Secondary regulators & manifolds daisy chain questions

OK, so I want to be sure I'm understanding this correctly before I buy anything. I'm in the process of upgrading my 4 tap kegerator into an 11 tap keezer and I want to have different pressures for different styles. I'm thinking 3 different pressures; one higher pressure for wheats & Belgians, one low for porters, and one in the middle for everything else. Then I'll also have 2 stout taps run off nitro blend.

For the CO2, do I need 3 secondary regulators or can I get by with just 2?

I was thinking/hoping 2 in this type of set up; use my main regulator attached to my CO2 tank to run into a 3 way manifold for the wheats at a higher pressure, then take the little screw off the end of the manifold to attach to the 1st secondary regulator and a 4 way manifold (already own) for the middle beers, then take the screw off that one to attach to the final lowest pressure regulator and a 2 way manifold for the porters.

Recap: CO2 tank, primary regulator, manifold, secondary regulator, manifold, secondary regulator, manifold.

Will that work? Or do I need 3 secondary's to run right off my primary and into the various individual manifolds from there?

Not even sure if this makes an sense the way I'm asking it... Been pre-partying for a few hours now...

Theoretically that should work. My only caution to you is to check with the manufacturer specifications for the secondary regulators what the differential needs to be from the high side to the low side.

If I remember correctly, they need a certain differential to work properly, if the pressures are too close it may not work as expected.

I do something similar for my setup. I only do two pressures now, so a single secondary regulator that goes to a manifold for all my beer (I do them all at the same pressure now), and then on the other high side of the secondary, I have a separate line for soda at a much higher pressure (about twice that of what I use for beer).

I used to have more secondary regulators in use, but I realized that for me, I prefer to serve everything at the same pressure and keep things simple.

Also, if you do this, check everything for leaks, as you will have many connections now and need to be careful so as not to drain a tank unexpectedly.

I have some pretty major leaks in my system now, so I only turn on the gas every now and then, go into the walk-in cooler, and top off all the kegs, then turn off the gas, and I am good for a few weeks.

I had thought of building a 14+ manifold to be able to keep my serving kegs on gas, but then I started pricing things out, and with my current difficulty with leaks, I decided against it.

Best of luck!

gnef said:

I used to have more secondary regulators in use, but I realized that for me, I prefer to serve everything at the same pressure and keep things simple.

Click to expand...

It's funny you say that because I'm very tempted to go that route as well. "KISS"... The only thing that keeps pulling me toward the more complex side of things is every time I crack open a high carb wheat or Belgian and wonder at it's fizz... then wonder how it would be with less of it. I can handle perhaps a higher carbonated porters, so I could trim the fat there and go to 2 regs.

Do you miss it or do you stay away from brewing these types?

Thanks for the reply

I don't miss it at all. As long as the carbonation is within a reasonable level, I am not that sensitive to differences between carb levels (I do have beergas and pour some, not all, stouts through the stout faucet on beergas).

Another thing to look at is, if you are using different pressures, you have to be willing to work with your beerline length or use the flow restrictors in the line or keg.

I actually try to go with the simplest route - I use 10 ft of beerline on all my lines except for my soda line (longer).

I am actually moving to a different OD beerline - 3/8 rather than 7/16, and I am using acetal john guest fittings with the flared connectors. This allows me to change the fitting without any tools. I am hoping to gradually transition to use this line for both beerline and gas, and use the acetal john guest fittings for both beer and gas to standardize things and make things easier to work with, especially when I have over 30 sets of disconnects - trying to work with the oetiker clamps and barbed-flare connectors was becoming a pain.

I also have been wanting to unify the tubing I buy and use to a single size, especially because I like to keep at least 100 ft of whatever line I am using on hand.

gnef said:

I don't miss it at all. As long as the carbonation is within a reasonable level, I am not that sensitive to differences between carb levels (I do have beergas and pour some, not all, stouts through the stout faucet on beergas).

Another thing to look at is, if you are using different pressures, you have to be willing to work with your beerline length or use the flow restrictors in the line or keg.

I actually try to go with the simplest route - I use 10 ft of beerline on all my lines except for my soda line (longer).

I am actually moving to a different OD beerline - 3/8 rather than 7/16, and I am using acetal john guest fittings with the flared connectors. This allows me to change the fitting without any tools. I am hoping to gradually transition to use this line for both beerline and gas, and use the acetal john guest fittings for both beer and gas to standardize things and make things easier to work with, especially when I have over 30 sets of disconnects - trying to work with the oetiker clamps and barbed-flare connectors was becoming a pain.

I also have been wanting to unify the tubing I buy and use to a single size, especially because I like to keep at least 100 ft of whatever line I am using on hand.

Click to expand...

All great points again. I've been using about 12 feet of 3/16 ID for a while on everything right now. Regulator set at 11psi. Seems to work pretty well. I'm thinking about going to 15ft once the keezer is finished, but I've got more research to do on that. I haven't looked into any of the quick disconnects, but that seems like a great option.

It's pretty simple. Anything below (after) a regulator will be at the same pressure as that regulator (this is assuming a pressurized system, not a flowing system), UNLESS there is another lower-pressure regulator downstream.

I KNOW there is friction in the gas lines, but once it's all pressurized, everything gets equalized eventually.

M_C

Misplaced_Canuck said:

It's pretty simple. Anything below (after) a regulator will be at the same pressure as that regulator (this is assuming a pressurized system, not a flowing system), UNLESS there is another lower-pressure regulator downstream.

I KNOW there is friction in the gas lines, but once it's all pressurized, everything gets equalized eventually.

M_C

Click to expand...

Very well put.