Leaky Gas lines

[Dave Savoie]

It appears my leak problem has not been solved although I do know where the leak is coming from

the braided Vinyl lines I cant get the hose clamp tight enough to stop the leak

does anyone know of a better type of hose clamp other than the ones with the screw in the top kind I may go to a smaller ID hose probably will fix my problem but it just pi*&%^$& me off that yet again I have to fill my damn tank !!! Also I noticed when I took my Gas off from my Keg CO2 was leaking from the post where the lil pin thing is in the middle over all just a bad day I wanted to be able to drink my IPA this weekend but I guess not

[Jmac00]

What size ID tubing? what size barb? what end of the line? the regulator end or the QD end?

Also, maybe the hose clamp is too big? I've seen them leak before where the clamp was too big, but the more it tightened, it wouldn't be "round" anymore..but held..but not a very good tight seal...hard to explain.

"little pin thing" sounds like the poppet....you might have a bad one.

[Gil Breau]

Def sounds like a bad poppet.



The little spring?

[Jmac00]

the rubber on top of the poppet usually gets chewed up.

[Dave Savoie]

most likely when putting the poppet back in the post is any force needed or does it just rest there ?

[Jmac00]

When you put the poppet back in the post, its best to 'seat' the poppet as best you can....usually pinky finger will do. If you just throw it into the post and start screwing it to the keg, it will seat it that way..but you run the risk of damaging the poppet as its sideways until the post is tight. Those 3 feet on the bottom of the poppet basically grab inside the post holding them in place.

Another thing....when dissassembling kegs for cleaning...if you're doing multiple kegs at once..DO NOT throw all the small parts into one bucket, as you'll probably end up with posts and poppets not fitting the kegs properly as there's many different types of kegs. (cornelius, champion, firestone, etc, etc) My buddy did this to his 4 kegs....haven't worked right since.

Some vaseline or keg lube on the top of the poppet will help it seal if damaged...but if you're able to just leave your QD on it, then it shouldn't leak.

As for your gas line leaking? is it leaking at the regulator end or the QD end?

[Dave Savoie]

Leaking around the fitting on my manifold I cant get the hose clamps tight enough I may need to go with a smaller ID hose

[Richard]

if it's one of those bastard stupid screwdriver-tightened things, try taking a cup full of water as hot as you can get it, stick the hose end to be tightened in there for a little bit, then tighten it up whilst the thing is still a little supple.

[Jmac00]

smaller ID hose or bigger barb on the fitting that goes into your manifold...whichever is easier for you.

[Jmac00]

Also curious where everyone is getting their tanks filled?? Atlantic fire n safety i assume? or is there another place?

[Kyle]

go with Air Liquide, they have beverage grade CO2.

[Jmac00]

go with Air Liquide, they have beverage grade CO2.

yeah, but i don't think they fill on site do they? don't they send the tanks away? I'll have to check, i think one of my tanks is either praxair or air liquide..haven't used it yet.

[Dave Savoie]

Bottom line: CO2 is CO2. The only differences in the gas industry that
I know of are Medical Grade CO2 and Ultra High Purity CO2 for the
semiconductor industry. These two grades of gas are simply tested for
purity, but typically come from the same source that the
beverage/welding/industrial grade comes from. This is usually the case
with Argon, Nitrogen, and Oxygen as well. Industrial grade oxygen and
Medical grade oxygen cylinders both get filled from the same bulk liquid
tank. The grading is simply done as a test on the gas in the cylinder
to ensure its purity.

Typically, when a high grade of gas is required, one uses a cryogenic
tank, and pulls the vapor off the top of the tank, ensuring a very high
degree of purity. Unlike gases such as nitrogen and oxygen, CO2 is a
liquefied gas in the cylinder. When you use your CO2, you are getting
it from a liquid source -- very pure, unless your cylinder has become
contaminated by suck back from a bank, or some other problem (fairly
common...). I know of no "lubrication", or other such treatments to CO2
for beverage or fire extinguisher use, as one poster surmised. When a
distributor asks if it is for beverage, I would assume he is either
curious, or checking to make sure that it isn't for medical use, since
that is the only use that would require any type of certification.
There is noise that the FDA may eventually impose some sort of "food
grade" certification for CO2 used for food and beverage , but currently,
I can find no such requirement.

By the way, should such a "food grade" certification become required,
the cost of your CO2 would surely increase. However, since there is no
difference in the gas, just the certification, if you are not using the
gas in a commercial application, you can buy "welding grade" and do
whatever you d at #!m well please with it!! (Emphasis on the "not in a
commercial application"!!!) FDA regulates commercial applications, not
what you cook in your kitchen for your own family.

[JohnQ]

I'm using a praxair bottle right now, when I was living in the center of the universe I went to Cancarb and they traded my old steel bottle that I owned for an aluminum one, then when I moved here, I had a hard time finding someone who would fill up my customer owned bottle.
Praxair said they'd do it if I brought it down to the St. John filling plant. On my next Costco run, I made that my first stop.
Instead of filling my old one, he offered to trade it out, what the heck, now he needs to worry about certification every few years.
The price of filling here ($55) is outrageous compared to the center of the universe where I was paying $25 at Cancarb.  You can't even blame lack of competition, because they are the only ones in the GTA that do it on any scale.  All the praxair etc places just tell you to go to Cancarb.

Starting to wonder if this might be a place where we can look at trying to get a better price from one of the suppliers for a designation as our "preferred supplier"?  Someone could approach all the companies and ask for a quote and we'd endorse the best quote, then members would identify themselves for the discount.  Don't know if we have enough volume to command any respect yet, we'd need to poll and see how many pounds of consumption we're estimating...Just a thought.

JW

[Gil Breau]

Air liquide is where I got mine and the fill rate was about the same.

Its a "rental" deal though, pay the rental on the canister each year (which is about the same cost as filling it), just drop it off and get a new one whenever. It is food grade, which probably makes little difference but they have more sanitary guidelines than just filling it for welding.

Its a bit more pricey in the long run than getting it filled at praxair or the likes, but its all up to the individual.

But yeah 55-60 is about what it's gonna cost to refill...