Portable CO2 setup for sanke kegs

Just wondering if anyone has every made a setup for 1/2 barrel sanke kegs using the small bb gun like co2 cartridges. I've never used the setups for the corney kegs that they already sell so I don't even know how many cartridges it takes to dispense a smaller keg. (anyone know?) I have a full blown kegerator , but the other day my buddy bought a keg for the super bowl which made me think of this idea. He used the good ol fashion air pump, only drank half the keg and the rest was flat by the next day. So I thought to myself.....hey , there should be a fairly cheap system out there just for situations like this. You know, for the occasional use people. Say they just want a 1/6th or 1/4 barrel for a weekend party type of thing and dont want to spend $600 on a kegerator. Thoughts?? This may just be my $1 million idea haha.

You can buy the sanke to homebrew adapter kits so all the fittings then match. Basically it puts the 1/4 tapered fittings on a sanke tap.

Buy the dispensing unit already available for the soda kegs and that’s all it would take.

I can dispense a 5 gallon keg with about 1.5 to 2 cartridges.

But those aren't regulated unless your but the $130 one from Williams brewing correct?

Right, no regulator. Just pull the trigger when the beer flow slows.

I use an old single guage regulator and some paintball parts cobbled together to make a paintball CO2 Regulator. I can put enough gas in it with my remote fill setup from my 20lb tank to dispense a keg.

I'm thinking no gauge, 10psi non adjustable regulator that accepts the screw in 45gram cartridges with a sanke tap for a price point of around $75. I saw the other "portable kits" and buy the time you get a tank and have it filled you're into the kit for around $225. I'm just waiting for the regulator company to get back to me on pricing. Then I'll see how serious I want to get. Besides, I should be able to talk my friends into buying some 1/4kegs for weekend get togethers with a setup like this =). Then they can stop drinking from my kegs all the time haha.

In Canada our local big box Automotive store was selling something called a Jac pac on discount last year. It was a 9 ounce paintball tank with a regulator and a hose/quick disconnect for use with air powered tools. All the homebrewers bought them up, cut the quick disconnects off and added a ball/pin lock valve to the end and now we have portable CO2 systems with regulators.

http://www.canadianwoodworking.com/Newsletters/NL_reviews/Jacpac/Jacpac.htm

Varroa said:

In Canada our local big box Automotive store was selling something called a Jak pac on discount last year. It was a 9 ounce paintball tank with a regulator and a hose/quick disconnect. All the homebrewers bought them up, cut the quick disconnects off and added a ball/pin lock valve to the end and now we have portable CO2 systems with regulators.

http://www.canadianwoodworking.com/Newsletters/NL_reviews/Jacpac/Jacpac.htm

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Yeah, that's pretty cool. But at that price that's way over double what I'm hoping to make them for. Plus you would have to keep getting the tank refilled etc. I guess the crowd I'm looking at is the non-DIYer. Myself not included haha. If I just wanted it for me I would just make one haha. When it's just for me I like to go all out haha.

HomeBrewFoSho said:

Yeah, that's pretty cool. But at that price that's way over double what I'm hoping to make them for. Plus you would have to keep getting the tank refilled etc.

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They were discounted to around $20 so it was well worth it. Those little disposable CO2 canisters cost a lot if you buy the food grade ones (compared to bulk CO2) and they can be difficult to obtain sometimes (there are people that say the non-food grade ones may have oil in them to lubricate the mechanics). If you can find a Jac pac for cheap then I would highly recommend one.

Varroa said:

They were discounted to around $20 so it was well worth it. Those little disposable CO2 canisters cost a lot if you buy the food grade ones (compared to bulk CO2) and they can be difficult to obtain sometimes (there are people that say the non-food grade ones may have oil in them to lubricate the mechanics). If you can find a Jac pac for cheap then I would highly recommend one.

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haha, yeah for $20 it would be well worth it!!

Any guesses how many 16gram cartridges it would take to dispense a 1/2 barrel?? Or how many grams total it might take?

Dispensing doesn't take much CO2. If I was careful I could dispense 2x5gallon kegs with one 16 gram cartridge. Usually it was closer to 1.5 kegs. With the Jac pac and I can do a dozen or more no problem.

Varroa said:

Dispensing doesn't take much CO2. If I was careful I could dispense 2x5gallon kegs with one 16 gram cartridge. Usually it was closer to 1.5 kegs. With the Jac pac and I can do a dozen or more no problem.

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Well that's good to know. I found the 16 gram food grade cartridges for like $1.50 each. Even if it took two or three cartridges that's not terrible. Like I said you have to look at the idea as an occasional use thing. I don't think spending $5 per keg on cartridges is terrible. (ask my friend who just wasted like 100 beers because he used an air pump to dispense haha) I just think it would be nice for the occasional user to just have some extra cartridges and throw them away when they're done.

I knew I wasn't the only one crazy enough to think this up. Too bad they have unrealistic pricing:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006SRZQ8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Reviving an old thread, the Jacpacs are on sale in Canada again:

http://www.princessauto.com/pal/product/8433211/Air-Tool-Kits/Portable-CO2-Powered-Compressor-Kit

The online specs show the regulator is adjustable from 20-100 psi. Does anyone have any experience with this, as far as it overcarbing?

Varroa said:

Reviving an old thread, the Jacpacs are on sale in Canada again:

http://www.princessauto.com/pal/product/8433211/Air-Tool-Kits/Portable-CO2-Powered-Compressor-Kit

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Hmmm, mine goes all the way down to zero. I usually set it at 10psi for serving in my jockey box and it works great.

Hi

Keep in mind that there are food grade one use cartridges and non-food grade ones. At least around here it's pretty tough to find the food grade ones.

Bob

Soda Stream CO2 bottles would be food grade surely? (for the JacPac idea)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002ZB7M44/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

If you mean for the small 8 gram "whippet" size then most commercial kitchen supplies will sell N2O od Selzer cannisters
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001MUJHKG/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 FYI N2O is good for dispensing but no good for carbonating..
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00304SLAO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


Or 16 ram CO2 ones available here..
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0016KSJ9W/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Hi there.
I know this is a pretty old article, but I have a couple questions about the Jacpac.

I did buy one a couple years ago at CanadianTire for about $20 CAD, but never did much with it for 2 reasons:
1. Refill the tank
2. Fit it to my rig.

So, can you tell me how to fill up the tank? Ideally, I could connect it to my 5lbs tank to fill it up.

Questions:
- Where could I get the right fitting to go from 5lbs tank to Jacpac tank?
- What fitting would I need to use the Jacpac to dispense

Thanks a lot for the info! Can't wait to finish this project up - it's been sitting on the shelf for too long