1st Time Keg Help

[TheHeadsNoGood]

Hello all.

So I have a few questions, I am trying to troubleshoot.

I purchased a Kegerator and ran my own line. I DIY'd a line cooling system from the fridge unit.
I purchased a keg of beer from a local home brew store. I got it home and had a hard time getting beer that was not foamy. Tried all the recommended troubleshoots.

Ended up pouring quite a bit away before it became somewhat acceptable. Beer is in the 37 degree range but I had to pour it very very slow to avoid excess head. (Its a brown ale for reference)

After trying to figure it out, it ends up the guy at the store sold me a 5/16 line. I had it on a very short run, approx 4.5 feet. The pressure was insane, I had to lower it to about 6psi to get it even acceptable. Way foamy.

After realizing it it was not an ideal line size, I purchased 3/16 and extended the length, now to 7 feet hoping that the increased friction would slow the flow down to a better pour level.

I got it all hooked up now. The flow is poor. Barely coming out.

I am thinking, perhaps I depressurized the keg when switching the lines .... is that a possibility?
It comes out very slow and very thick and foamy, but still very cold. My C02 tank went from good to almost empty so I'm thinking I need to add pressure back into the keg itself. Should I wait a period of time for the keg to get the pressure back and see how it goes?

Thanks and sorry if this is too long, but I was looking for any ideas to try.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

5/16 should be just fine. Several follow-up questions...

1) what the distance from the keg to the tower?
2) what kind of tower? (or are you using a party tap)
3) it the tower cooled?
4) how long has the keg/kegerator/tower been cooling?

Pics would help too.

 

[philly224]

What is your PSI set to now?

 

[TheHeadsNoGood]

PSI is high, about 25-30. I realize that close to 10 is the ideal range, flow is super low.
Like I said I had it down to 6psi with the 5/16 but that still came out super fast.

Keg to tower distance is about 2.5 feet. I've got a shank mounted on the wall.

I believe the tap is a standard keg tower tap, nothing special.

Keg has been cold for about a week. Beer is very cold coming out.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Flow has nothing to do with carbination.. A flat beer will come flying out if you turn up the psi...so will water.
Kegs charge instantly. Theres no waiting to pressurize if you have low flow.

adjust your pressure now!!
25 psi is stupid high and going to over carb your beer and them your really going to have foam issues.

Do this now:
Shut off tank
purge keg till no more air comes out...(pull the ring on the tap) should only take a couple seconds.
loosin pressure knob till it starts to have a "loose" feel
open tank knob
Turn reg to 12 psi which is a happy medium
Now your keg is safe from over carbing

let it sit for a day and see what happens.

Your lines could be warm causing foam. In the pic the hole in the top of the keg where the lines run through looks small. I would say your not getting enough cold through the hole to keep that long run of line cold.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Also get this faucet...Your going to need the flow control on a setup like that...might just solve all you problems.https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai...hUKEwi3n6zQ0f7ZAhXtx1kKHTFuBFIQ9aACCDw&adurl=

 

[TheHeadsNoGood]

Flow has nothing to do with carbination.. A flat beer will come flying out if you turn up the psi...so will water.
Kegs charge instantly. Theres no waiting to pressurize if you have low flow.

adjust your pressure now!!
25 psi is stupid high and going to over carb your beer and them your really going to have foam issues.

Do this now:
Shut off tank
purge keg till no more air comes out...(pull the ring on the tap) should only take a couple seconds.
loosin pressure knob till it starts to have a "loose" feel
open tank knob
Turn reg to 12 psi which is a happy medium
Now your keg is safe from over carbing

let it sit for a day and see what happens.

Your lines could be warm causing foam. In the pic the hole in the top of the keg where the lines run through looks small. I would say your not getting enough cold through the hole to keep that long run of line cold.

Thanks for the reply.

I have turned the PSI back down. Ill let it sit now and see what happens.

As for the tap line, I actually have a cooling tower fan installed into the length of the extra line, and it has been doing a great job... the tap end is cold and condensates.

Ill have a look at that tap faucet, I had looked at one of those already but was waffling as I am new to the game.

Cheers.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Looking at this again if you have 25 psi and low flow something is clogged or the tap is broken or your gauge is off or something.. your not getting low flow with that pressure under normal conditions...no way..no how

 

[TheHeadsNoGood]

Looking at this again if you have 25 psi and low flow something is clogged or the tap is broken or your gauge is off or something.. your not getting low flow with that pressure under normal conditions...no way..no how

Is it possible that I have de-pressurized the keg? Is that even possible? I agree how could the flow be so low ...

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, 5/16" ID beer line is rarely appropriate in a home brew application. 3/16" ID is the norm.
And this is the only beer line length calculator worth using. Comes complete with an education. Or just use 1 foot of 3/16" line per psi of CO2.

And about the CO2 pressure: it should be set to some rational level that will maintain the desired carbonation level - it should not be changed just to make serving "sorta kinda" work. The proper pressure to use is best determined using our favorite carbonation table. Find your beer temperate on the y-axis, scan across that row to find your desired carbonation level in "Volumes of CO2" (where 2.4 is about middle of the road for most ales), then run up that column to find the correct CO2 pressure to use. Set your regulator accordingly and leave it there for the life of the beer.

Finally, if the OP is turning off the gas, don't. Leave it set to the proper pressure, keep the refrigerator temperature consistent, add a small DC fan to the interior to prevent temperature stratification, and coil your beer lines atop the kegs...

Cheers!

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

He's running 7ft of 3/16 at 25 psi and has low flow...something's wrong

 

[TheHeadsNoGood]

UPDATE. I found a kink in the line. I didn't notice it until I really checked closely. Didn't think it was even possible. I cut that section out. Flow is much better now. I may still tinker with line length and perhaps a higher quality faucet. Thanks for the advice.