Split V2 Keg Cap

[MartinSky]

I was just about to keg my latest brew and noticed that one of my v2 keg caps is split, right beside the air valve.
I have probably split the plastic cap when I tightened down the air valve. 

For the first four kegs I used the brewart valve tightening tool which is a cylinder with notches at the ends to fit over the valves.  I found I could not apply a lot of torque with this tool but thought that is intentional, to prevent over-tightening.  Unfortunately this led to one keg producing a flat beer as the CO2 had escaped out past the beer valve which wasn't tight enough.

So my solution was to take a 19mm spanner and carefully add another 1/2 turn to all the valves.

That approach has probably led to the splitting of one of the keg caps.

So the question is, how many Nm of torque should I apply to the valves to make sure they seal well but don't split the plastic keg caps?
 

[Michael Brewblé]

Following. I’ve had the exact same thing happen to me (after the exact same process).

[Rob Courtney]

On 25/03/2023 at 10:46 AM, MartinSky said:

I was just about to keg my latest brew and noticed that one of my v2 keg caps is split, right beside the air valve.
I have probably split the plastic cap when I tightened down the air valve. 

For the first four kegs I used the brewart valve tightening tool which is a cylinder with notches at the ends to fit over the valves.  I found I could not apply a lot of torque with this tool but thought that is intentional, to prevent over-tightening.  Unfortunately this led to one keg producing a flat beer as the CO2 had escaped out past the beer valve which wasn't tight enough.

So my solution was to take a 19mm spanner and carefully add another 1/2 turn to all the valves.

That approach has probably led to the splitting of one of the keg caps.

So the question is, how many Nm of torque should I apply to the valves to make sure they seal well but don't split the plastic keg caps?
 

 

1 hour ago, Michael Brewblé said:

Following. I’ve had the exact same thing happen to me (after the exact same process).

@BrewArt Team

[BrewArt Team]

Thanks @Rob Courtney,

G 'Day @Michael Brewblé & @MartinSky,

Sorry to hear you've both had troubles with your Keg Caps. 
Can you please email us with photos to: tech@brewart.com ? We will replace the Keg Cap, and send you some updated O-Rings which will seal better and not need to be torqued down so much that you split the Cap. Thanks 

Cheers

[MartinSky]

17 hours ago, BrewArt Team said:

Thanks @Rob Courtney,

G 'Day @Michael Brewblé & @MartinSky,

Sorry to hear you've both had troubles with your Keg Caps. 
Can you please email us with photos to: tech@brewart.com ? We will replace the Keg Cap, and send you some updated O-Rings which will seal better and not need to be torqued down so much that you split the Cap. Thanks 

Cheers

Thanks Brewart team, after I posted this here, I got in touch with the Brewart team and they have posted out to me the new style of O-rings that provide a better seal.  I'm expecting the package will arrive in the post mid way next week.

The air valve is much closer to the edge of the keg cap so it is a much weaker point.  I now have 3 x split keg caps all of them beside the air valve.  The advice from brewart was to use the brewart valve tightening tool only, as it will avoid you over tightening and splitting the keg cap.  

In hindsight I have also realised that it is more important to have a really tight seal on the beer valve to facilitate secondary fermentation.  The air valve is mostly needed for the brewflow to maintain pressure between the keg bottle and the keg liner. 

I noticed that the breflow has to more frequently supply air into the keg when I had split keg caps, so that is another indication of the problem.  I also noticed that you can only really see the split keg cap when the air valve is installed and tightened to the point where it opens up the split.

Anyway I put this all down to part of the brewart learning experience and I really appreciate the quick response from the brewart team to help me resolve the issue.