Month: August 2025

August 5, 2025 – My Keg is Flat Again?

August 5, 2025 /

When I got my keezer (kegerator), it had one tap and therefore one keg. There is probably room for four kegs of this type inside the refrigerated space. the vessel is called a Cornelius keg, often called a ‘Corny’ keg and used by Pepsi Co. That makes a lot of used ones available in the market for whatever reason.

My strategy if you will is to have one on tap, one in waiting and one used extensively for flushing the lines. I have considered adding more taps but realistically I should not make drinking beer easier. Plus, it is a lot a work to brew and flushing the lines is often not done after use so for now, one is plenty. The point is that I have added two more kegs to the system.

Both of the kegs I have purchased were used. In fact both were also dirty. One had Mountain Dew under pressure in it. I don’t recall the second one other than to say I know it was dirty. But, I imagine that these things are not taken out of service for no reason. As a result, I have taken to having to give them a once, twice and often three times over to figure out what is wrong.

Aside from being dirty, the most common problem is leaking. Even though I have had extensive work in scientific air analysis, the tools I have at my disposal are pretty rudimentary. Most of it involves guessing and checking. The one thing that works pretty well is the soap solution looking for bubbles. The one I am showing in the picture comes from the plumbing section of a home improvement store.

You can make your own solution with dish soap and water. I don’t honestly know what the mixture is and I suppose it probably matters which detergent you use because of the factory concentration. The reason I chose to buy one is that the cap comes with a brush and so you can swab areas of interest. The one we used in the lab was a squeeze bottle with a tube at the nozzle so you could really target small areas but it is $25 a bottle.

I think it is pretty obvious how you know that there is a leak. That being said, how did I know? I opened the tap handle and nothing came out. Normal keg pressures should be around 15psi and there should be enough pressure in the vessel to fill a cup without the source pressure on (again laziness about the proper steps). But if I did things right, you should not hear gas going into the keg when you turn the cylinder valve because everything should be at equilibrium in this closed system.

When it comes to troubleshooting this system, the distribution line likely only needs to be checked once for leak Go to each break in the line and swab the joint under pressure. If it leaks, that joint will need to be tightened (only occasionally loosened depending on the connection type but beyond the scope of this article). Honestly, I only do this if during my initial test, I lose pressure. This is called ruling out the variables.

By far and away the most frequent failure parts are the action parts. These are things like valves and O-rings that seal connections. If no leaks are found around the valve, then try replacing O-rings. These are designed as replaceable parts anyway and it could have gotten damaged during transit or worn from heavy use. If your vessel leaks, then it is almost certainly junk unless you can weld on stainless steel.

I found that on my keg in the picture above was leaking around the main seal O-ring. Even my soap test did not reveal the leak and it would occur over the span of three days or so. I also knew that my O-rings on the valves were OK because the keg leaked whether it was connected to the distribution line or not. Other kegs I have did not leak and so it wasn’t the other end of the connection either.

Generally speaking, these tests should be done under system pressure. This should reduce the risk of contamination from the soap. Cranking up the pressure should make leaks more obvious but it is possible to cause new problems, so be careful. The one thing that I also wanted to add with soap is to make sure product surfaces are cleaned after testing unless you like soapy beer.

End Your Programming Routine: This troubleshooting technique works for beer kegs, water lines, air lines etc. In plumbing, lines are pressurized to prove that they are solidly connected (generally new construction). One final thing, the air molecules are generally smaller than liquid water, so a leak in an air line is much more likely than a water line. So-so connections can still hold water that don’t stand a chance containing gasses for long term.

August 4, 2025 – The Patriarch of Birthday Week

August 4, 2025 /

Maybe there is something about me that old people like to talk to. I have heard stories from my wife’s grandparents that she has never heard. That being said, this story is not one of them. But, it is quite a bit out there as in unbelievable. Believe it or not, but this is the story of my wife’s paternal grandfather who had all the kids and was also the first birthday in what I call ‘Birthday Week’.

August 1, 2025 – Boundaries, Chapters 11-12

August 1, 2025 /

One of the nice things about this book is that it seems to flow with how I want to do things. That would be two chapters at a time and the subjects seem to work topically together. This week it is boundary problems with work and the digital world. For many of us working at home or in the technology sector, the digital world is a must. The truth is the digital world is here to stay whether it is required for work or not.

Let me tell you that I have had some boundary problems with work. One thing that taking a two years off really helped me was with perspective. I have a much stronger propensity to have better boundaries now then I ever did before I just let everything go. It doesn’t mean that I still don’t struggle at times but creating that separation made things so much clearer.

I find it a lot easier to take a stand in a large company then when I was with a small one. Their, you are almost family and those bonds quickly become strong. But, the weak bonds and relationships in a large company are much easier to defend. It makes it especially true when I am working from home. I just put things on my calendar and walk away when it is time.

I think where work boundary problems are evident is that this is an environment of sanctified hierarchy. Once we are deemed adults, we are all treated as equals (in theory). So friendships, romantic relationships and even familial interactions we have the ability to declare the we are independent adults and with it comes the ability to lead our own lives and consequences thereof. Not so at work.

I wouldn’t call my dad a workaholic by any means but there were a lot of times where he travelled for months at a time sometimes returning home every other week and sometimes once a month. That was my model and work was supported and encouraged. Add to my travelling being on-call and work never ended. I worked and worked in various jobs.

As funny as it sounds, I have a much less likely to have boundary problems with the digital world. Part of that is because I do not participate in much social media. The other part is that I want to be done with technology by the time I am done with work.

It was about 15 years ago, a co-worker was leaving. I talked to him about his decision and from that conversation he asked a favor. Create a LinkedIn account and join a particular group that was common to the work that we did. I did and didn’t think too much about it as it has not been super busy over the years.

I have the application on my phone. Particularly when I was looking to get back into the workforce, I had notifications turned on. My logic was that I had to be ready at the drop of a dime for a recruiter to contact me and offer me a job. But, I started noticing a couple of things as well. One of those things was that I was starting to get in the habit of clearing my notifications every time I saw them.

The second thing that I was noticing was that I kept getting notified of the same stories. This was not a notification from a different source or a variation but that it was the same story I read a week ago. It was happening over and over again, Every time I unlocked my phone I had new notifications. Of which, nothing was ever significant.

I decided to turn off notifications and I have not looked back. Important things like messages from recruiters also send emails. Every time I log in, there are 20+ notifications because I only check every couple of weeks. But they are almost always ‘so and so likes this’ and things of that ilk. These days, I recognize LinkedIn as a necessary evil. My last two jobs were the result of having an active profile and I have had multiple interviews as well. But, I do keep it at bay.

End Your Programming Routine: There is a ton to be written about these two subjects. I really cannot do justice with digital boundaries in one quick write-up. Even if you are not reading the book, observe your digital habits as a third person. I see all the time most people are on their phones the entire waiting period at the doctor’s office. We have forgotten how to be still because most people are addicted to technology. Just wait until AI is fully integrated.