rtockst
Well-Known Member
I'm working on getting a jockey box with a 6 pass cold plate built. I need to get it done asap, because I'm using it at a festival on May 5th. I want to serve 6 beers and I'm having trouble figuring out the line length I need to use and at what pressure.
I bought the plate used (10" x 15") w/ 6 passes. I'm assuming the ID of the lines on the inside is 1/4", but I don't know how long each pass is. I found a few different plates of the same size on the web and it says they have a line length of 18 feet. Does that mean each pass is 18 feet long?
So I want to know how to figure out what length of beer line to use if I want to serve 6 beers at about 2.5volumes. Here's what I figured up:
- line & height resistance - For the cold plate, if each pass is 18 feet, @ 0.3lbs/ft, that's a resistance of 5.4lbs for each pass in the cold plate. If I have 3lbs/ft of resistance with 3/6" ID beer line (which is what I think I should use), with 5 feet in between keg and cold plate, that's 15lbs resistance. I would use about 3 feet between cold plate and faucet, so that's 9lbs resistance. The height of the faucet above keg would be about 2 feet, so that's 1lb resistance. So in total, that's about 30lbs resistance for ONE line of beer. Does that mean I should have my regulator set at 30lbs, or do I need to multiply that by 6, since I want to serve 6 beers? Also, that would over carbonate my beer, right? See below:
- Beer temperature & regulator pressure- The kegs might not be iced down. Do I use the beer temp coming out of the faucet for figuring up the regulator pressure, or do I use the keg temp? I'm assuming the temp is 42F, I want 2.5 volumes (for each keg), and I have one gas regulator hooked up to a 6 outlet gas manifold. For 1 keg, I'd need 13.3psi to carbonate it to 2.5volumes. So does that mean my regulator pressure needs to be 13.3 x 6, since I want to do 6 beers?
Aside from the questions I have about multiplying my numbers by 6 because I want to serve 6 beers, I need to figure out how to balance the pressure. I can shorten up the 3/16" beer lines to reduce the resistance, but I can't change the 18' length through the cold plate. How can I balance this thing?
Thanks for any/all help!
I bought the plate used (10" x 15") w/ 6 passes. I'm assuming the ID of the lines on the inside is 1/4", but I don't know how long each pass is. I found a few different plates of the same size on the web and it says they have a line length of 18 feet. Does that mean each pass is 18 feet long?
So I want to know how to figure out what length of beer line to use if I want to serve 6 beers at about 2.5volumes. Here's what I figured up:
- line & height resistance - For the cold plate, if each pass is 18 feet, @ 0.3lbs/ft, that's a resistance of 5.4lbs for each pass in the cold plate. If I have 3lbs/ft of resistance with 3/6" ID beer line (which is what I think I should use), with 5 feet in between keg and cold plate, that's 15lbs resistance. I would use about 3 feet between cold plate and faucet, so that's 9lbs resistance. The height of the faucet above keg would be about 2 feet, so that's 1lb resistance. So in total, that's about 30lbs resistance for ONE line of beer. Does that mean I should have my regulator set at 30lbs, or do I need to multiply that by 6, since I want to serve 6 beers? Also, that would over carbonate my beer, right? See below:
- Beer temperature & regulator pressure- The kegs might not be iced down. Do I use the beer temp coming out of the faucet for figuring up the regulator pressure, or do I use the keg temp? I'm assuming the temp is 42F, I want 2.5 volumes (for each keg), and I have one gas regulator hooked up to a 6 outlet gas manifold. For 1 keg, I'd need 13.3psi to carbonate it to 2.5volumes. So does that mean my regulator pressure needs to be 13.3 x 6, since I want to do 6 beers?
Aside from the questions I have about multiplying my numbers by 6 because I want to serve 6 beers, I need to figure out how to balance the pressure. I can shorten up the 3/16" beer lines to reduce the resistance, but I can't change the 18' length through the cold plate. How can I balance this thing?
Thanks for any/all help!