Zero reading on keged beer

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APINTA

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Hi back again for advice I have just finished a Directors beer took a small glass out of the keg very nice and clear and tasted it very good. I wanted to take a pressure reading so got the pressure meter which is a Shrider valve it gave out a reading of 00. So I put in a gas capsule waited a few minutes but Nothing still 00 The beer look fine but concerned of what the meter was showing. When I followed the intrusions on here about keging it told me to just tighten the 4" cap hand tight is that correct or should I tighten more than that I was given a spanner with the keg by the way. Just to add on both my kegs I do not get loads of froth on them where before I tighten them as much as I could then that is When I got a lot more froth. My main concern is the beer going off if the is no pressure on the valve? Thanks
 
When you say kegging do you mean pressure barrel?
Did you put vasaline on the seal and were any damaged from previously over tightening?
Does your beer come out of the bottom tap without issues i.e. gurgling or very slow?
 
If there's a leak you should have been able to hear it when you put the CO2 in. Is there a possibility that your valve for measuring pressure isn't working as intended - have you tested it and got a positive reading before now? As suggested - try to draw some beer, you might still have pressure in there.

Hand tight should be OK, although with my barrel I still got a small leak from around the seal after a few uses so had to buy a spanner to tighten it futher.
 
Yes It is a pressure barrel one of ballhoos I have there own make of sealant but I did not put any on this time.should I do it every time I make beer? Should I also undo the caps put sealant on them put them back on and put gas into both the kegs.On the beer coming out it comes ok but not much head on the beer should I tighten the lids more? On the tap front one has a float in the keg which the tap is high on the keg the other one is at the bottom of the keg
 
UPDATE Yesterday I looked at my keg still reading 00 so I put a Gas Bulb in and took a pressure reading straight after where I had a reading of 3.0 Great I thought but after a hour or so I went back to test it it was 00 again.So i am at a loss why this is as I put sealant round the cap and tap and I can not here any gas escaping and it is not the meter should I put more than bulb in the keg?
 
I'd stick 2 bulbs in there and take some readings every 10mins to determine the rate of decline. With the higher pressure you stand a better chance of hearing the leak. Soapy suds around the outside can also help identify a leak, but do it as soon as you've pressurised it.

I've never had to use any sort of sealant with kegs and you shouldn't have to either. Chances are it's an over or under-tightened lid, tap or valve leak, or a small pinhole leak in the leg (unlikely if it's new). My bet would be on the lid.
 
Sometimes pressure barrels can develop a split in a seam. Had one of those, also another that cracked around the top. Both were fairly invisible - the cracked seam I detected by wiping some soapy water over the barrel and finding bubbles blowing out at one place.
 
I'd stick 2 bulbs in there and take some readings every 10mins to determine the rate of decline. With the higher pressure you stand a better chance of hearing the leak. Soapy suds around the outside can also help identify a leak, but do it as soon as you've pressurised it.

I've never had to use any sort of sealant with kegs and you shouldn't have to either. Chances are it's an over or under-tightened lid, tap or valve leak, or a small pinhole leak in the leg (unlikely if it's new). My bet would be on the lid.

How tight should the lid be some say Hand Tight others say tighter I know I got this spanner with the lid so should it be tighter?
 
Update I put in a gas bulb into my Ballyhoo keg took a reading with meter it read 4.0 10 min later done a other reading it read 00 so where had my pressure gone I checked everything no leaks or anything we could hear . So rang Ballyhoo spoke to a woman called Raquel she said it that the gas has gone into the beer and as long as I am getting beer out Ok not to worry about it and only put a gas bulb when it comes out like trickle. So could she be right in that? the only other thing I can think of is when I first got this keg I did over tighted it quite a bit because I thought you had to as I got this big spanner to tighten the cap and that is why I used to get very frothy beer. Could I have damaged the seal in the lid?and that why I am not getting a reading or I am losing it after 10min
 
So rang Ballyhoo spoke to a woman called Raquel she said it that the gas has gone into the beer and as long as I am getting beer out Ok not to worry about it and only put a gas bulb when it comes out like trickle. So could she be right in that?

No.

But I don't understand why you can't hear a hiss from somewhere given the rate it's going down.

Try flipping the lid seal and tightening it up again, just a good hand tightness. Put a bit of vaseline on the seal as well. You can buy replacement lid gaskets as they do get damaged / wear out.
 
I Have sealer that came with the Keg would that be OK to use I will do the other thing you said as well I have a spare set seals
 
I use pressure barrels a lot, I haven't any ballihoo ones but I find that the 4" cap ones more often than not, leak around the thread. I counteract this by wrapping lots of ptfe tape around the thread (as much as you can and still be able to screw the lid on all the way). This works like a charm for me, also make sure not to overtighten the lid so the seal deforms.
 
Others have suggested you try soapy water following pressurisation.
It works. :thumb:
Have you done that?

Did have a go could not see anything but will give it a other go as I might have done it wrong by putting to much washing up liquid in the mixture. But I think I might of damaged the lid in the past as I think I dd over tightened the lid I do have some seals which I got with the unit so I will replace all of them and see what happens. When I tried a gas bulb this morning it seemed to take a long time going in to the Keg
 
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