Creative DIY people, I need your brainpower

So i'm looking for a way to charge my kegs with a paintball tank for serving only. I don't want to carbonate them. Bascially i want to do exactly what this does on a larger scale.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/soda-keg-co2-charger.html

I plan to have the paintball tank in my kegerator and I just want the button that releases the co2 outside of the keg. I already have the necessary line and adapters to run to the tank and to the Keg.

My question is, what kind of button can I run mid line that i could use to release the co2. Pnematic perhaps? Does anyone have any idea where i could find something like this or even what i should be looking for ?

http://beverageequipmentco.com/BEC_Co2_regulators__parts.htm

#7 safety valve and an inline Y?

Does the button on that push it through, or does it blow it off ?

Hi

You will need a pressure regulator even for serving. You need to keep a constant, controlled pressure on the kegs or you will have a foam monster on your hands.

Bob

rebel brewer makes an adapter so you can just screw the paintball tank into your normal regulator.

http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shopping...er-%2d-Paintball-Tank-Regulator-Coupling.html

carlisle_bob said:

Hi

You will need a pressure regulator even for serving. You need to keep a constant, controlled pressure on the kegs or you will have a foam monster on your hands.

Bob

Click to expand...

Also, that device is really intended to push all the beer out of a corny keg in a relatively short time or you will start having carbonation issues as Bob mentioned as there is no pressure regulation.

carlisle_bob said:

Hi

You will need a pressure regulator even for serving. You need to keep a constant, controlled pressure on the kegs or you will have a foam monster on your hands.

Bob

Click to expand...

So why does giving it a squirt of air with that small device work and not create foam, because it is at a lower pressure because the tank is so small? I don't want constant pressure, i'm just looking to give it a punch of c02 when the pressure is so low that it will not longer serve.

Tinga said:

rebel brewer makes an adapter so you can just screw the paintball tank into your normal regulator.

http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shopping...er-%2d-Paintball-Tank-Regulator-Coupling.html

Click to expand...

This was my plan B but i was hoping to find away around using a regulator. I just don't see why one controlled squirt of C02 wouldn't be enough to only serve. Unless its impossible to get that small of a squirt out of a paintball tank without a regulator. If I end up using a regulator than obviously i would not need a button.

Also to clarify, this is for an outdoor kegorator i've built. The intended use will be to drink the entire keg at once so keeping it carbonated with the CO2 will not be a concern.

Any Co2 Experts out there ?

fwiw, it appears that the paintball 'remote tank' fittings are threaded for 1/8" NPT.

In theory, if you're feeling handy, you can eschew the CGA320 to paintball adapter and just remove the CGA320 connection from the high pressure side of a regulator, install a 1/4 to 1/8 bushing, and use a 1/8 male-male nipple to connect to the paintball tank fitting.

Which is what i plan to do for my minifridge which is big enough for 1 keg only, since i am too cheap to buy a 5lb co2 tank when i have two 20lb tanks and 20oz paintball tanks are $16 on amazon. And i happen to have 3 regulators, one of minimal-to-tiny value.

fwiw I'm not sure how well the linked device really works. keep in mind it holds 16 grams of co2. It appears to be an Innovations Ultraflate (about $17) with a 1/4 MFL connector instead of a schraeder fitting.

My impression of the paintball co2 fittings is that the knob is on/off and not a regulator - that it just depresses the pin valve in the tank. I can come back and tell you more when my paintball co2 fitting arrives some time next week.

If just hitting the tank with a little blast of co2 is enough, you could get away with getting the tank-side remote fitting and a short length of paintball air hose with 1/8 NPT fittings on both ends, plus brass fittings from the hardware store to go from 1/8 NTP to 1/4 MFL.

My advice to you is to search here and elsewhere for info on how well that kind of setup works, and start considering getting a cheapie used co2 regulator on ebay or something.

If you like I'll come back and tell you what i find when i try to assemble my hideous frankenregulator.

Supurb said:

Also to clarify, this is for an outdoor kegorator i've built. The intended use will be to drink the entire keg at once so keeping it carbonated with the CO2 will not be a concern.

Click to expand...

Hi

You need to have a constant pressure on the keg throughout the serving process. To much pressure or to little both create problems with the beer. You either get mega foam or no bubbles. As the keg empties, you need to slowly add more CO2 to keep the pressure constant.

You can put a gauge on the keg and watch it. When it goes down to 14 psi, squirt the keg up to 16 psi. Step and repeat. My guess is that will get pretty tiring pretty quick.

Bob

I feel what you are trying to accomplish here. I have used the CO2 cartridge connection you referenced in the OP. It doesn't work to carbonate a keg. It only works to keep the beer flowing. The time involved with emptying the keg really isn't enough for the CO2 to come out of the beer since you are talking about killing it in one go. What about a simple mini in-line regulator? then you don't have to mess with a button outside of the frig. mcmaster-carr item #3834T51
otherwise, what about an easy in-line check valve?

You want to avoid a regulator, but I think this might interest you:

http://www.octopustap.com/cart/product_info.php?cPath=31_26&products_id=55

crosamich said:

I feel what you are trying to accomplish here. I have used the CO2 cartridge connection you referenced in the OP. It doesn't work to carbonate a keg. It only works to keep the beer flowing. The time involved with emptying the keg really isn't enough for the CO2 to come out of the beer since you are talking about killing it in one go. What about a simple mini in-line regulator? then you don't have to mess with a button outside of the frig. mcmaster-carr item #3834T51
otherwise, what about an easy in-line check valve?

Click to expand...

Hi

I can walk over to the keggerator and adjust the CO2 pressure right now. The beer will serve differently on the next pour ....

Bob

carlisle_bob said:

Hi

I can walk over to the keggerator and adjust the CO2 pressure right now. The beer will serve differently on the next pour ....

Bob

Click to expand...

I think the question is whether the way you can push beer out with the 16 gram charger is any good - it sounds like it basically works but is sub par.

The mcmaster mini-regulator sounds pretty interesting. You'd still need a gauge. I have no idea how much the fittings would cost.

it looks like you'd need to go 10-32 UNF to 1/8 pipe thread to hook up to paintball tank air hose, and you'd need a tee off the output to connect to a gauge and an FFL to connect to a keg disconnect.

Totally doable. Would it be cheaper than other mini-regulator systems when it's all said and done? Dunno.

I noticed these at Home Depot today: http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hard...h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1

Would probably work for co2. Easier to find the fittings. Very hard to find low-range psi on that dial though. Dunno if it could handle 1300psi on it's inlet though.

carlisle_bob said:

Hi

I can walk over to the keggerator and adjust the CO2 pressure right now. The beer will serve differently on the next pour ....

Bob

Click to expand...

well, no ****. Have you ever used the type of thing the OP is talking about? If not, you have not much say in this. The point of that piece is to maintain a (fairly) constant pressure over a relatively short time. Obviously the pressure applied changes the dynamics of the system immediately. he is looking for a simple solution and these conversations have a tendency to go beyond the original question.

TimpanogosSlim said:

The mcmaster mini-regulator sounds pretty interesting. You'd still need a gauge.

Click to expand...

why is a gauge required?

crosamich said:

why is a gauge required?

Click to expand...

Well, a paintball tank delivers about 1200psi unregulated.

If you want to know rather than guess what pressure you are delivering, it helps to have a gauge.

Potentially you could use a fixed regulator, something like this? http://www.marshallexcelsior.com/product.php?id=2543

I like how the OP is simply asking for a an inline button actuated valve to serve his kegs, and folks have gone off in a tangent about other crap.

And no, I have not heard of such a remote valve and I think be cost alone you could probably just get another regulator.

phoenixs4r said:

I like how the OP is simply asking for a an inline button actuated valve to serve his kegs, and folks have gone off in a tangent about other crap.

And no, I have not heard of such a remote valve and I think be cost alone you could probably just get another regulator.

Click to expand...

*shrug* we've regarded his idea as bad, and suggested better ideas.

I don't know why its a bad idea. I've used the pump that uses the small CO2's and think it works great on the go. I would say the majority of kegs being consumed at pinics and such do not use co2 at all to serve. They just pump air into the keg and that works well enough so I would think using CO2 in any form would be a step up from that.

That being said, so far there have been some great ideas so thanks for everyone for your help. I'll let you know which one I try and how it works. Any more Ideas are certainly welcome.

How come I couldn't just put a ball valve in the line and then just open it for one second to bring up the serving pressure? Would too much Co2 come out of the tank in 1 second ?

crosamich said:

well, no ****. Have you ever used the type of thing the OP is talking about? If not, you have not much say in this. The point of that piece is to maintain a (fairly) constant pressure over a relatively short time. Obviously the pressure applied changes the dynamics of the system immediately. he is looking for a simple solution and these conversations have a tendency to go beyond the original question.

Click to expand...

Hi

Yes indeed I have done *exactly* what the OP is talking about. It's a pain and it works poorly. You serve a lot of crummy beer.

Bob

carlisle_bob said:

Hi

Yes indeed I have done *exactly* what the OP is talking about. It's a pain and it works poorly. You serve a lot of crummy beer.

Bob

Click to expand...

My apologies. My first comment was a bit snarky. I guess we will just have to disagree here. I think that piece of kit works fine and I have never had problems serving consistent beer with it.

Its really not a bad idea. I usually have a keg carbing at 30psi while another one is serving with no line connected. Once the flow slows down I just move the gas line over for a short burst at 30 psi to continue serving.

Is it ideal? No, but since I didn't have the money for another regulator it works fine.

fwiw, my mini-fridge co2 system - consisting of an old, beat up, paint-spattered regulator body, $12 worth of brass fittings from the hardware store, a new 30psi gauge, a $7 60psi popoff valve (for safety, because the regulator body lacks one) and a paintball remote tank on/off fitting, is working great. No creep.

Granted, i got that regulator free with a 20lb aluminum co2 tank i paid $10 for, with 9.5 pounds of co2 still in it.

It's key feature that allowed me to do this was having all RH threads on it's ports. My Taprite and Fermentap regulators have LH threads on the high pressure ports.

The 20oz co2 bottle cost $16 from amazon. I paid a paintball shop $5 to fill it, which i understand is on the high side. Should have been closer to $2.

Sure, after purchasing bits to allow me to fill it from one of my 20lb tanks, i maybe could have just bought a used 5 pound tank to go in the mini fridge. Or just put gas fittings through the walls of the mini fridge. But that wouldn't have been as much fun, and i don't like the idea of chaining a 20lb co2 tank to a mini fridge i can only fit 1 keg in.

Used regulators come up for sale here in the classifieds for $35 all the time. How many batches of beer is that?

Does anyone know if this will work? Its a an aquriaum regulater but its very inexpensive........... ?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/270719015463?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

well the gauge on it is useless, and the chinglish is confusing. "set up below 80 psi from the co2 tank"

That's a tank-side gauge they are using, and they show it mounted to what looks like a paintball co2 tank and reading way on the low end of it's dial, so maybe that is a low-side port, so in theory maybe you can attach a 0-30 or gauge there - it will be 1/8" NPT thread i think (since i think i have that same paintball tank gauge, and i know paintball fittings are typically 1/8 NPT)

A high pressure rated actuated valve is going to be expensive.

Does this thing have a tower? Mount a needle valve inside and have the shaft extend up though a hole in the top. The problem is that you cant make it intuitive for guests and they will put 100 psi into the keg.

..

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Nice to see other ballers here!