Perlick Flow Control Issues... Help!

Hope this is in the right spot... I am in the middle of a build and have a keg of Tank Seven all nice an happy at about 5 lbs with 6 feet of 3/16th and a picnic faucet... Pours great... I swapped it with a PFC faucet and now nothin but foam... I tried the adjuster lever in every possible position, then lowered the pressure, then raised it.. Still nothing but foam... Any suggestions?

BTW, I went with the PFCs because we are running them upstairs and wanted lots of flexibility with diff beers and pressures... A few folks suggested them.

Nothin?

You mention you are running the taps upstairs - does that mean you have a long run from the kegerator? If so are the lines chilled? Biggest culprits of foam I've had in my system are due to pressure, temp, or length of the lines.

Yes, I think we're going to need a better description of exactly where those Perls are located (I refuse to use unsanctioned TLAs )

Cheers!

bsomogyi said:

You mention you are running the taps upstairs - does that mean you have a long run from the kegerator? If so are the lines chilled? Biggest culprits of foam I've had in my system are due to pressure, temp, or length of the lines.

Click to expand...

Whoops... I guess I was nebulous....

I am in the middle of getting the upstairs taps installed, but currently pouring from the keezer in the basement from the aforementioned hose and picnic faucet (gotta reward myself for the small victories). I temporarily installed one of the Perlicks in the collar of my keezer in substitution of the picnic faucet and to try out the Perlick...I did not change a thing... Not pressure, length, or anything... Just pulled the plastic faucet off the hose and plugged it into the Perlick mounted on the collar... Like I said... It was great, and now its foamy...

I also tried pulling the little restriction adjuster out of the Perlick and there is no difference... Still foamy... Weird...

day_trippr said:

Yes, I think we're going to need a better description of exactly where those Perls are located (I refuse to use unsanctioned TLAs )

Cheers!

Click to expand...

I need to see a list of the sanctioned TLAs....

I will consider myself warned...

That's totally weird. The tap will foam a bit until chilled. You can pour 3 or 4 ounces, pause and pour the rest. Still the second beer will be better. But, I doubt that this is the culprit.

I would inspect the inside of the faucet, maybe disassemble it. (It's not that hard.) However, for sure I would call customer service, they are very helpful folks.

When you find out, tell us what it was.

The "little restriction adjuster"?? Which exact model of Perlick are you using? Also, what temperature is your keezer being kept at?

Typically, I'll keep my kegerator around 40F. I have 8ft 3/16" diameter lines, and keep the regulator dialed in at 11psi. My first pour sometimes comes out a little more heady than the rest, but not extremely so (I think if I went to 9ft or 10ft lines, that'd solve my problem). The pressure you're describing will, given time, cause your keg to go flat - but if you cranked it up to the 10 or 11psi that would be more appropriate without going to longer lines, you'd guarantee yourself foamy pours every time.

are your beer lines clear tubing?
I had a foaming issue on a perlick tap on my kegerator. I checked out the tubing on the backside and could see it sucking air (little bubbles backflowing from the tap). Turns out the worm clamp had stripped and the tubing wasn't sealing completely.
not to say that's your problem, but a good hard look at your beer line from behind the tap couldn't hurt.

stratslinger said:

The "little restriction adjuster"?? Which exact model of Perlick are you using? Also, what temperature is your keezer being kept at?

Typically, I'll keep my kegerator around 40F. I have 8ft 3/16" diameter lines, and keep the regulator dialed in at 11psi. My first pour sometimes comes out a little more heady than the rest, but not extremely so (I think if I went to 9ft or 10ft lines, that'd solve my problem). The pressure you're describing will, given time, cause your keg to go flat - but if you cranked it up to the 10 or 11psi that would be more appropriate without going to longer lines, you'd guarantee yourself foamy pours every time.

Click to expand...

Its the 545PC, the one with the adjustable flow restriction... it looks like a globe valve cage if you are familiar with those...

Good point on the lower pressure... Of course... the keg is aready gone! I did not have it around long enough to get flat at 5 psi.

I am keeping it around 43-45... the basement is 55 now, so the maximum temp diff between the keg and faucet is 10-12 deg... The faucet is of course mounted in the collar and the shank is cooler than that...

No earth shattering results... I think the problem is two fold:

The temperature is too high for this beer... I tried cranking the temp down to 35 and it has fewer issues.

Too much temp dif between the bottom and the top... I put a fan in there and it seemed to help a bunch.

BTW, thanks to all that answered... I am pretty new here. I will most some pics once I get the build along!