Are you supposed to hear the Co2?

[beerschlitz]

I hooked up a Co2 tank to check the remaning gas in the cylinder tank and it was only 600 PSI. Obviously I need a refill, however when I turned the shutoff valve open to bring Co2 to the 1 tap beer tower I could hear the gas flowing sort of like a soft mild hissing noise. If I close the shutoff valve the hissing goes away. Are you supposed to be able to hear the Co2 at the point in the tower? If I open the tapper it is full on Co2 but if I close the tapper I only hear the hissing on the small brass nut inside the tower (see photo attached). I can't feel it leaking at all if I place my finger around that connection but I can definitely hear it.

The larger 1" or so nut just holds it to the tower but the smaller 1/2" nut on the right side of the photo is actually surrounding a metal tube connected to the beer hose about 12" down inside the keg fridge.

Is this normal to hear the gas flowing? If I leave it this way will my tank empty at a more rapid rate? Please provide your advice in this forum or in an email. If this is not the ordinary circumstance how can I fix the leak? Will teflon tape wrapping work on that smaller brass nut?

Thank You.

P.S. Keep in mind the line is still empty. There is no beer flowing at this point. With liquid in the line maybe this hissing changes or goes away?

[psychodad]

Dab a little soapy water on the suspect areas and look for leaks. Seems like you have one. Measures to fix the leak will depend on if it is leaking at the shank or the hose.

[beerschlitz]

I think what is happening is that the Co2 tank is flowing through the empty beer barrel so there is no liquid to displace it. Until that 15.9 gallon barrel fills up entirely with Co2 gas it's going to probably hiss all day long and will actually run out of gas before I even get a chance to measure it.