Kegerator Beer Head Problem

I just finished a keezer style kegerator. I used Perlick 525 faucets. I'm having a problem getting good head from the pour. If I hook a picnic faucet I get great head, but from each of the 5 Perlick faucets the head is almost nonexistent. One difference is hose length. I have 6 feet of hose from the keg to the Perlick faucet. Whereas the picnic tap is 3 feet. Before I cut all my kegerator hose down to 3 feet I wanted to see if anyone had any ideas.

Thanks.

What kind of hose (ID) are you using? If its low diameter (sometimes called 'foam reducing' -for a good reason) then 6' is way too long. I don't have a perlick but I can't imagine that IT is your problem. You kind of figured it out for yourself though -the tap with good head is only half the length of your 'good' taps.
I use a smaller diameter hose, and I've found my length being optimal at 4'. In your case, I'd cut ONE of your 'good' lines by a foot at a time, and see how it pours. When you get it 'right', cut the others to match. And lets face it, if you shorten one too much, hose isn't that expensive and gives kegs of service (grin).

Increase your PSI.

Nightbiker - the hose is 3/16 ID, as is the picnic tap hose. I will try keep by a foot at a time until I find an optimal pour. Thank you for the input.

SD-SLIM - PSI was my first thought. I went from 6 PSI for serving to 8, 12 and 15 and I never saw improvement.

No worries. I use the same hose. That stuff is the 'foam reducing' line I was talking about. I was admiring your rig there, what did you use to make your 'chalk board' out of?

Thanks for the compliment. I was pretty happy with how it turned out since I started with a dirty ol' chest freezer from craigslist (image below). I used Krylon chalkboard paint (link below). Prime the freezer surface with whatever old paint you have lying around, I used spray paint. And then two coats of chalkboard paint.

http://www.tcpglobal.com/SprayPaintDepot/ItemDetail.aspx?ItemNo=KRY+KDQ5223

Thanks for the tips. Oddly enough, I have one of those things myself (its doing duty as my fermentation control unit right now, but I'm looking for a larger one and was thinking about converting this one to in-house duty...)

If the PSI is correct (which in most cases is between 10 to 12 PSI for most beers), then the only other options (before reducing length of hose) would be:
1) Beer is to cold - here is a chart that should help: http://www.kegkits.com/carbonation.htm
2) Dirty or Soapy glass, but since you dont have this issue with a picnic tap (rule this one out).
3) Loose Tap
4) Moisture in air system

I would start with the temp, since it's the easiest to check...I hope some of this help's and if I can think of more things I post.

lutherslagers said:

Nightbiker - the hose is 3/16 ID, as is the picnic tap hose. I will try keep by a foot at a time until I find an optimal pour. Thank you for the input.

SD-SLIM - PSI was my first thought. I went from 6 PSI for serving to 8, 12 and 15 and I never saw improvement.

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Almost all of my beers are carbed and served at 12-14 PSI. If you carbed at 6 and only jacked it up to 12 for serving you my simply have under carbed beer.

What is your serving temperature?

camiller said:

Almost all of my beers are carbed and served at 12-14 PSI. If you carbed at 6 and only jacked it up to 12 for serving you my simply have under carbed beer.

What is your serving temperature?

Click to expand...

agreed...if your beer is at 6 and it's carbed up, it's way too cold!

you'd have to bring your psi up to carbing pressure, which, if balanced, should be the same as serving pressure...don't have to fuss with pressures all the time. leave it for a week or so to properly carb, then try pulling a pint.

all that time you spent building that awesome keezer, might as well spend the time to do it right, and balance your system

+1. Increase your PSI....You've gotta be way undercarbed at 6 PSI!

Also, only slightly opening the faucet will act like a "creamer" faucet and give you a shot of foam for the head.

I cut the hose from 6 feet to 5 feet and it fixed the problem on all 5 lines. Here is a sample. Thank you all for the input.