RobP.
The 8g bulbs probably give a 3 or 5 second burst at least but there is noway to control it of course. Thank you Jim.

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Re: Pressure leaking from my King Keg valves.

Post by Kingfisher4 » Mon Oct 29, 2018 3:03 pm

Jim wrote:
Mon Oct 29, 2018 10:02 am
You probably know this, but as no one's mentioned it yet; if you inject a long burst of gas in one go into those valves you can get ice crystals forming inside which can cause leakage. Just a thought.
I certainly hadn’t come across that tip Jim, very useful and logical, I will try my King keg again soon.
I was put off my disastrous first attempt when it almost spoilt a 25 L batch of beer due to a combination of problems !

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Eric
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Re: Pressure leaking from my King Keg valves.

Post by Eric » Mon Oct 29, 2018 3:10 pm

JohnF wrote:
Mon Oct 29, 2018 2:42 pm
I am glad I am not alone RobP.
The 8g bulbs probably give a 3 or 5 second burst at least but there is noway to control it of course. Thank you Jim.
Yes, Jim has almost certainly put his finger on your problem. I've never used bulbs, but Hambleton Bard bottles instead. Except when starting with plastic pressure barrels or given a faulty bottle, replacements are once a year before Christmas. Most CO2 should come from the beer as it conditions which I find can last 2 or 3 months and sometimes more provided beer isn't drawn at a great rate. Just the odd burst is all that is generally needed under normal circumstances and a proper seal is made when each barrel is filled.

My oldest barrels date back to the eighties and two are currently in use, as are at least 2 smaller ones that I think were discontinued in the nineties. Several seals will have been replaced in that time as part of routine maintenance. Such costs are low, but thinking about it, if I had been giving mine several second bursts of CO2 instead of the more usual quick tweak I would likely have had many more problems.
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Re: Pressure leaking from my King Keg valves.

Post by JohnF » Mon Oct 29, 2018 3:45 pm

Eric
I have ordered 2x Hambleton Bard S30 pin valves and a pack of 10 8g co2 bulbs so will see how I get on with those.
What bottles do you use where you can control the co2 output from the bottle?
Thanks

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Re: Pressure leaking from my King Keg valves.

Post by guypettigrew » Mon Oct 29, 2018 3:48 pm

Yup, looks like Jim may have identified the problem. Using the larger cylinders it's possible to give the keg a very short burst of gas. I've never used the bulbs, so hadn't realised you have to use them all in one go.

As Eric says, with the beer conditioning in the keg there's really very little need for an injection of gas. I have two of the larger cylinders and never need to get replacements more than once a year. At about £6 for a replacement cylinder it's no real cost.

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Re: Pressure leaking from my King Keg valves.

Post by guypettigrew » Mon Oct 29, 2018 3:52 pm

JohnF wrote:
Mon Oct 29, 2018 3:45 pm
Eric
I have ordered 2x Hambleton Bard S30 pin valves and a pack of 10 8g co2 bulbs so will see how I get on with those.
What bottles do you use where you can control the co2 output from the bottle?
Thanks
With the larger 240g cylinders you just tighten the cylinder onto the thread on the S30 valves and the gas comes out. Unscrew it and it stops. Very short <1 second bursts are easy to achieve.

Has to be the valves without the pin, though. Which is the attraction of the new stainless steel ones. They can be set up for either the bulbs or the cylinders.

Guy

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Re: Pressure leaking from my King Keg valves.

Post by JohnF » Mon Oct 29, 2018 3:57 pm

The 240g cylinders sound a better proposition. Wish I had heard about them before. The shop told me they cannot send them through the post and there are few brewing shops in Cornwall. :(

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Eric
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Re: Pressure leaking from my King Keg valves.

Post by Eric » Mon Oct 29, 2018 3:58 pm

JohnF wrote:
Mon Oct 29, 2018 3:45 pm
Eric
I have ordered 2x Hambleton Bard S30 pin valves and a pack of 10 8g co2 bulbs so will see how I get on with those.
What bottles do you use where you can control the co2 output from the bottle?
Thanks
Isn't that the opposite to what I wrote and suggested?

This is what they look like, available from virtually every high street homebrew shop, postage is the killer for cost with these.

The valve is opperated by a simple plunger] that is compressed to open as the bottle is screwed onto the valve. Gas flows until the bottle is unscrewed when the internal pressure slams the plunger back.

Image

The plunger engages where the needle is on the other type of valve.
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Re: Pressure leaking from my King Keg valves.

Post by JohnF » Mon Oct 29, 2018 4:03 pm

Oh b****r. I will have to see how they do and will do what you say Eric if they do not work.

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Re: Pressure leaking from my King Keg valves.

Post by Dave S » Mon Oct 29, 2018 4:06 pm

RobP wrote:
Mon Oct 29, 2018 11:12 am
I have endless problems with these valves too, I wish someone would come up with something that works better.
I'm in the process of replacing mine with gas-in posts because the Hambleton Bard ones are such a pain. The rubber seals are like the old Christmas Tree lights where every year you put them away working, then when you get them out the following year at least one has blown. Of course to use the gas-in posts you need disconnects, probably a larger cylinder, (5kg or thereabouts) and a pressure gauge system.
Best wishes

Dave

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Re: Pressure leaking from my King Keg valves.

Post by guypettigrew » Mon Oct 29, 2018 4:19 pm

JohnF wrote:
Mon Oct 29, 2018 4:03 pm
Oh b****r. I will have to see how they do and will do what you say Eric if they do not work.
Any chance you can call the place you got the valves from before they are posted and ask them to swap them for the SS ones with the removeable pins?

Guy

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Re: Pressure leaking from my King Keg valves.

Post by RobP » Mon Oct 29, 2018 6:36 pm

JohnF wrote:
Mon Oct 29, 2018 3:57 pm
The 240g cylinders sound a better proposition. Wish I had heard about them before. The shop told me they cannot send them through the post and there are few brewing shops in Cornwall. :(
I live on the Outer Hebrides, so no chance for me, 8g bulbs not allowed in post either.

I use Sodastream bottles, which are readily available from Tesco, Argos, etc
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8358369
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8358345

with one of these...
https://www.co2supermarket.co.uk/sodast ... -p498.html

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