Just can't get the foam to stop.

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jmcquesten

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Ok, here's the situation. I am trying to help my dad get his kegorator problems under control, but nothing seems to be helping with the foam. Currently I'm not nearby and can't help in person, but he's not on this forum so I'm looking for suggestions for him. Here's what I know;

It's a typical kegorator (brand unknown) with a standard 3 tap tower (maybe 12" tall, not cooled, no fan)
He's running 3 kegs with a 3 regulator manifold. Co2 tank outside
He was skeptical of my 10 ft line length suggestion, but tried it on one of lines. For whatever reason, he doesn't have a lot of faith in the line length calculator, but I convinced him to try a 10 footer thinking it would at least help with the problem. It didn't, so he doesn't believe in longer lines fixing the problem.
The temperature is probably around 40° (I'm not sure, but I'll assume it is at least close to that)
For the sake of troubleshooting, I'll base this on the one 10 ft line that he has, as I know the others are too short. I'm hoping that if we can get that one pouring right, he'll at least see the need for longer lines on the other two.
He's tried a few different styles/serving pressures (between 12 and 15 psi) on the long line and continues to get a lot of foam (1/2 glass) on every pour, not just the first.
Since it's not just the first pour, I don't think the tower not being cooled is the main cause of the foam. I know it doesn't help though.
The kegs are carbed at serving pressure over a couple weeks, not high pressure burst carbed, so I don't think they are over-carbed.
The few beers I've tried off this system have seemed under-carbonated, like the co2 isn't dissolving into solution, but I'm not sure how that's possible?
Could the 10 ft line really be that far off at 40° and 12-15 psi to be allowing all the gas out of solution when poured? The length was just thrown out there and not run through the calculator, but I figured it was close and would make some difference.
The lines have been cleaned as well as the keg fittings.
I'm pretty sure he's running 3/16 beer lines, but I'll have to confirm this.

So with all that being said, what else could be causing the foam? Any suggestions on fixing this would be greatly appreciated. This has been an ongoing issue for quite a while and he's ready to give up. Please help us get the beer properly carbonated and the foam to stop. I provided as much info as I could think of and what's been tried so far.
 
There is a good chance the regulator is not calibrated, I keep mine at about 8 because if I go higher or lower I get foaming issues.
 
did you go lower than 12 psi? i serve at 10 psi. Also does he open the tap all the way when dispensing the beer? If you just open the tap half way you get a lot of foam.
 
15 psi at 40 degrees is about 2.75 vols. I keep my beers about 2.4 (42 deg and 13 psi) and I need 10 ft lines plus I have about a 2 ft rise on the tower (air cooled). A couple of commercial kegs that I had carbed to about 2.7 vols were all foam for me until I got them decarbed a bit. So yes, I think it is likely the lines even if he doesn't believe it. If you pour one of those foamy beers then let the head die the resulting beer can seem flat because you've knocked out all the carbonation. Personally I would just start with about 14-15 feet and cut down from there. The only drawback to going too long is a slow pour. I would also double check the temp and make sure he's not carbing higher than you think.
 
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