Hi,
I'm still working on my keezer build, and I've purchased Bev-Seal Ultra tubing and John Guest fittings for the beer lines. I purchased 100 feet of tubing, mainly because it wasn't that much more than 50 feet. Now that I've seen some posts on line resistance, it's probably a good thing I got the longer roll. I've read various posts on using this tubing, but I still have some questions.
Line length - I've seen threads in this forum with lines varying from 6 feet to 20 feet. I'm going to have a five faucet tower, with the shanks approximately two feet above the kegs. Since it's easy enough to remove and replace the John Guest fittings, should I start with 20 foot lines and trim them as needed? And do you think I can just do that on one faucet to get a baseline for my build, and then cut the other lines accordingly? I typically brew various ales, so my PSI settings are usually pretty consistent, although I've found I need to dial my IPAs back a little or they get too foamy. The reason I ask is I hate to start with five 20-foot lines, only to find out 12 feet is perfect for me and I've wasted a lot of tubing cutting the lines down.
One of the five faucets will be for stout (my first setup with beer gas). Will 20 feet be sufficient for that with the much higher pressure? I'm really hoping I don't need more than 100 feet for the five faucets!
Flexibility - This tubing was listed as semi-rigid, but I didn't realize it would be as rigid as it is. I'm using 1.5" rigid insulation for my build, and my plan was to have three pieces sandwiched together in my tower. The shanks will run through the first layer, and I planned to have the beer lines drop into the freezer in the middle layer, with one more layer behind that.
After receiving the tubing, there is no way I can get it to bend 90 degree (from the shank, into the freezer) in 1.5". I can probably add a fourth layer of insulation, using the middle two for beer lines, which would give me 3" to get the tubing directed downward. I really won't have room for more layers than that. My concern is, even with 3 inches to work in, the tubing will be resisting the bend. The foam insulation obviously has no weight to is, so I'm afraid the tubing will try to push the insulation layers apart.
I know people have used heat guns and boiling water to get this tubing over shanks. Has anyone used boiling water (or something else) to try to "shape" sections of the tubing? I'm wondering if I could boil a foot or so of tubing for a while, bend it into the shape I need, and then run it under cold water to "lock" the new shape? Obviously I want to avoid kinking the lines.
I really want to use this tubing for my build, but if I can't get it to work like I need, I'll have to switch to vinyl.
Thanks for your help!
I'm still working on my keezer build, and I've purchased Bev-Seal Ultra tubing and John Guest fittings for the beer lines. I purchased 100 feet of tubing, mainly because it wasn't that much more than 50 feet. Now that I've seen some posts on line resistance, it's probably a good thing I got the longer roll. I've read various posts on using this tubing, but I still have some questions.
Line length - I've seen threads in this forum with lines varying from 6 feet to 20 feet. I'm going to have a five faucet tower, with the shanks approximately two feet above the kegs. Since it's easy enough to remove and replace the John Guest fittings, should I start with 20 foot lines and trim them as needed? And do you think I can just do that on one faucet to get a baseline for my build, and then cut the other lines accordingly? I typically brew various ales, so my PSI settings are usually pretty consistent, although I've found I need to dial my IPAs back a little or they get too foamy. The reason I ask is I hate to start with five 20-foot lines, only to find out 12 feet is perfect for me and I've wasted a lot of tubing cutting the lines down.
One of the five faucets will be for stout (my first setup with beer gas). Will 20 feet be sufficient for that with the much higher pressure? I'm really hoping I don't need more than 100 feet for the five faucets!
Flexibility - This tubing was listed as semi-rigid, but I didn't realize it would be as rigid as it is. I'm using 1.5" rigid insulation for my build, and my plan was to have three pieces sandwiched together in my tower. The shanks will run through the first layer, and I planned to have the beer lines drop into the freezer in the middle layer, with one more layer behind that.
After receiving the tubing, there is no way I can get it to bend 90 degree (from the shank, into the freezer) in 1.5". I can probably add a fourth layer of insulation, using the middle two for beer lines, which would give me 3" to get the tubing directed downward. I really won't have room for more layers than that. My concern is, even with 3 inches to work in, the tubing will be resisting the bend. The foam insulation obviously has no weight to is, so I'm afraid the tubing will try to push the insulation layers apart.
I know people have used heat guns and boiling water to get this tubing over shanks. Has anyone used boiling water (or something else) to try to "shape" sections of the tubing? I'm wondering if I could boil a foot or so of tubing for a while, bend it into the shape I need, and then run it under cold water to "lock" the new shape? Obviously I want to avoid kinking the lines.
I really want to use this tubing for my build, but if I can't get it to work like I need, I'll have to switch to vinyl.
Thanks for your help!
