When is my Gas bottle Empty

The ins and outs of putting your beer into kegs.

When is my Gas bottle Empty

Postby Nishy » Monday Jan 19, 2009 7:03 pm

This probably sounds like a dumb question, but how do I know when my gas bottle is empty. I guess the obvious answer is when no more gas comes out!!
I have a dual gauge regulator and when i open the gas to fill Keg the Gas bottle gauge reads 0. I have only done about 5 X 19L kegs and thought the gas would last a lot longer than this.
Any help appreciated.

Also does anybody know where is the best place to get them filled. i.e swap and go and ring supagas direct??

Cheers

Daryl
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Re: When is my Gas bottle Empty

Postby Lance » Tuesday Jan 20, 2009 8:47 am

A normal 6.5kg should carb and dispense about 50 kegs before it needs to be refilled, as long as you don't have any leaks. The best way to see if your keg is empty is to weigh it. It should have 2 weights stamped on the side of it. One will be the empty weight and one will be the full. As for filling them, it depends. I bought mine from my local homebrew shop and they do a swap and go system for $30. You local gas supplier should be able to fill them or swap them for you if you have rented one. But just check the weight before you spent all that money. I thought mine was empty after 12 months, but as it turned out it was still half full, but that was a 10kg bottle. I hope this info helps.

Lance
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Re: When is my Gas bottle Empty

Postby Nishy » Tuesday Jan 20, 2009 4:23 pm

Thanks Lance , my bottle is 6Kg and weighs 21.3 kg - any idea how full or empty this would be?
Unfortunately I didn't weigh it when I got it.

Also what is the idea of the pressure gauge for the bottle - does this signify full or empty?

Cheers

Daryl
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Re: When is my Gas bottle Empty

Postby Biernut » Tuesday Jan 20, 2009 6:27 pm

21.3 will be the Tare weight of a full cylinder, subtract 6.00Kg off that and thats the weight of an empty cylinder. If you have a dual regulater one is the pressure in the cylinder and the other is the adjusted pressure out. The gauge that gives you the pressure inside the cylinder aren't that accurate but gives you some idea of whats left inside. Some can show empty but you can still have a 100psi still inside, enough to keep you out of trouble if you can't get to a refill Depot in a hurry.
The adjustable gauge is more sensitive and obviously more useful in adjusting your serving pressure depending on your setup and style of beer you are drinking. The biggest complaint seems to be foaming beer either by airlock in beer lines or over carbonation. With a bit of practice it all comes together when you get the hang of your system.

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Re: When is my Gas bottle Empty

Postby lethaldog » Wednesday Jan 21, 2009 10:23 am

Do you keep your bottle in the fridge? if so this could be why you are getting the low reading so no real concern, a 6 kilo bottle should last the average kegger around 18 months depending of course on how many kegs you go through in that time :wink:
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Re: When is my Gas bottle Empty

Postby Trough Lolly » Wednesday Jan 21, 2009 4:46 pm

Nishy wrote:This probably sounds like a dumb question, but how do I know when my gas bottle is empty. I guess the obvious answer is when no more gas comes out!!
I have a dual gauge regulator and when i open the gas to fill Keg the Gas bottle gauge reads 0. I have only done about 5 X 19L kegs and thought the gas would last a lot longer than this.
Any help appreciated.

Also does anybody know where is the best place to get them filled. i.e swap and go and ring supagas direct??

Cheers

Daryl


Nishy, which guage reads zero? The small scale gauge or the large scale gauge (usually on the right). You have set the regulated pressure going into the beer keg, haven't you? That is usually measured by the LHS gauge, and is a much smaller value than the pressure in the CO2 bottle which is lethal if discharged without a regulator.

Weight is the best way to measure how much CO2 is in the bottle - the rhs gauge usually measures the pressure of the CO2 gas that sits above the liquid CO2 in the CO2 bottle - hence, it will not fall until all the liquid CO2 has gone and you're running on vapour with a nearly empty CO2 bottle...so the difference between Tare and actual weight will tell you how many kilos of CO2 is still in the bottle.....er, unless you had an undetected leak which can easily empty a CO2 bottle overnight if left connected.

Cheers,
TL
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Re: When is my Gas bottle Empty

Postby Nishy » Wednesday Jan 21, 2009 4:48 pm

Thanks guys, my gas cylinder is not in the fridge and the weight of 21.3kg was the actual weighed weight of my clyinder as I didn't weigh it when I got it (idiot!!!). What is the typical full weight of a 6kg cylinder?

cheers

daryl
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Re: When is my Gas bottle Empty

Postby Nishy » Wednesday Jan 21, 2009 4:53 pm

The Gauge reading zero is the large scale gauge 0 - 3000 PSI. When I first got the bottle it was on about 700 PSI and is now 0. Yes I have regulated the pressure into the Keg at my pouring pressure of about 5PSI.

cheers

Daryl
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Re: When is my Gas bottle Empty

Postby Trough Lolly » Thursday Jan 22, 2009 10:06 am

Nishy wrote:Thanks guys, my gas cylinder is not in the fridge and the weight of 21.3kg was the actual weighed weight of my clyinder as I didn't weigh it when I got it (idiot!!!). What is the typical full weight of a 6kg cylinder?

cheers

daryl


Daryl - you're not understanding our responses. The empty weight is stamped on the side of every cylinder as the TARE weight. Look for it. The difference between the TARE weight and the actual weight (21.3kg) is the amount of CO2 liquid in the cylinder.

If you're delivering CO2 to the keg and the RHS gauge is reading zero then you are either about to run out of gas, or the regulator has a faulty gauge...

Cheers,
TL
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Re: When is my Gas bottle Empty

Postby Nishy » Thursday Jan 22, 2009 7:23 pm

Thanks TL, I just found the TW stamp on my new bottle - hidden right at the top and marked at TW 21 KG. The old bottle was at 21.3 and thus had only 0.3 kg left. I connected the new bottle and the regulator is reading just under 800 PSI. So to answer my question - a full 6kg bottle of c02 weighs in at 27 KG.

Cheers

Daryl
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Re: When is my Gas bottle Empty

Postby Trough Lolly » Saturday Jan 24, 2009 8:29 am

...or more correctly, your 21kg CO2 bottle has been supplied with 6kg of CO2 gas from the distributor. Don't always assume that you get a full 6kg of CO2 each and every time - this is a point of some concern, especially with HBS suppliers who offer to supply CO2 services in good faith but may not have the equipment to consistently deliver the exact quantity of CO2 gas each and every time.

Cheers,
TL
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