Secondary regulator gone faulty…cause?

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Cobnut
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Secondary regulator gone faulty…cause?

Post by Cobnut » Mon Jul 26, 2021 1:26 pm

My corny setup is (cheap) primary regulator feeding 3 secondary regulators like this one:
secondary reg.jpeg
secondary reg.jpeg (137.05 KiB) Viewed 728 times
I’ve had one go faulty (doesn’t hold pressure down) before and this one has gone the same way. I’d deliberately set it at c. 35psi to carbonate my (poor) attempt at a Piwo Grödziske overnight, but it now seems to be unable to hold at a low pressure.

I’m wondering at the cause: is my cheap primary allowing too much pressure through which is damaging the secondaries? If so, I guess it’s time to invest in a decent primary regulator which will hold a good steady input pressure and “protect” seemingly delicate secondary.

Any others helpful suggestions, please?
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Conditioning: English IPA/Bretted English IPA
Drinking: Sunshine Marmalade, Festbier, Helles Bock, Smokey lagery beer, Irish Export StoutCascade APA (homegrown hops), Orval clone, Impy stout, Duvel clone, Conestoga (American Barley wine)
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Re: Secondary regulator gone faulty…cause?

Post by PeeBee » Mon Jul 26, 2021 2:15 pm

I wouldn't worry too much about the primary. The secondaries should take a fairly wide range of input pressures (up to 10 BAR, 147PSI, is fairly common, although I've got secondaries that are okay up to 16 BAR). But I do have a gauge on my primary output ("bus" line) and a PRV (about 90-145PSI operating range).

The secondary is measuring a tiny volume with the output shut (as I see it is) and the regulators are often not quick enough to close before over-pressuring that small space. I have this issue, although not as bad! But I do use fairly sensitive secondaries. Your secondary doesn't appear to be the "venting" sort, although most are, and so will not vent excess pressure. I may set the regulator with a disconnect attached to a 500ml or 1L empty PET bottle

It is possible to have a faulty secondary that leaks pressure from high to low pressure side, but that should be uncommon (one of mine did it so triggered the venting mechanism whenever used - it doesn't now because I chucked it!).

Finally, the gauge is displaying what happens to those cheapo gauges when over-pressured: The linkages are strained and the gauge reads much higher than it actually is (and won't return to zero) but that fault should be easy to detect.
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Re: Secondary regulator gone faulty…cause?

Post by Cobnut » Mon Jul 26, 2021 2:32 pm

PeeBee wrote:
Mon Jul 26, 2021 2:15 pm
I wouldn't worry too much about the primary. The secondaries should take a fairly wide range of input pressures (up to 10 BAR, 147PSI, is fairly common, although I've got secondaries that are okay up to 16 BAR). But I do have a gauge on my primary output ("bus" line) and a PRV (about 90-145PSI operating range).
OK
PeeBee wrote:
Mon Jul 26, 2021 2:15 pm
The secondary is measuring a tiny volume with the output shut (as I see it is) and the regulators are often not quick enough to close before over-pressuring that small space. I have this issue, although not as bad! But I do use fairly sensitive secondaries. Your secondary doesn't appear to be the "venting" sort, although most are, and so will not vent excess pressure. I may set the regulator with a disconnect attached to a 500ml or 1L empty PET bottle
I like the idea of setting the pressure using a small bottle, so will try that. I tend to use a suck-it-and-see or wind-it-up-and-let-it-settle-for-a-while process. They always seem to "creep" though. And I note the gauge on the primary does the same - frequently ending up at the top of the scale despite the "adjuster" being set quite low (c.3 BAR). I have also taken to turning the gas off when I've finished using it - but difficult when trying to force carbonate over several hours.
PeeBee wrote:
Mon Jul 26, 2021 2:15 pm
It is possible to have a faulty secondary that leaks pressure from high to low pressure side, but that should be uncommon (one of mine did it so triggered the venting mechanism whenever used - it doesn't now because I chucked it!).
The fact that this is the second of these from a so-called reputable supplier is p*ssing me off. Hence wondering whether I have contributed to their early demise by feeding them too much incoming pressure.
PeeBee wrote:
Mon Jul 26, 2021 2:15 pm
Finally, the gauge is displaying what happens to those cheapo gauges when over-pressured: The linkages are strained and the gauge reads much higher than it actually is (and won't return to zero) but that fault should be easy to detect.
These gauges definitely still RTZ. That is not the problem. Went I "burp" the offending keg, the gauge falls all the way to zero.

And the beer is most certainly over carbonated. This was what I got when I first noticed the over-carbing problem and I've had an entire glass of foam inside a second or so recently. I know Piwo Grodziske is supposed to be quite highly carbonated, but not this much!!
PG.jpg
PG.jpg (1.55 MiB) Viewed 725 times
Fermenting: nowt
Conditioning: English IPA/Bretted English IPA
Drinking: Sunshine Marmalade, Festbier, Helles Bock, Smokey lagery beer, Irish Export StoutCascade APA (homegrown hops), Orval clone, Impy stout, Duvel clone, Conestoga (American Barley wine)
Planning: Dark Mild, Kozel dark (ish), Simmonds Bitter, Bitter, Citra PA and more!

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