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Carbonated Water Keg

3,020 Views | 9 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by Tx-Ag2010
kbw01
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AG
I bought kegging stuff refill sodastream CO2 tanks and eventually get back into home brewing. So far it has been a complete failure and I am hoping someone can help.

My first shot at force carbonating my torpedo keg went poorly. I chilled the full keg minus head space in the fridge for two days. Then I hooked up the CO2 with regulator and ball lock to the keg. I force carbonated for 30 minutes shaking regularly at 40psi and then dropped back to 20 PSI and let it sit overnight to absorb. I came back and it was completely flat in the morning and the tank was empty. I do not know what happened. I did not use any keg lube on the lid. I found a leak on the CO2 line from the regulator to the ball lock later on. I had a picnic tap connected with a ball lock going out, should I have left that disconnected when not in use? Any ideas would be helpful
Kyle
bmc13
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just sounds like a leak issue. fix the leaks and you should be fine to keep it connected all the time. Once everything is carbed though I do tend to turn off the CO2 tank valve when not in use just to be safe.
Shaggie 05
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I keep one tap on my keezer reserved for sparkling water. I fill the keg, hook up CO2 at 20psi and just let sit for a couple/few days to carb up. Works great. I've really enjoyed that option as I love sparkling water, and was getting tired of paying for so much of it. Only complaint is that sometimes I go through it too quick.

I do use my 3 gallon keg instead of 5 just to keep the extra co2 from sitting in there, maybe dumb, but haven't seemed to tear through the co2 like I was worried about.
fav13andac1)c
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A small leak will cause the issues you've described. Bummer about the empty tank. What size tank and keg?

I love sparkling water on tap. I use food grade essential oil, filtered water, and a little citric acid to liven it up. Same ingredients in Topo Chico.
Shaggie 05
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What kind of measurements and of what specifically are you using? I've liked the carbonation level enough to not miss Topo, but wouldn't mind adjusting the flavor just a little, even though I've enjoyed just using straight spring water.
fav13andac1)c
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AG
5 gallons filtered water
25-30 drops lime essential oil (Young Living is what I've used. Just use a reputable brand that your wife knows.)
10-12 grams citric acid dissolved in a quart of the 5 gallons of water used, then added back to the keg.

30 psi until you find the fizz level you want.

This is where I got the recipe. I just added citric acid based on the back of the topo chico bottle. https://blog.kegoutlet.com/how-to-make-homemade-flavored-sparkling-water-with-essential-oils/
Shaggie 05
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AG
Nice thanks. I've just been using the soda stream water flavor drops after getting water from keg, to keep from flavoring a full keg at a time, but may try this out.
62strat
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I blow through my 20lb tank all the time. With 8 kegs in my keezer, I have always something loose lol.
Luckily the weed shop by work exchanges 20lb tank for $6, so I'm only blowing ~$20 a year vs like $200 when I had my 5lb tank that cost $20 to fill.
62strat
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AG
Quote:

I do not know what happened. I did not use any keg lube on the lid. I found a leak on the CO2 line from the regulator to the ball lock later on.
It sounds like you do know what happened... you found a leak, no?
A leak will cause your tank to empty in as quickly as a few hours depending on how bad leak is.

Some leaks are super slow and will empty a tank over a week or more.
kbw01
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Thanks folks. I will try again. I was trying to fill soda stream bottles off a 2.5lb bottle and was only just wasn't getting more than 5 bottles of water out of my attempts. I upgraded to a 20lb tank and will see if that pushes the bottle full better. I will also try to keg water. I really want the soda stream or paintball bottle fills to work because I cannot fit two kegs in my second fridge
Kyle
Tx-Ag2010
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kbw01 said:

Thanks folks. I will try again. I was trying to fill soda stream bottles off a 2.5lb bottle and was only just wasn't getting more than 5 bottles of water out of my attempts. I upgraded to a 20lb tank and will see if that pushes the bottle full better. I will also try to keg water. I really want the soda stream or paintball bottle fills to work because I cannot fit two kegs in my second fridge
If you are serious about making seltzer I would get a sparger lid for your keg. This cuts your carbonation time from several days to overnight. I go through about 15 gallons a week an so cant afford to wait multiple days to force carbonate without the sparger.

I built a kegerator of sorts from a 7 cuft freezer with two 5 gallon corny kegs and a 20# CO2 tank that way I always have carbonated water ready to go. I had a number of leaks when I first started until I put a manifold system on that could isolate each keg when they weren't in use. Another suggestion is to buy silicone orings, they seal much better at lower temps than the cheap buna rings that typically come with the kegs.

Also, get a good tap. The picnic taps are notoriously leaky.

I run mine at 60-80psi, but I do like it extra bubbly.



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