I need a little help from the brain trust on this one. I have purchased a carbonator pump system for soda serving and was struck with an idea. Would it be possible to connect the water out of the resivoir to a corny keg thereby having a complete 5 gallons of carbonated soda. Then hooking the rest of the system up as usual. I like this as it would let me keep the pump outside of my keezer and the cold keg inside. It also would eliminate the need for a cold plate, and still maintain instant carbonation. Anybody have any thoughts?
Soda dispensing system
- Thread starter giono2
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
sorry to threadjack, but david_42's post reminded me of a question I've always wondered about....
If I mix Coke syrup and water to the proper ratio and force carb, can I dispense soda out of my keezer setup?
If I mix Coke syrup and water to the proper ratio and force carb, can I dispense soda out of my keezer setup?
It is post mix.
david_42 what about the pressures. The soda system runs the CO2 at 90-100 PSI. Any concerns there?
Hi giono2,
I actually install soda fountain systems for a living for Pepsi. So here is my 2 cents.
You can make this work, here is how to set it up.
Make sure your your corny is completely empty of water!! Plumb everything in from your co2 to your carbonator, to the keg, to the faucet.
Once you have everything plumbed in, you need to turn on the co2 first, and bleed all of the ambient air out of the entire system...i.e.. the carbonator tank, and the corny keg. So bleed the co2 from the faucet for approx 2 minutes. This eliminates any pockets of air that get trapped in the tanks and degrade carbonation over time.
Your co2 pressure must be at least 20lbs greater than your water pressure or the carbonator will not work properly. So, if you have very high water pressure, you will need a water regulator. We run our co2 at 100 psi for the McCans Large body like you have and install a 50psi water regulator.
Once you bleed the co2, turn on your water, then plug in the carbonater and let it run. I will take forever to fill up the corny keg. It usually takes a little over a minute, just to fill the carbonator's tank, so you can imagine how long it will take to fill 5 gallons.
Let it run until the carbonator shuts off. Once it shuts off, you can open the faucet and bleed all the pressure off untill you get soda. Then it shoud run its self from that point.
One more thing. ONce the carbonator shuts off and you open the faucet, it is possible that the water will not be carbonated at that point. If a lot of water got into the tank before you plugged in the carbonator, it could be flat at first. Just keep running it. It will eventually come out carbonated.
Hope this helps. Any questions I can answer about soda systems....just let me know. I will try to help.
Jaybrinks
I actually install soda fountain systems for a living for Pepsi. So here is my 2 cents.
You can make this work, here is how to set it up.
Make sure your your corny is completely empty of water!! Plumb everything in from your co2 to your carbonator, to the keg, to the faucet.
Once you have everything plumbed in, you need to turn on the co2 first, and bleed all of the ambient air out of the entire system...i.e.. the carbonator tank, and the corny keg. So bleed the co2 from the faucet for approx 2 minutes. This eliminates any pockets of air that get trapped in the tanks and degrade carbonation over time.
Your co2 pressure must be at least 20lbs greater than your water pressure or the carbonator will not work properly. So, if you have very high water pressure, you will need a water regulator. We run our co2 at 100 psi for the McCans Large body like you have and install a 50psi water regulator.
Once you bleed the co2, turn on your water, then plug in the carbonater and let it run. I will take forever to fill up the corny keg. It usually takes a little over a minute, just to fill the carbonator's tank, so you can imagine how long it will take to fill 5 gallons.
Let it run until the carbonator shuts off. Once it shuts off, you can open the faucet and bleed all the pressure off untill you get soda. Then it shoud run its self from that point.
One more thing. ONce the carbonator shuts off and you open the faucet, it is possible that the water will not be carbonated at that point. If a lot of water got into the tank before you plugged in the carbonator, it could be flat at first. Just keep running it. It will eventually come out carbonated.
Hope this helps. Any questions I can answer about soda systems....just let me know. I will try to help.
Jaybrinks
You'll need to experiment with the serving line length or add some kind of restriction in the line. I use 20' with at 35 psi.
From what jaybrinks says, I think my idea of pre-carbonating the keg still holds. Running soda water until it's carbonated might be ok in a restaurant, but it would take a while at home.
From what jaybrinks says, I think my idea of pre-carbonating the keg still holds. Running soda water until it's carbonated might be ok in a restaurant, but it would take a while at home.
conpewter
Well-Known Member
This is a nice idea, currently I just force carb water outside my kegorator while the corny inside dispenses for my soda system. Then I switch them out (and have a few hours downtime due to warm soda water).
Good point!
David_42 is right...starting with a full carbonated tank will definitely save some time. It still may take a while for everything to equalize and shut off the carbonator..but a lot less time than an empty one...that's for sure!
As far as adding restriction, if you can find a pre-mix valve, or bar gun, they have compensators/ brix screws that you can adjust the flow with. Other wise it will be blasting out of the valve. You could always install a small in-line plastic valve to adjust the flow...that would be the cheapest/easiest to find and install.
David_42 is right...starting with a full carbonated tank will definitely save some time. It still may take a while for everything to equalize and shut off the carbonator..but a lot less time than an empty one...that's for sure!
As far as adding restriction, if you can find a pre-mix valve, or bar gun, they have compensators/ brix screws that you can adjust the flow with. Other wise it will be blasting out of the valve. You could always install a small in-line plastic valve to adjust the flow...that would be the cheapest/easiest to find and install.
DutchK9
Well-Known Member
Without getting too far off topic, is homebrew soda that good? Seems like alot of work and $ to get it going.
I'm using a 2 1/2 gallon corny keg as a big seltzer bottle.
I put about 1 1/2 gallons of water in the keg, set the CO2 at 35PSI and shake the keg for a few minutes, disconnect the CO2 leaving the keg with the 35PSI change. The 35PSI with the one gallon head space is enough to dispense 1 1/2 gallons of well carbonated soda water, no extra gas needed to dispense.
I chill/store it in the fridge.
I put about 1 1/2 gallons of water in the keg, set the CO2 at 35PSI and shake the keg for a few minutes, disconnect the CO2 leaving the keg with the 35PSI change. The 35PSI with the one gallon head space is enough to dispense 1 1/2 gallons of well carbonated soda water, no extra gas needed to dispense.
I chill/store it in the fridge.
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