Single In-line leak indicator

Carbon Dioxide Nonsense

You need a leak check buddy. Do you have your leak check buddy?

Safety concerns take up a fair amount of my time as the safety program manager here at McDantim. We work with high-pressure gases, asphyxiant gases, and normal office dangers, like papercuts and standing on wheelie chairs when no one is looking to water one of the 25 plants in my office. Now, the last concern is totally directed at me being a lazy dum-dum who doesn’t want to go get a step stool late on a Friday afternoon, but I SHOULD KNOW BETTER. We are fortunate to have checks in place to make sure everyone is safe on and off-site. We don’t go off-site very often, but when we do, it’s for training purposes: draught system troubleshooting or installs with our administrative staff so we can help you as much as possible. Plus, information and education are our pride points to provide the best customer service we can. While off-site, we have portable CO₂ monitors for our employees to wear. Not all coolers are equipped with CO₂ monitors, so better safe than sorry.

We get a fair amount of tech calls about leaking systems. These calls are always a little nerve-wracking for us because of the hazards associated with CO₂ intoxication. “If you think you have a leak, have someone with you or watching you while you check.” We had a horrendously distressing tech call a few months back where an end user thought she had a leak. She went into the cooler and felt a little dizzy and called us for assistance. Dan took this call and told her to have someone with her or watch her while she checked. While on the phone, the other line disconnected. We proceeded to freak out here at McDantim, and her employee called and said she was passed out on the floor in the cooler. Holy crap on a cracker. Get her out of there, call 911. Call us back. Thankfully, she is fine. I even talked with a gal here in Montana who was driving to a beer fest, transporting her CO₂ and jockey box in the car when she started feeling dizzy. She knew to roll down her windows and pull over to check the CO₂ cylinder, which was leaking.

We want you to be safe when you check your system. We recommend CO₂ Meter for your CO₂ monitors at your facility and for out-of-office troubleshooting.

For so long, people have been using “detector” for the nomenclature, which is patently wrong. This device shows gas flow, regardless of the gas flowing through the tubes. Detectors sometimes act more like sniffers, which just makes me think of a cartoon bloodhound, and can be purchased at your local hardware store. But for leak detection in draught beverage systems, we like to use our Pressure Degradation test (on our YouTube, shameless plug) or soapy water. Now, if you have a massive system, drenching the whole thing in soapy water in hopes of seeing bubbles can be a bit laborious. Installing an ILLI at a vital point can help you determine, when no gas is intentionally being used, if you have gas flowing.

The numbers next to the tube don’t explain the liters per minute or cubic feet per hour you’re losing. The levels on the ILLI, shown here, indicate the severity of the gas flow. And there are some cute little screens to inhibit any debris from getting into said tubes that could make the ball stick. Making sure the ILLI is installed correctly for the gas supply flow is vitally important. Gas Flow + Plastic Ball = Float. Gas Flow – Plastic Ball + Gravity = Drop. Gravity + Plastic Ball + Upside Down ILLI = Stuck & No Flow. (Dan says it can flow to a point, but if the system is pressurized suddenly, the ball can lodge and get stuck, thus No Flow.)

As a certified human dum-dum, I have installed stuff upside down more than I would like to admit. I have also forgotten about gravity, and how heartless it can be: what do you mean I can’t carry a glass of beer and bend over at the waist to pick something up and NOT spill beer all over my shoes?! Fortunately, reconnecting the tubing for the ILLI to ensure proper gas flow is much easier than trying to explain to my friends that I am NOT a hot mess who has the grace of a newborn giraffe.

The ILLI is a marvelous addition to your gas supply system, and, when installed correctly, can help you identify the gas flow so you can find and fix leaks as soon as they appear. If only I could find something to help me not spill my beer…

ILLI-Brochure-MASTER.pdf

Bypass-Brochure-McDantim.pdf

ILLI-Instructions.pdf