Air bubbles forming in all my beer lines? CO2?

[discgolfin]

I have found bubbles forming in all 4 of my lines running up to the end of the taps? I have been running the same system for some time now with no major changes or any problems. It forms with small bubbles and builds up until a whole section of line has air and not beer. My thought is co2 coming out of solution..if it was air getting in at the keg side than I would suspect I would have beer leaking out as well. Any thoughts? Suggestions? If it is in fact co2 i would imagine it would be rather hard for bugs to grow..however if its air than we have issues. I have not noticed any problems..but gunk can build up from beer sitting in the air part of the lines.

I have a 20# tank set at 10 psi, all ball lock kegs, no co2 lekaing that i know of. 5 ft lines an all 4 kegs.

Thanks for any thoughts or advice

Jay

 

[shoestealer17]

Ive had that happen before also.
For me it was CO2 breaking out of solution in my beer lines.
I believe I just turned the temperature on my kegerator lower so the beer could absorb more CO2, I think I turned down the pressure a little also to compensate
There are alot of threads around that talk about this

 

[RDWHAHB]

Yes CO2 coming out of solution. The 2 most likely culprits are increased temps or decreased CO2 pressure.

 

[discgolfin]

Ok so i attempted to control this temps are 47 to 48. PSI is 9. Im still getting bubbles on alll 4 taps. Im still convinced it has to do with co2 because it is happening to all 4 kegs. Any more advice? I depressurized all 4 kegs for a week and than let them settle and hit them with 9 psi while my temp is 47..the carbonation is good..if I bring my pressure up any more than it will be foam. help please!! not sure whats goping on. The bubbles clearly are coming out of the keg post so I can see them form from the keg side and travel all the way up the line.

 

[Hammy71]

Did you force carb the beers by shaking or high pressure? The only time I had that problem with my lines was when I tried those methods. The beer is off-gassing to equalize with the 9psi. Usually it's temp or over carbonation. Hence why I set and forget for 3 weeks before I tap. May not be the problem, but just an idea.

 

[shoestealer17]

Sound like 47 degrees is too high of a temp, Id do colder

 

[discgolfin]

I always set and forget. The only real change to my system is a larger co2 tank. I did have some temp fluctuations..how cold do you think? and should i dial the psi down as well? 47 and 9-10 is what I always used to have it at with no problems. I usually don't like the beer much colder than 47..but if its the only way to dial it in.

Jay

 

[P-J]

I firmly believe that this problem is temperature stratification in your cooler from the top of the keg to your tap. As little as a degree or 2 temp difference can develop the symptom.

Another problem that can cause this issue is if you "force" carb it. In other words - if you raise the CO² pressure during carbonation to speed up the process, Balance between the CO² volume in solution and the temperature becomes the issue. Changing temperatures can also give you grief.

 

[iaefebs]

At 47-48° you would be looking at raising the PSI not lowering. Possibly raising to 14-16 psi. Then you would probably find that 5 feet of hose would not be enough restriction and you would have foamy beer. I see that you are from Chicago is your tapper in an unheated garage? How sure are you that you have maintained a steady temp recently and nothing has changed?

 

[NebraskaBrewer]

Obviously you need to flush out the beer lines more frequently, I'd suggest you pull at least a pint out of each tap daily. After 4 pints you won't care about the bubbles any more...

 

[bucfanmike]

i agree with the temperature stratification becuase that was happening in my keezer. The solution for me was to build a small fan box and move the air around. The beer coming from the bottom of the keg was much colder than the lines were after setting for any length of time I was having co2 bubbles forming in the lines. Keepinf the air moving inside the box has greatly cut down on the problem for me.

 

[P-J]

bucfanmike,

Exactly!

Thanks for that.

 

[John_FL]

What do you all use to power the computer fan? I have heard of an old cell phone charger as a solution. Are they all the right voltage for a computer fan?

 

[P-J]

What do you all use to power the computer fan? I have heard of an old cell phone charger as a solution. Are they all the right voltage for a computer fan?

Well - You need to know the voltage of the fan and then if it is an AC or DC unit. With that info, you choose the power supply to match it.

 

[shoestealer17]

I use a dc computer fan in my kegerator, powered by a cell phone charger, it also has a hose attached to the top of the box to move air into the tower to cool it

 

[John_FL]

This may be a silly question... Is the problem caused by the temperature difference between cool beer at the bottom of the keg, and warm beer in the lines, or just warm beer in the lines?

If it is just warm beer in the lines, could I just move my temp probe up higher in my keezer?

 

[bucfanmike]

i believe it to be the temp difference between the beer coming from the bottom of the keg and the beer lines up much higher. For the ones that asked the fan questions, I used a computer fan built into a radio shack project box. Used an old cell phone charger to power it. I put a 4" pvc outlet thru the back of the box and attached a piece of dryer vent hose. The box sits at the bottom of the freezer box and the vent hose ends where all my bev hose is coiled.

 

[P-J]

This may be a silly question... Is the problem caused by the temperature difference between cool beer at the bottom of the keg, and warm beer in the lines, or just warm beer in the lines?

If it is just warm beer in the lines, could I just move my temp probe up higher in my keezer?

Be careful with doing that. You might end up freezing the beer.

The best solution is to circulate the air.

 

[discgolfin]

Fan..duh..thanks that should do the trick. That's what I do in my fermentation chamber..not sure why I didn't do it in my keezer. What's wierd is I have never had this problem before. Ive had the same setup for years with no problems.
I will get a fan today..i usually put probe in lower part of keg..because that's the serving temp.

Thanks for help..i will post results

Jay

 

[discgolfin]

Cheap 8 $ fan. Set freezer at 47, and psi 9. All good. Not sure why I never had off gassing prior to this but for others a small fan helps push the cold air on the bottom and moves it around keeping the whole freezer at 47.


J