Co2 Pressure

[danielthemaniel]

My lines are around 5ft long and I had my PSI set to 12 for quite a while. After numerous over carbonated beers, I did some research and found that 6 PSI would give me around 2.5 vols, which is what I was shooting for. My question is that is there any advantage to the more common 10ft line and 12 PSI set up? To me, saving money on shorter lines and less Co2 seems like the logical choice. Am I missing anything?

 

[Smellyglove]

My lines are around 5ft long and I had my PSI set to 12 for quite a while. After numerous over carbonated beers, I did some research and found that 6 PSI would give me around 2.5 vols, which is what I was shooting for. My question is that is there any advantage to the more common 10ft line and 12 PSI set up? To me, saving money on shorter lines and less Co2 seems like the logical choice. Am I missing anything?

You will use the same amount of co2 no matter how long your lines are. The amount of co2 is more dependent on which temperature your keg is held at.

 

[day_trippr]

Something ain't right at all here.
In order for 6 psi to reach equilibrium at 2.5 volumes the beer temperature would have to be 28°F - at which point it's likely a keg-size Beer-Sicle. Not quite what most of us are going for.

Our favorite carbonation table. http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php.
Pick a sensible temperature, run across that row to your 2.5 volumes, run up that column to find the optimal CO2 pressure for that combination. Take that pressure, and that's the minimum number of feet of conventional (solid PVC) 3/16" ID beer tubing to use...

Cheers!

[ps] The up-shot of this is your beer wasn't overcarbonated at all. Your foamy pours were due to your dispensing system being tuned for a cask beer...