Beer line question

[munro]

Bough the 3 keg set up from keg connection. Using it in a coffin keezer. Anyone have issues with the length of the lines it comes with? They are five feet long. I'm concerned about to little length and too much foam. Will be blowing air into the coffin once I find the 12v adapters to my fans. For a wedding will be packing it with I've packs for the day to keep it chilled.

 

[outside92129]

What PSI will you be serving at? 5' is definitely on the shorter side...

 

[munro]

I was going to set the psi to whatever worked best really. See how much it foamed and go from there.

 

[Yoss]

My 3/16" party tap is only 3 ft long and pours fine at 39 degrees and 10 psi.

 

[munro]

Anyone know if picnic taps and perlicks would be different?

 

[munro]

In terms of foaming/co2 release that's is.

 

[dgr]

Aren't you approaching that backwards? Shouldn't you determine what co2 volume and temperature you want to determine your PSI and then use your PSI, hose resistance and height to find your line length?
http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php
http://www.iancrockett.com/brewing/info/kegbalance.shtml

New to kegging so just watching.

 

[Bookworm]

The inside diameter of the line makes a difference also. The smaller the inside diameter the shorter the line can be. Hopefully they took that into account when they decided on the length of the line.

 

[zachattack]

Aren't you approaching that backwards? Shouldn't you determine what co2 volume and temperature you want to determine your PSI and then use your PSI, hose resistance and height to find your line length?
http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php
http://www.iancrockett.com/brewing/info/kegbalance.shtml

New to kegging so just watching.

This. Don't adjust the PSI based on your line length, adjust line length based on your PSI. No need to let your beer quality suffer because your lines are too short.

Some people report success with 5' of standard 3/16" line, but most people on this forum have had the best results with 10-12' lines for their systems. Remember that the only disadvantage of a longer line is a slower pour. IMO I can wait a couple more seconds for a non-foamy beer.

In terms of the PC fans, remember that you don't need 12V. Mine runs on an old 9V cordless phone adapter, and you can probably even get by with a 5V cell phone charger in a pinch.

 

[munro]

I find it odd that keg connection would send 5' lines with the oateker clamps on it making it trickier the change when most people want longer lines. Since kegging is their thing they should really take that into consideration. The time line I'm on for finishing this thing is too tight to change my lines I think so ill just have to hope they don't foam out too bad. Need it set up and ready for Saturday afternoon and I still have to grout the bar top. Varithane it. Plumb my 5' beer lines and hope I can find an old cell adapter. Anyone had success with those Home Depot bev lines I saw something about?

 

[day_trippr]

^ Old habits die hard - especially when they have numerous "line length calculators" that back up those old habits, virtually every one of which will claim five feet of 3/16" line will work for every beer style...

Cheers!

 

[butterpants]

I find it odd that keg connection would send 5' lines with the oateker clamps on it making it trickier the change when most people want longer lines. Since kegging is their thing they should really take that into consideration. The time line I'm on for finishing this thing is too tight to change my lines I think so ill just have to hope they don't foam out too bad. Need it set up and ready for Saturday afternoon and I still have to grout the bar top. Varithane it. Plumb my 5' beer lines and hope I can find an old cell adapter. Anyone had success with those Home Depot bev lines I saw something about?

I just called them and had um make my beer lines 12'

 

[zachattack]

I find it odd that keg connection would send 5' lines with the oateker clamps on it making it trickier the change when most people want longer lines. Since kegging is their thing they should really take that into consideration. The time line I'm on for finishing this thing is too tight to change my lines I think so ill just have to hope they don't foam out too bad. Need it set up and ready for Saturday afternoon and I still have to grout the bar top. Varithane it. Plumb my 5' beer lines and hope I can find an old cell adapter. Anyone had success with those Home Depot bev lines I saw something about?

Your build looks great!

 

[munro]

Thanks. I grouted it yesterday. Got the fans running and pulled a pint. Seemed to work well. I will be posting a build thread in a while

 

[ryan_george]

If it's just for a one-time-serve (ie. wedding or similar), I would carb to my desired amount (psi @ temp), and then serve on whatever PSI makes the beer flow well. If the PSI is higher or lower than what you were carbing with, it is such a short duration (an evening) that there will be minimal gain/loss of carbonation. This just makes life easier than calibrating your lines based on current ambient conditions.

However, if this is ultimately going to be a regular use item (in your house), then it would be wise to get the line lengths sorted out.