No beer. Just Air. Out of NOWHERE.

[acg4g9]

I'm about a quarter of the way through a pony keg of Budweiser. Beer is at 34 degrees on a converted tower kegerator. I HAD the pressure at 10 because I was having foam issues and lowering the pressure was having a good effect. Halfway through a pour however, I got no beer, and the tap was just hissing co2. I upped the pressure to 14 because that's what I've seen Bud should be kept at. After a day of letting the beer settle, I'm still getting just air.

It should be noted that this is the SECOND time this has happened in a row. The first time I thought it was a keg problem because there was some gas leaking out of the seal after I untapped it, but this time there is no gas leak.

Could this be a hardware issue? If so, what should I be looking for to be faulty?

I've searched as much as I can around the wealth of info on this forum, but I can't find any similar problems.

Thanks ahead of time for any advice!

[bonefish]

Can you see beer in the beer line? How did you resolve it the first time? My first thoughts were: empty or frozen. If it froze, you'd get nothing and you said you're getting co2. Do you have the correct coupler and is it down and locked?
SEAN

[TomK]

How do you know the keg is 3/4 full?

[acg4g9]

The coupler is the correct one and is locked. I'm judging the volume remaining based on weight in the keg.

The first time it happened I took the keg back and got a second one, which is the one that I have now. The temp of water in the fridge is just over 34 degrees so I doubt that it is frozen.

There is no beer in the line either. Just a tiny bit of foam ever once and a while.

[bonefish]

It has to be the coupler. Are the beer and gas lines hooked up correctly? Check again, it happens to a lot of people. Inside the coupler is a check ball, make sure it is clean and functioning properly.
SEAN

[acg4g9]

The beer and gas lines are hooked up correctly. The ball in the coupler seems to be working properly. What would it be doing if it weren't working properly?

I just don't understand how this would happen twice in a row with absolutely no warning of something going wrong. It was literally halfway through a pour all of the sudden it was just gas.

[TomK]

The ball in the coupler seems to be working properly. What would it be doing if it weren't working properly?.

The ball would be stuck in the closed position, stopping the flow to the faucet.

[bonefish]

Is the co2 tank full and valves in the open position? A new keg will dispense plenty of beer with the valves closed.
SEAN

[acg4g9]

Yes the valves are open on the co2 tank and after a draw of air you can hear the tank refilling what has been exhausted through the tap.

I've also double checked to make certain that the temps are correct in the fridge.

Since it is a conversion kit... I'm considering that it might be the cheap parts that came with it. Are there known problems with the economy coupler that comes with the kit?

[KillianBoy]

acg4g9,
So valve on CO2 tank and valve below regulator are open. Are you sure the coupler is a "D" system and not another? And if possible could you post pics of coupler and regulator, thanks.

KB

[TomK]

Since it is a conversion kit... I'm considering that it might be the cheap parts that came with it. Are there known problems with the economy coupler that comes with the kit?

What kit do you have? Is the coupler the lever handle type or the wing handle type?

[acg4g9]

There's the coupler and the co2 tank with both valves open. Thanks a lot for helping me out. I never knew how temperamental these things could be!

[KillianBoy]

acg4g9,
Thanks for the pics, If your certain it is the correct coupler (the "S" coupler will fit, the only difference is probe is a little longer), The only other thing would be the regulator (I can't recognize the brand, maybe another member can ID it), maybe replace and I also would check all connections and make sure the washers are on properly. If you can't get this one working right, I'd return and get keg from another store and see if that helps, (maybe the kegs from the store you bought it from dropped the kegs and damaged the spear). Good luck, you brought a truly perplexing problem to the forum.

KB

[TomK]

If you're sure of all of the following:

1. The keg is not empty,
2. You have a "D" coupler,
3. The coupler is properly connected (i.e., turned completely to the right until it hits the stops, then the lever locked down),

then, I think I'd be inclined to try a new coupler.

Tom

[acg4g9]

Alright, I went back and triple checked that I have the "D" coupler and I do. But while I was inspecting that and cleaning it to insure the ball was function, I noticed I had ice on the cooling plate that used to make up the freezer portion of the mini fridge that I converted.

The plate was touching the keg. How likely is it that I've frozen all or at least a portion of the keg? If I have done that what should I do to salvage the keg?

Thanks once more

[bonefish]

The ice on the cooling plate will actually hinder the fridges cooling capability. It acts like an insulator. Don't try to scrape it off! Leave the door open until it thaws. (I can give you some ideas on preventing this later). You posted your beer temp earlier. Were you measuring the temp of the beer in a glass?
SEAN

[acg4g9]

That was actually the temp of some water that was sitting on the shelf below the keg in the fridge. I think the keg was frozen because the plate was touching the metal of the keg.

[Alefan]

I had the same problem and it turned out the keg was frozen. Did you notice the beer getting bitter prior to it spitting? When i froze mine, i noticed the beer tasting bitter just prior to it freezing up. The beer had seperated and was causing the bitter taste.

[KillianBoy]

acg4g9,
Glad you found the problem, things like this happen, I had to check one time for a problem I thought with coupler and found the beer line was against plate and had frozen.

Always remember the temperature of a cup of water will tell you the temperature of a cup of water and not the temperature of the beer in the keg, you always need to take the temps of the second pour in a room temperature glass. This will give you an idea of the temp of beer in keg.

KB

[lsb188]

The last time this happened to me, I had changed out the brass coupler that came with the kegerator for a stainless steel MicroMatic coupler. After a few pours, I got nothing. Turned out that I needed to disassemble and clean the coupler with beer line cleaner and a brush. Worked like a charm after that. However, in your case, I think you may have frozen the keg.

[acg4g9]

Ok... so I've thawed the keg and got it to a correct temperature on the second pour, but the problem now is the beer looks like it's 90% water.

Is it possible that I drank the "beer" out of the liquid and the water froze in the keg leaving me just beer water after it's been thawed?

[KillianBoy]

acg4g9,

If you are 1/4 way through I don't think is all bad, you may have to invert slowly once and mix keg a little, if you consumed more then half of the keg, it might be true that you drank all the good parts, no harm in trying to mix contents, gently.

KB