Kegerator pouring mostly foam

I recently converted by one tap kegerator to a three tap, and have been having trouble with overcarbonating. I added a three-way co2 manifold into my setup, which is situated inside of the fridge. My co2 regulator is set at 10psi, and the internal temp of my fridge at 38F.

I don't think it is an issue with the gas lines being too long/short, and with there being gas in my lines due to part of the line being warmer/colder than another.

When I had a keg from my previous setup (single keg on one co2 regulator) and hooked it up to my new setup, it poured fine (little foam). Now I'm trying to carb up three kegs at once and they are all pouring mostly foam. Is the way I'm setting my co2 pressure somehow wrong?

It's not the length of the gas lines that matters but the length of your serving lines. How long are those?

I misspoke (mistyped?)- my serving lines are 5 feet long. Same length as on my previous setup.

It was serving just fine on my previous keg, which was carbonated before I switched to the three way co2 manifold. This is why I think maybe it has something to do with the pressure I'm carbonating and serving at (both at 10psi). This 10psi is what my regulator is reading, but I'm wondering if there is something I'm missing on what pressure it should be set to now that I have the co2 manifold.

If your low pressure gauge is reasonably accurate and your 1:3 manifold is open to all three kegs, setting the reg for 10psi should put 10psi on each keg...

Cheers!

The manifold shouldn't change anything.

At this point, you just need to check for all the usual suspects. Make sure the beer is cold, make sure it's had time to carb up, make sure your regulator is accurate, make sure you're using enough resistance on your serving lines, etc. How long have these kegs been sitting on pressure?

MalFet said:

The manifold shouldn't change anything.

At this point, you just need to check for all the usual suspects. Make sure the beer is cold, make sure it's had time to carb up, make sure your regulator is accurate, make sure you're using enough resistance on your serving lines, etc. How long have these kegs been sitting on pressure?

Click to expand...

They've been on pressure for about 10 days, so I would expect them to be completely or nearly completely carbonated.

At this point what I think I'm going to do is take them off pressure, bleed them, and let them lose carbonation naturally by bleeding regularly. They will eventually drop to or below optimum carbonation, at which point I'll hook them back up at 10 psi, 38F to get them back to the carbonation I wanted them at. If they carbonate beyond where I would want them, I guess I'll have to start looking at other problems.

I'm actually drinking one of these beers now, and it seems like after the excessive head has fallen it is actually undercarbonated... is it possible that my serving pressure should be decreased so that I'm serving at lower pressure than they've been carbonated under? Seems like maybe the pressure is maybe serving the beer too fast, so it's losing a lot of carbonation?

I guess this could also be length of the gas lines, although I'm reluctant to think this, since, like I said, I have served other beers with the same system without this problem.

10 days is not enough for full carbonation. Gas line length has nothing to do with your problem. Are you serving lines absolutely 3/16" ID tubing or could it be 1/4" ID?

Just checked on that and from what I ordered I can say that I do have 3/16" ID tubing. So its not my serving line diameter, correct?

MizooBrew said:

Just checked on that and from what I ordered I can say that I do have 3/16" ID tubing. So its not my serving line diameter, correct?

Click to expand...

3/16" should be fine. Like Bobby_M said, 10 days is not necessarily going to be enough. If you've got a lot of particulate matter in suspension especially, you might just need to give the whole system more time to settle out and equilibrate. It is very unlikely that the addition of the manifold changed anything directly.

Were your kegs cold for the whole 10 days? Have they been jostled around lately?

MalFet said:

3/16" should be fine. Like Bobby_M said, 10 days is not necessarily going to be enough. If you've got a lot of particulate matter in suspension especially, you might just need to give the whole system more time to settle out and equilibrate. It is very unlikely that the addition of the manifold changed anything directly.

Were your kegs cold for the whole 10 days? Have they been jostled around lately?

Click to expand...

They were cold for the entire time- occasionally jostled but not much. I usually try to let them sit for at least a few hours sampling them (after jostling).

I'm going to hook them all back up at 10psi after letting them naturally become uncarbonated for about 24 hours at 38F. I realize that there will still be CO2 in solution, but I would think they would now be below optimum carbonation levels. I'll give them a full week at 10psi, sample, and then probably wait an additional week to start serving.

Sorry for all the n00b questions- I'm trying to get three kegs carbed up and serving well for a part I'm hosting in two weeks. If I can't get it figured out I'm not sure what I'll do... if anyone has an suggestions as to the best way to approach this I would love to hear them.

EDIT: It occured to me that my CO2 tank with regulator is now outside of my fridge with the manifold inside, while I used to have it inside. Does this matter, or is it reading 10psi outside (not at 38F) still mean each keg is getting 10psi?