CO2 regulator questions for new keezer setup

[transposon]

Hey guys, I am planning on setting up a keezer for apfelwein and the occasional commercial beer half keg.

I plan on having the capability to hold 2 kegs at a time and have a third co2 line connected to a carbonator to make soda/seltzer.

Would it be possible to be carbing up one keg while having another serving keg simultaneously connected to the same regulator?

Could I do all this while making seltzer with the 3rd line?

I was thinking of using 1 regulator and splitting it 3 ways and wanted to make sure I could do these 3 things at the same time.


Thanks.

 

[cpl-america]

if you have the manifold for it, then yes. however you would have to find a specific pressure good for all three things. you can go a little high for the apfelwein and beer, providing you make your serving line long enough. otherwise there shouldn't be a problem.

out of curiosity, what kind of carbonator are you using?

 

[transposon]

what kind of manifold would I need for this setup? I'm OK with everything having the same carbonation level.

I haven't decided on a carbonator cap yet but was looking at this one from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0064OKADS/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

are there better options?

 

[cpl-america]

There are almost always better options. ... But that is the most practical.

As for the manifold. Something like

http://morebeer.com/products/gas-manifold-4.html

If you ever want different pressures, you obviously need another regulator.

Cheers

 

[transposon]

thanks for the reply. if I'm not mistaken, a manifold only differs from a couple of splitters in that it has shutoff valves. are these valves useful in my situation?

 

[cpl-america]

Yes, it would be helpful to be able to turn off the lines not being used. If you don't have a commercial keg attached, for example, you wouldn't want that line wide open. That's a good way to empty your tank. Also it is just safer to be able to set off your lines, as co2 os deadly to humans in abundance.

That being said ... I'm sure there are cheaper ones than what I posted. They are in the for sale section of this forum often.

 

[jro238]

When I built my keezer I went with the single output regulator with a 4 way manifold since it was significantly cheaper than the dual output regulator + smaller manifolds. The ability to turn lines on and off at will is definitely nice if you need to use different pressures to different kegs (as america said, also nice to avoid leaks when not in use). In retrospect, however, I sometimes wish I had gone with the dual regulator since I often have a belgian or hefe in one or two kegs and another, lower carbed beer in the 3rd keg. It can be a bit tricky to manage pressures in all of the kegs when 1 needs to be at 2 volumes and another at 3.5