Gas reg help

I've connected my brand new Angel homebrew gas reg to a brand new (delivered today, sealed) CO2 bottle. I've then connected the corny as shown. I've turned on the gas on the bottle, and the dial showing how much is left in the bottle jumped to 600psi, but no matter what I do, turning the knob in the regulator makes no difference, no gas seems to be going into the corny and the secondary dial just sits at 0.

As my ideas folks? If I turn the bottle off, and pull the little ring thingie, which I understand should release pressure in the line between the corny disconnect, nothing is released suggesting that it isn't being pressurised.

Does pulling the prv on the regulator release any gas?

Just a thought is there a plug in the cylinder were the reg screws in, I don't use gas but just a thought

600 psi is very low for a full cy;linder! It should read about 800 psi. It will stay at 800psi until all the liquid CO2 has turned into gas and then drop very quickly as you will just be draining off the cylinder of gas.

When you turn the regulator it is probably very easy to turn then gets tight. When it is easy to turn it is not actually doing anything, you will probably have to use some force to open the regulator, it will then start pressuring the outlet.

xozzx said:

When it is easy to turn it is not actually doing anything, you will probably have to use some force to open the regulator, it will then start pressuring the outlet.

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Yep, this is exactly what was happening! I was worried about forcing it, but a bit more welly and I've now got a keg pressurised to 15psi! Cheers folks.

There are 2 weird thing here 1 you are only getting 600 psi from a full cylinder and 2 it's not releasing any co2 to the second gauge which it should even if there's only 600 psi left. My only guess which is likely wrong is that liquid co2 has made it into the regulator and frozen blocking any more flowing anywhere. If this is the case it may resolve itself as it warms up.

I didn't have the regulator turned in enough, Simon, it's fine now.

No idea about the low indicated primary psi - it has gone up a bit, but not much. I'll keep an eye on it.

jjsh said:

I didn't have the regulator turned in enough, Simon, it's fine now.

No idea about the low indicated primary psi - it has gone up a bit, but not much. I'll keep an eye on it.

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Mine fluctuates a fair bit depending on the temperature of the canister.

The reason my reply was 10 mins after you fixed it was I looked at mine and was only at 600 psi so I checked my other one also only 600 so I pulled the prv and it dropped to 500 so it looks like I need 2 replacements asap. Hence I posted 10 mins after I typed it. Glad it works now.
Cheers

Brew_DD2 said:

Mine fluctuates a fair bit depending on the temperature of the canister.

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The cylinder had been kept outside and was really cold, and had been in my kitchen a while when it went up a bit so perhaps that's it.

http://www.co2info.com/co2.html

The chart shows ...

• @ +5*C pressure is 560.4psi
• @ +10*C pressure is 637.9psi

With ambient temperatures in our area at about +7*C the 600psi reading looks about right.

So the high pressure gauge only reads 600psi? Pity it doesn't read 800psi. Except that ain't right either. So the gauges are c***. Get used to it, they all are.

It moves when you turn it on. It reads about the same as yesterday, about the same as last week, about the same as last month if you've had it that long. Then all is good. When I got mine I tried to get ones with 1/2" diameter high pressure gauges I can barely read. Saves a lot of anxiety. The pressure starts dropping when it runs out. If you're lucky, you notice it in time to get a refill so you don't have to have a few days without gas. They have ridiculously large gauges because the same design of regulator is used with compressed gases where the dial gives more useful information (+/- 500psi). If you're smart you weigh the cylinder when you get it, then weigh it again when you want to know how much is left. I'm smart enough to weigh it, but not smart enough to record the weight somewhere I can look it up again. Ah well.

Thanks for all the replies. It looks like, as @Dutto says, ambient temperature and probably @peebee 's cheapo guage theory explain the low primary dial reading.

Now I just need to find my leak - if I pressurise the keg up to 15psi, remove the Cory disconnect, the secondary guage still reads 15psi, which is correct. But over 24 hours this reduces down to about 5psi if the bottle is turned off, suggesting I have a leak in that line. It's no biggie except I'm guessing it means that if I left a keg permanently connected with the gas on I would loose all the gas in the cylinder? Still, every day is a learning experience!

jjsh said:

Thanks for all the replies. It looks like, as @Dutto says, ambient temperature and probably @peebee 's cheapo guage theory explain the low primary dial reading.

Now I just need to find my leak - if I pressurise the keg up to 15psi, remove the Cory disconnect, the secondary guage still reads 15psi, which is correct. But over 24 hours this reduces down to about 5psi if the bottle is turned off, suggesting I have a leak in that line. It's no biggie except I'm guessing it means that if I left a keg permanently connected with the gas on I would loose all the gas in the cylinder? Still, every day is a learning experience!

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It's probably coming out of the disconnect where it would attach to the keg. They're rarely air tight. Fine if you have it attached to a keg though.

My gauge shows about 600 psi but I have found this to be unimportant. With a full gas bottle I put a piece of tape on the cover over the needle. As soon as the needle shows beside the tape I know I need to change the bottle in a couple of days. 600 psi to 599 psi takes up to 1 year but 599 to 0 lasts a couple of days.

peebee said:

... If you're smart you weigh the cylinder when you get it, then weigh it again when you want to know how much is left. I'm smart enough to weigh it, but not smart enough to record the weight somewhere I can look it up again. Ah well.

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My 6.35kg (gas weight) cylinder that has a tare weight stamped on it of 11.4kg. As I understand it you could weigh the cylinder at any point and subtract the tare weight (plus the weight of any regulators and hoses you've added) giving you an indication of how much gas you have left. My high pressure gauge only ever rises above the red zone even with a new cylinder!

As for leakes, sometimes John Guest fitting can leak if the connected hoses are strained to one side or not fully inserted (sometimes they're a bit tight) or the o rings can leak if they're not tightened enough (but don't over tighten them and strip the thread). Food lube could help on the seals.