regulator question

I am new to the board and just got a kegerator setup. What do I set the regulator too if I am using a "Y" adapter for two kegs? One beer requires 12psi and the other 8psi.

Do I set the regulator to 12psi and adjust the outlet shut-off valve to the 8psi beer to partially open?

I have a second regulator, is there a way to hook two of them up together (neither is a secondary regulator, they are both dual-guage standard regulators)?

Or, should I just set it to 10psi and very my hose lengths?

My beer won't be ready to keg for another week or so, but I would like to have everything running properly by then. In the future, I plan on having 3-5 kegs hooked up at one time, so anyone with a multi-tap system please chime in with your experiences. Thanks

You'll have to choose what pressure you want to compromise at. Without two regulators, everything downstream has to be at the same pressure.

Also, playing with different length hoses will only determine whether your beer is foamy or not.

Pressure settings/carbonation levels is a personal choice any way. You may find that you prefer a level completely different than what they suggest.

w/o a a regulator you cannot have a pressure differential when nothing is flowing. If gas or liquid is flowing the pressure differential is determined by the flow resistance and the amount that is flowing. This is a useful calculation for hooking-up/installing taps, but cannot be used for gas lines since gas is not always flowing. and even if it flows, its flow rate is not constant.

Kai

I used to run this setup in college when I had a soda keg and a beer keg in my kegerator. You use both regulators...one for each keg. On regulator 1, you'll want to set it for the highest psi..12 in your case. Then on the air oulet hose, you install a 't' fitting. One line continues to the 12psi keg, and the other goes to your secondary regulator. You'll need a new inlet fitting on the secondary regulator. I used the fitting for a soda keg, because I could screw it together without leaks. Then, set the secondary regulator down to 8psi and you're set. I can provide a pic of this setup if you'd like to see how I had it set up. I used the same regulator for each keg, but a different low pressure gauge on each.

An even better solution is something like this:
http://www.morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=16194

You can't fake it as you describe. Hose length and partially closing the valve won't do a thing.

My recommendation? Just set it on 12 PSI and condition them both at that rate. You'll never notice the difference and you're getting lost in the sauce over something as subtle as carbonation level. If you absolutely MUST have a slightly less carbonated beer in one of your kegs, then buy a dual regulator.

Cheers

Thanks for the replies. With limited funds for this hobby, buying a secondary isn't feasible at this time. I will keep an eye out for a cheap 2nd CO2 tank since I have the additional regulator. Setting at 12psi should work fine for now, eventually I would like to have some root beer on tap as well and I understand that requires a much higher pressure to carbonate than beer.

Split the diff, drink a few and it won't matter.

If you can post pics of the front and the back of the regulators we could see if you can hook the second regulator to the hi pressure side of the reg., usally where the hi pressure gauge comes out of the body of the regulator. Look on line for a dual pressure regulator so you can see what i speak of. Hold on let me see if i can find one.

Look at this pic: http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/regulator/secondary/larger1162.shtml

AHammer16 said:

If you can post pics of the front and the back of the regulators we could see if you can hook the second regulator to the hi pressure side of the reg., usally where the hi pressure gauge comes out of the body of the regulator. Look on line for a dual pressure regulator so you can see what i speak of. Hold on let me see if i can find one.

Look at this pic: http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/regulator/secondary/larger1162.shtml

Click to expand...

Yea, that should work fine, if they're both high pressure regulators. Simple $5 solution.

They both look like this
http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/regulator/double/larger342.shtml

Should it look like this when done?

http://www.northernbrewer.com/pics/fullsize/dbl-gas-reg.jpg

Yes, it should look exactly like the second one. Should only cost you less than $10 I'd think for the connecting line between the regs.

Jester4176 said:

Yes, it should look exactly like the second one. Should only cost you less than $10 I'd think for the connecting line between the regs.

Click to expand...

thanks, now to track down the connector

h2dk said:

thanks, now to track down the connector

Click to expand...

Midwest....

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdByID.aspx?ProdID=6106