Best way to monitor Keg Level

[ryan810cows]

Hello all!
I'm wondering what kind of gadgets, gizmos, or methods everyone is using out in the homebrew kegging arena!

I've seen a few gadgets out there like cat bought that uses flowmeters and tablets. I've also seen stick on stripes that show the level inside. And my most recent discovery was a floating ball with a magnet in it that attaches to an indicator on the outside of the keg that floats with the level of beer! Anybody else have some really good methods?

Nothing really good in the electronics or gadget area that are actually still being made that I have found.

Thoughts? Ideas?

 

[kh54s10]

When only foam and co2 come out it is empty!

 

[day_trippr]

There are all kinds of ways to monitor keg level, just have to look around.
From floating magnets with tiny indicator balls, digital scales, and load-sensors through metered implementations such as Kegbot and RaspberryPints.

fwiw, the last couple years I've been running the latter with flow meters on each of six faucets and the taplist displayed atop the keezer. Rock solid and scary accurate...

Cheers!

 

[ryan810cows]

YA!!! That's what I'm talking about! Can you share where you got your plans? I would like to do something like that!

There are all kinds of ways to monitor keg level, just have to look around.

From floating magnets with tiny indicator balls, digital scales, and load-sensors through metered implementations such as Kegbot and RaspberryPints.



fwiw, the last couple years I've been running the latter with flow meters on each of six faucets and the taplist displayed atop the keezer. Rock solid and scary accurate...



Cheers!

 

[ryan810cows]

LOL.. Sorry.. You already did!! Thanks!!

 

[Photopilot]

When you put it in it should be full and

When only foam and co2 come out it is empty!

The flow meters while nice are really expensive. I feel it is cheaper to have back up kegs filled with beer.


I have a keezer and occasionally pick up each keg to estimate its fill level.

 

[ryan810cows]

There are all kinds of ways to monitor keg level, just have to look around.

From floating magnets with tiny indicator balls, digital scales, and load-sensors through metered implementations such as Kegbot and RaspberryPints.



fwiw, the last couple years I've been running the latter with flow meters on each of six faucets and the taplist displayed atop the keezer. Rock solid and scary accurate...



Cheers!

So.. I like the KegBot but they don't sell it anymore. Can I make it using my Arduino Duo? I haven't found code yet.

 

[ryan810cows]

You guys are SOO funny! I just like to get crazy at times!!

 

[55x11]

There are all kinds of ways to monitor keg level, just have to look around.
From floating magnets with tiny indicator balls, digital scales, and load-sensors through metered implementations such as Kegbot and RaspberryPints.

fwiw, the last couple years I've been running the latter with flow meters on each of six faucets and the taplist displayed atop the keezer. Rock solid and scary accurate...

Cheers!

Kegbot website is not working for me. But...

$100 just for flow sensor? Plus fittings, keyboard, etc.
For 8 keg lines, this adds up to ~ $1,000+?

 

[RedlegEd]

All you need to do is ask Homer!

 

[ryan810cows]

Well... If anyone knows anyone wanting to sell there KegBot setup... Let me know! I really like the user interface on the android pad!

 

[day_trippr]

Kegbot website is not working for me. But...

$100 just for flow sensor? Plus fittings, keyboard, etc.
For 8 keg lines, this adds up to ~ $1,000+?

Cost was never mentioned as a criteria

Early bird catches the less expensive worms: when I built my system there was an eBay merchant selling lightly used SwissFlow SF800 meters for $20 a pop.
Given the retail price, and the fact I was in this for the long haul, I bought 10.

Anyway, while they are at least an order of magnitude less accurate, there are food-safe flow meters available for hella less than the SF800, sold to the Arduino/RPi/BBB hobby space. Just gotta look around...

Cheers!

ps: https://www.kegbot.org still works fine here...

 

[55x11]

Cost was never mentioned as a criteria

Early bird catches the less expensive worms: when I built my system there was an eBay merchant selling lightly used SwissFlow SF800 meters for $20 a pop.
Given the retail price, and the fact I was in this for the long haul, I bought 10.

Anyway, while they are at least an order of magnitude less accurate, there are food-safe flow meters available for hella less than the SF800, sold to the Arduino/RPi/BBB hobby space. Just gotta look around...

Cheers!

ps: https://www.kegbot.org still works fine here...

Nice! $20 sounds like a steal! Lucky you!

kegbot.org loads but the store doesn't (for me):
http://store.kegbot.org

 

[JWPink43]

There are all kinds of ways to monitor keg level, just have to look around.
From floating magnets with tiny indicator balls, digital scales, and load-sensors through metered implementations such as Kegbot and RaspberryPints.

fwiw, the last couple years I've been running the latter with flow meters on each of six faucets and the taplist displayed atop the keezer. Rock solid and scary accurate...

Cheers!

View attachment 363820

This is brilliant!! You setup is exactly what I want to build for the 6 tap keezer I'm preparing to build. Do you have any instructions and materials list available? I'm a beginner and need some guidance. Thank you!

 

[day_trippr]

The original RaspberryPints kits at the url I provided are no longer viable due to changes to the Raspbian operating system and associated package releases over the years. However, thanks to the contributions of a handful of HBT members we now have a far easier installation process - basically, one command executed at the host machine installs everything. All one then needs to do is configure it.

The place to hang out and learn about it is in the venerable Raspberry Pints thread.

The basic tap list just requires a Raspberry Pi - any model will do, but I'd use a minimum of a Model 2B as the single core models are pretty slow in updating the display.

Then, if you want the flow meter option, the best solution is to add an Arduino Uno R3 (original or clone) rather than the far more pricey Alamode shield for the Raspberry Pi that the original kit favored for packaging/space reasons. Then add flow meters as desired, connected to the Uno (up to at least 9 or 10 meters).

That's pretty much it...

Cheers!