Questions about regulator / gas system for large keezer project

Hi all! Just signed up, and could use some of your expert advice.

I've been working on an 8-tap coffin-top keezer setup, and it's come time to plan the gas system. (Might bump it to 9, to add seltzer water.)

I have a couple of questions about regulators. I already have CO2 tank with primary regulator, so I'm looking for secondaries and seeing a HUGE variety of prices. So, why the huge price difference? Should I get the cheapest option or is that going to be a constant annoyance in some unforseen way?

About my needs:

• Since I'm getting 8 or 9 of them, differences in the per-regulator price add up quickly.
• I don't need knobs. I'll be holding a screwdriver on a magnet right next to the regulator bank.
• I'll have both CO2 and beer gas.
• I'll be adding valves ($7.50 each) to regulators that don't come with them.

Here's what I've found so far. Prices are rounded to the nearest $5.

$24 + $7.50 per regulator. Total cost: $250 with valves. Any reason not to get this? (Note: These would save me so much money that I'll happily just replace one if it goes bad. I won't care that i can't open it up and swap parts.)

$42 + $7.50 per regulator. Total cost: $400 with valves. TapRite.

Regulator bank for full-time CO2 taps, plus a few singles for the ones that might go nitro?
$230 + three from the above options, totaling either $325 or $380.


A few other things I haven't been able to answer online:

When regulators come with a plug screwed in to one side, can that be unscrewed to create a pass-through? Just remove the plug and screw the next regulator in to that hole, right?

I'd like to be able to choose between CO2 and beer gas for some of the taps, but most will be just CO2. If I set the primary regulators for the CO2 and beer gas to the same value (60psi or so), would the setup in this image be a really bad idea, or a really good idea?

 

I'm guessing I made this too big by asking everything in one thread.

Can anyone at least tell me whether the threaded plug I see on the side of most regulators is usually removable? e.g. on the left of this image:



Should I expect that plug to be removable, or should I expect it to be soldered in place by the manufacturer?

 

Regulators are generally designed to be ganged, so you should expect the bypass port plug to be removable without heroics. At the most it may have been doped with pipe sealant, but that is easily overcome...

Cheers!

 

They screwed it in, it'll screw out!

 

Thanks guys! I decided against the generic regulator because the pressures I would be using for beer are only a tiny part of the gauge. I question the gauge's accuracy in that range, and even if it's accurate it will be hard to read. Replacing eight gauges would just about make up for the price difference, so I'm getting something beer-specific.

 

Step by step here:

***edit: that WILL work for dual gas sources. would be cool to just have a how swap-able manifold for this***

Better to have additional valves on the "out" or low pressure side of the regulators. Then you can effectively gang them together. However, you must keep track of your pressures. You will have a pressure drop across the system, and check with the manufacturer if the "ganged" pressure is the original line in pressure, or a factor of the pressure differential in that regulator.

Lastly, I used 4 brass micro regulators designed for "air". They were $19 apiece, worked in the 0-30psi range, and are designed for the beverage industry. They are ingersol rand brand. Be warned that you will need to purchases gauges.

A gauge's accuracy is usually expressed as a percentage of full scale range. i.e. 5% of full scale. So a 0-30 psi gauge will have an error margin of plus or minus 0.6psi.

Another option to consider is using some type of gas manifold. You'll be able to run in a higher pressure to all of your secondary gauges (so as to not run out of volume) without the hassle of daisy chaining them all together. Pros and cons to each system.

Best of luck.

 

I was under the impression the pass-through was a direct unobstructed air channel, so that you can put your high-pressure gauge there and measure the pressure in the tank. Maybe two-stage regulators operate differently? Have you encountered regulators that alter the pressure of that channel?