Even more foaming issues

[Tx911guy]

bought a Kegco K209SS 3 tap kegerator and I’ve been trying to tame the foam on my first keg.

Saint Arnold Lawnmower 2.65 v/v according to brewery
Beer temp 37*
12 psi

first day I tapped the keg I got 1/2 foam on first pour and decent second pour
i come back a few days later and nothing but foam...3 pours all foam, no clear beer coming out of faucet at all.

I can’t measure beer temp because it’s all foam.

i bought a tower cooler and could barely get the hose in the tower....turn it on and I get tons of condensation on the tower but after it running for an hour or so I get NOTHING out of the faucet, no beer, no air, nothing!

at first I thought I kinked my beer lines so I pulled the cooler tube out of the tower but still nothing!

After about an hour I tried again and I get a slow drizzle......then a few hours later I get all foam again.

did the tower cooler freeze my beer lines?

 

[jdauria]

Sounds like they may be frozen. What's the kegerator temp set to?

 

[day_trippr]

Almost no chance of a fan-driven tower cooler freezing beer lines unless the chamber temperature is seriously sub-freezing - which in a kegerator is pretty unlikely. Something else is going on. Time to get analytical...


Cheers!

 

[gnef]

it may be that the beer itself is frozen, not the tubing. You need to get a temperature probe in the main body of the kegerator. You can get a small glass with water to see what the average temperature is over the course of a few hours.

If you have the equipment, you can also just connect a separate line with a picnic tap directly to the kegs to see if that works.

If you move the keg, and can feel liquid moving around, but can't get any beer out, you may have a clogged poppet or dip tube. It is possible you transferred hop debri or other sediment into the keg.

 

[day_trippr]

Given this is a commercial brew I would expect this is a Sanke keg, fwiw...

Cheers!

 

[Tx911guy]

This is the current air temperature in the kegerato.

i poured 2 beers just now both 3/4 foam....second pour temperature is 40*(a little warmer than I would like)

the thing that’s confusing me is the only time I have had the “no beer and no air” symptoms is when the tower cooler is running. I have now done this twice with the same results.

ive read that you need space for return air coming back down the tower...since it was very tight getting the hole in the tower is it possible that there isn’t return air? Would that cause it to freeze?

the other thought was that my fan for the cooler is right next to the cold plate on the back wall...could that cause it?

 

[day_trippr]

Ah - there's a thought. If the tower cooler is pulling its air right off the cold plate I suppose it's possible you're actually causing something to freeze.
That assumes you didn't route your beer lines next to the cold plate.
If you can somehow reorient the cooler fan location away from the cold plate it'd be worth a try.
Lack of return air flow would actually make it less likely to freeze up because the cold air can't get in there to begin with...

Cheers!

 

[Tx911guy]

Ah - there's a thought. If the tower cooler is pulling its air right off the cold plate I suppose it's possible you're actually causing something to freeze.
That assumes you didn't route your beer lines next to the cold plate.
If you can somehow reorient the cooler fan location away from the cold plate it'd be worth a try.
Lack of return air flow would actually make it less likely to freeze up because the cold air can't get in there to begin with...

Cheers!

Thanks, I’ll give that a try!

I’m getting ready to change the 3 tap tower out for a new 2 tap Intertap tower with Intertap faucets, shanks, EVABarrier lines and duotight connections. When I bought the 3 tap model I didn’t realize that it won’t hold 3 sixtel...it should all be here Friday.

 

[gnef]

Interesting. What I would try is to remove the top cap from the tower, and measure the temperature of the air coming through the hose - do this while the compressor is running to see what the lowest temperature is.