NO silicone tubing for beer lines

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mysteryberto

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I went to a homebrew shop out of town a while back. I asked the sales person what I should use for beer line for my kegerator. They gave me 3/16 inch silicone tubing. It worked OK but last night it poured one glass fine and then the second was ALL head. I popped open my kegerator to take a look. Here is what I saw.

It was as poofy as a balloon animal. Needless to say I disconnected the gas right away and drained the liquid out of the line. Tomorrow I'll pick up proper vinyl beer line from my LHBS.

mash 025.jpg
 
Thanks for the warning, mystery. It's surprising that they would be selling that stuff considering it's completely inappropriate and would be discovered to be so by the first person to use it. I can only assume that you're either the first person, or nobody's bothered to tell them that it's not suitable.
 
Wow, now I've seen everything, LOL! That sales person should be fired for telling you that you could use anything other than thick walled beverage tubing in your draft system.
 
Good work being quick on the draw. It's a good thing you had the foresight to peek in the fridge and see WTF was up, rather than pull 8 more pints through it in frustration. Your diligence saved you a massive beersplosion!

I'd take that back to the store and demand the correct line at no cost, a few feet of extra line for your time, and maybe some extra clamps or QDs or something to make up for the gas for the 2nd trip.
 
yea the tubing they sold you is obviously inadequate. but I cant think of any reason why silicone tubing of the proper thickness and quality cant be used. I guess I would be thank it didnt blow and hurt anyone or even worse empty a keg of beer on the floor. what pressure was it set at?
 
yea the tubing they sold you is obviously inadequate. but I cant think of any reason why silicone tubing of the proper thickness and quality cant be used. I guess I would be thank it didnt blow and hurt anyone or even worse empty a keg of beer on the floor. what pressure was it set at?

To my knowledge, there is no silicone tubing rated for hi-pressure suitable for use in a kegging setup. It is hi-temp by nature, and great for transferring wort during brewday. Many have thick enough walls to put up with pressures as provided by a March pump. But to my knowledge, no silicone product is currently offered with the "right" thicknesses for a closed CO2-based pressure system.

I'm not saying it "can't" be done - I don't think anyone currently sells the appropriate thickness/burst test product.
 
Great story! I second Bobby's idea.

Silicone tubing is great for hot transfers and I use it for all my cold, low pressure transfers. I has much less memory from coiling up than vinyl hose.

Real thick walled vinyl beer line is the only way to go.
 
yea the tubing they sold you is obviously inadequate. but I cant think of any reason why silicone tubing of the proper thickness and quality cant be used. I guess I would be thank it didnt blow and hurt anyone or even worse empty a keg of beer on the floor. what pressure was it set at?

One word: Elasticity.
 
How far is "out of town"? You have to wonder whether the guy didn't know what he was talking about or just wanted to sell you what he had in stock. My local place, for some unknown reason, doesn't stock the 3/16" beerline; they wanted to just sell me the 1/4" stuff, and had no clue when I started asking them questions about how much length I would need to balance it, etc (they were completely dumbfounded when I explained the whole "longer line, slower but better pour" concept).
 
something like part number 51735K26 from mcmaster-carr high purity silicone, food grade, and rated for 125psi at 68f. its f-ing expensive but it should work. its braid reinforced tubing, thats most likely why it can handle the pressure.
 
Micromatic has 3/16" I.D. vinyl beer line hose for $0.80/foot. Here's there take on it.

3/16" I.D. vinyl hose is used for the beer hose in most applications where the distance between the keg and the faucet is less than 5’. The small I.D. (inside diameter) provides the correct restriction to the beer flow balancing against the pressure applied to the keg.

What is restriction?

This size hose is not appropriate for use in lengths longer then 5' as a higher then normal keg pressure would be required to dispense the beer and this would result in over carbonated (foamy) beer.

This brewery approved hose will not rot, swell, or dry out and is unaffected by normal beer line cleaning chemicals.
 
+1 on Vinyl
There is absolutely no reason to use silicone tubing in a high pressure environment. It's simply not suited for the application.
 
yea the tubing they sold you is obviously inadequate. but I cant think of any reason why silicone tubing of the proper thickness and quality cant be used. I guess I would be thank it didnt blow and hurt anyone or even worse empty a keg of beer on the floor. what pressure was it set at?

It was only set at 10 PSI. Strange it would pour a perfect glass and then pour a glass of foam. I replaced the tubing tonight and it's pouring great now. Lot easier to see the beer in the vinyl tubing as well.
 
+1 on Vinyl
There is absolutely no reason to use silicone tubing in a high pressure environment. It's simply not suited for the application.

It's exactly what is necessary in many turbo applications. Of course the silicone is reinforced, but it's necessary in high temp environments. ;)
 
That is absolutely irresponsible behavior by the LHBS employee. I've had this stuff balloon up when I'm cleaning out my CFC with the hose connection. Great for hot transfer of course but totally unsuitable for pressure at the thickness you have.

The $11 a foot stuff is pretty neat, but yeah overkill

You all know about my obsession lately with LLDPE for beverage lines but I'll leave that alone for now.
 
I'm actually looking at High Purity Tygon instead of PVC. The first 2oz of beer tastes AWFUL in my kegger because it sits in PVC. I'm going to try 4 feet of 1/8" ID tygon and see how that goes. It's a bit over a dollar a foot but I won't need as much either.
 
I'm actually looking at High Purity Tygon instead of PVC. The first 2oz of beer tastes AWFUL in my kegger because it sits in PVC. I'm going to try 4 feet of 1/8" ID tygon and see how that goes. It's a bit over a dollar a foot but I won't need as much either.

Hey Bobby,

I spent 4 months researching different hose types to find the best for beer transfer to completely remove any rubber/vinyl taste .... see my analysis here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/beer-line-tests-solution-plastic-taste-60380/


Kal
 
No problems, but as a disclaimer: I know SOME stuff. ;)

My heads swimming at the moment trying to put together a nice AG electric brewing setup. So many unanswered questions... ;)

Kal
 
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