Auto CO2 timer

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RJS

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Anyone familiar with an automatic co2 controller that can turn on for serving hours and shut off when bar is closed? Based on clock settings, for example 7 pm to 10 pm
 
Sounds like you are looking for an off the shelf method to stop your taps from working when your business is closed. Instead of controlling gas I would put valves with actuators on the beer lines to stop flow. By shutting off the gas side you would still have pressure on the kegs and would be able to get several pours using the pressure already in the keg as well as the pressure from the dissolved CO2. Hooking these valves to the beer side wired to something like a raspberry pi or andruino where you can program your schedule. Otherwise you could go with valves that open and close depending on if they have power going to them and just wire them up to a timer like the one you would use on a lamp while you are on vacation or a pool pump.

Otherwise tap locks arent too bad of a solution if you only have a couple taps and this is for home use and dont mind a more manual approach
 
Bobby_M said:
For what purpose exactly?
Click to expand...

Hey Bobby, your videos got me into camlock fittings.

This is for our bar. We have 11 taps, 3 on nitro (red wine) and 8 on CO2 (beer, soda, water).

Our beverage dispenser is big, and needs serving pressure for the hours we are open everyday. I shut off the gas at closing because of mysterious leaks in the past, can never be too sure.

Wanting a machine to do the work that i normally do, sometimes im not there, etc.
 
DrunkleJon said:
Sounds like you are looking for an off the shelf method to stop your taps from working when your business is closed. Instead of controlling gas I would put valves with actuators on the beer lines to stop flow. By shutting off the gas side you would still have pressure on the kegs and would be able to get several pours using the pressure already in the keg as well as the pressure from the dissolved CO2. Hooking these valves to the beer side wired to something like a raspberry pi or andruino where you can program your schedule. Otherwise you could go with valves that open and close depending on if they have power going to them and just wire them up to a timer like the one you would use on a lamp while you are on vacation or a pool pump.

Otherwise tap locks arent too bad of a solution if you only have a couple taps and this is for home use and dont mind a more manual approach
Click to expand...

Thanks for responding Jon,
Eventually from serving pressure off, the beverages wouldnt pour well after a few pints. First they lose carbonation and then stop getting pushed. We have 11 ten foot lines that need pushing so gas is good to have on.



A programmable schedule is exactly it. Looked into pool pumps, but i couldnt see how the connections would work. "raspberry pi or andruino"...never heard of this will def check it out.
 
checked out the rasberry pi and adruino...not really my area of expertise.
 
RJS said:
checked out the rasberry pi and adruino...not really my area of expertise.
Click to expand...

You probably want to go for some sort of "electric beverage valve" (good google terms) that can be opened or closed by turning on or off power to it.
 
So you have a nitro tank and a co2 tank. You might run a line through a valve, easily accessible, for each one then to the kegs. Just turn them off when you want the gas off. Then the only place for a leak is between the valve and the gas tanks.

Not automated, but pretty easy.
 
kh54s10 said:
So you have a nitro tank and a co2 tank. You might run a line through a valve, easily accessible, for each one then to the kegs. Just turn them off when you want the gas off. Then the only place for a leak is between the valve and the gas tanks.

Not automated, but pretty easy.
Click to expand...


easy enough, but leaks where not really the main issue. I get about two leaks a year so not bad. Im not there all the time for serving hours and id like to not have to depend on anyone else, since its kind of a one man show, brewer-server- everything.
 
DrunkleJon said:
You probably want to go for some sort of "electric beverage valve" (good google terms) that can be opened or closed by turning on or off power to it.
Click to expand...

I wonder if the CO2 cycle of hydroponic growers is the only kind of system like this. More research than i had hoped!
 
For what it's worth I tried using valves in my beer lines to shut off the taps. The valves worked in shutting off the beer flow but caused so much turbulence that I got way too much foam as a result. So shutting off the gas flow would be better in my opinion but as others have mentioned you can still get some beer from the taps until the pressure is relieved.

I was using an Arduino to control a relay for the valves. There may be other valves the don't cause the turbulence problem but I didn't look for any others. I just gave up on the concept.
 
raysmithtx said:
For what it's worth I tried using valves in my beer lines to shut off the taps. The valves worked in shutting off the beer flow but caused so much turbulence that I got way too much foam as a result. So shutting off the gas flow would be better in my opinion but as others have mentioned you can still get some beer from the taps until the pressure is relieved.

I was using an Arduino to control a relay for the valves. There may be other valves the don't cause the turbulence problem but I didn't look for any others. I just gave up on the concept.
Click to expand...

thanks for the input. I recently found out my brother uses an Arduino board for his quadcopter and said he can try to build an auto valve for the gas, but not sure he can do it in a timely fashion.

Still looking into this...
 
Pretty sure the Kegbot uses solenoid valves. And I doubt they would use foamers. Maybe check out their site to see what valves they are using...

Cheers!
 
day_trippr said:
Pretty sure the Kegbot uses solenoid valves. And I doubt they would use foamers. Maybe check out their site to see what valves they are using...

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Normally closed motorized ball valves would do the trick on the liquid (or gas) side with out foam or turbulence issues.
 
@RJS - Check out this valve:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-4-SS-12V-DC-Solenoid-Valve-STAINLESS-VITON-S20V-/290948688749?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43bde4ab6d

It is an inline solenoid valve that will keep the CO2 lines open when 12VDC is applied to them. Since it may take a while for your brother to put together a proper Arduino sketch, you can simply wire all of these together and have one master on/off toggle switch to open and close the CO2 supplies. You just need to make sure the 12V power supply you are using can supply adequate current to operate all of the solenoids. It will be a simple wiring swap to integrate an automated system when the Arduino program is finished, and the Arduino will then power a solid state relay that will replace the toggle switch.

EDIT: I know the listing says for water, but CO2 will be just fine. They have an operating pressure of 3-140 psi.
 
@Gameface - I did not really dig in too deep, but this is the best I have found:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-8-Motorized-Ball-Valve-Brass-9-V-12-to-24-VDC-VAC-2-wire-N-C-Normally-Closed-/301651165722?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item463bcf821a

3/8" is the smallest I can really find, and unfortunately they are brass body. However, if you were to put those close to the outlet of the keg and then run your standard length of 3/16" beer line to your taps, you should really have minimal foaming. They are a bit pricey though...
 
Thanks BrewerBrad, will check this out. Been away from here awhile!
 
RJS said:
easy enough, but leaks where not really the main issue. I get about two leaks a year so not bad.
Click to expand...

I'm curious, if not for leaks, then why go to this extreme. My gas bottle has been on forever
 
I know.... I'm only 4-6 kegs on a home setup.
I'm just curious the reason, that may spark someone's thought process to help you out.
 
I should clarify, I have a few bad leaks a year, but regular difficult-to-find leaks. Its tough, im serving 11 kegs all the time and the inventory is up to about 70 kegs now. So, i wouldn't really call an auto co2 valve an extreme.
 
RJS said:
I should clarify, I have a few bad leaks a year, but regular difficult-to-find leaks. Its tough, im serving 11 kegs all the time and the inventory is up to about 70 kegs now. So, i wouldn't really call an auto co2 valve an extreme.
Click to expand...

Well, I would. Consider the fact that you have leaks while the system is on, and it's on for what, 12 hours or more a day? So now you turn it off for 12 hours but still lose all the pressurized co2 that's still in the kegs. How much are you really saving?

Are your hoses and manifolds leaking? Or are the kegs leaking?
 
orangehero said:
Get a light timer and 120V solenoid valves on the the gas lines.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-4-Plastic...hash=item46385a0d6c:m:mvpoU7Gs2BtLX774a2PdAVA
Click to expand...

This is by far the easiest and cheapest solution.
This time a year Christmas light timers are on sale everywhere; get a fairly decent one that you can set your run time hours on instead of the dusk to dawn ones. Plug a cheap power strip into it just like you would Christmas lights. Install solenoids on each cylinder and run a cheap extension cord to the controller. You are looking at <$50 for the entire project and very little work to install.
 
mredge73 said:
This is by far the easiest and cheapest solution.
This time a year Christmas light timers are on sale everywhere; get a fairly decent one that you can set your run time hours on instead of the dusk to dawn ones. Plug a cheap power strip into it just like you would Christmas lights. Install solenoids on each cylinder and run a cheap extension cord to the controller. You are looking at <$50 for the entire project and very little work to install.
Click to expand...

Or build a solenoid bank and just pigtail all the wires and plug one end into the timer.

You didn't really explain how your gas system is set up, but you could probably get away with just one solenoid if you use a distributor after your primary regulator on a 50lb tank.
 
bja said:
Well, I would. Consider the fact that you have leaks while the system is on, and it's on for what, 12 hours or more a day? So now you turn it off for 12 hours but still lose all the pressurized co2 that's still in the kegs. How much are you really saving?

Are your hoses and manifolds leaking? Or are the kegs leaking?
Click to expand...

Most likely the kegs. I installed our new draft system and I made damn sure the project was tight and clean.

Kegs for sure. I just rebuilt 50 of them but did not get around to the last 10, and the other 10 are brand new.

I have never tried leaving the gas on 24/7. But, I can get 3 or 4 months out of one tank by turning it off at the end of the night.

Its possible I'm not used to the new system. There are 11, ten foot lines, so just serving alone takes alot.

BTW, I appreciate everyones interest in this. I dropped the ball on the project when I found out there was a little bit of DIY aspect to it, but really, running a small bar, brewery and winery, nothing is ever not DIY these days. Were having fun though.
 
ok ok people Im leaving the gas on and LOVING IT. So much less work. AND I found the bastard leak. It was our regular water keg. the o-ring was worn or too small and the Quick DC was not catching right. This is one of the kegs I just bought too. So, probably all the kegs that I bought need new O-rings.

Thanks to everyone for putting energy and thought into this, that kind of got me going when I didnt care anymore.
 
Thats pretty cool, will have to check it out closely, thanks!
 
Yaknow. I have thought about this again and it looks like if you really want to shut off the gas at certain times of the day you could get the appropriate diameter electric solenoid valve (normally closed). You can pair this with a household light timer or a simple light switch. This way when electricity is flowing to it the gas can flow, if power goes out the valve stops.

Found this 3/8" one for <$32 shipped.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007N0GRIE/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Leaving the gas on 24/7 is really, really going well. We get the normal tank usage out of the system and I am mentally free to worry about keeping taps going.

Thanks for all the dedicated thought on all this everyone, I know how busy we all are.
 

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