Pressure rises from 12psi to 18psi overnight

[straight cash homey]

it could be a gnome that lives under your kegerator who likes to fuck with you. that would be the first place I'd tell you to check but he won't be there if you look. you have to put a pint of beer out for him every night for a week and he'll go away.

[baltobrewer]

No matter what the temp of the environment that the regulator is in, the dialed pressure shouldn't change. The only thing I can think of is that you dont have a backflow valve on your reg and your beer is still fermenting, building up pressure in the keg that fucks with the reg reading. It's a shot in the dark, but at this point it's either that or the gnome....

[Mylo]

Yeah, Balto and Quin are onto something. If you have a check valve in your system - it should prevent pressure from the keg going back into your regulator. But they are not perfect, especially when the differential on each side of it is not that big (one or two PSI). The gas will tend to equalize over the course of a couple of hours. They attempt to overcome this in the design, by using a spring.

In any case, I think it's always best to bleed off the extra pressure at the keg and come up to your desired pressure. Go slow. I have found that the needle tends to move exponentially slower as it approaches the maximum that you have set. If you jamb it right up to 12, you might have actually set it for something higher. On the flip side, it is entirely possible to think you are dialing it "down to 12", and overshoot. When everything equalizes - you will find yourself down at 8...


Mylo

[Kazi the Younger]

"In any case, I think it's always best to bleed off the extra pressure at the keg and come up to your desired pressure. Go slow. I have found that the needle tends to move exponentially slower as it approaches the maximum that you have set."

So in other words, You're saying I should basically set the dial to a lower pressure then 12, bleed off the keg with the check valve, and slowly turn the screw until it reaches 12 - like over a time span of a few minutes? Hours? Sounds like good advice.

Also, I will leave something out for the Gnome. I'm sure he's bothered by the fact that my faucets are cheap chrome ones that get stuck. He'll probably leave me the hell alone once I get some Perlicks in there.

[Mylo]

No, not hours, or even minutes... just over more seconds than you think is appropriate for the thing to come up. Then pour a beer and check it again.


Mylo

[BigBadBrad]

I had a similar problem with my old regulator. Once I ugraded to this regulator from Micromatic, I haven't had any more problems. Easy to adjust the pressure, and it holds rock steady. These are by far the best regulators I have ever owned. I actually bought two, one for my kegerator and one for my chest freezer.

[Kazi the Younger]

You're right--it was the regulator. I just got a new micro matic primary regulator and a new micro matic secondary, and it seems to work like a dream. I never thought I'd be spending this much money on the Dispensing end of the brewing process, but you gotta do what you gotta do. If it leads to great beer, that's what's important to me. I could easily drop $300 on food and drink in a week.

[BigBadBrad]

I'm glad it worked out for you. It's one of those things where you get what you pay for.