Diy jockey box questions

[Xalwine]

So I plan on making a rolling jockey box out of a cooler. I am gonna get stainless beverage coil for inside but I don't wanna spend the 80 for 50 feet. Will 25 feet be enough if I keep the keg cool? I just don't want foam.

 

[bellecitybrewer]

Now, I'm no expert in this, but i do see people using cold plates also. Seeing as how the cold plates are fairly small, i can't imagine that the channels within that are even close to 25'. I'm sure you'll be fine, just keep that coil submerged in icy water!

 

[MacGyver22]

I just put the finishing touches on my jockey box.

Before I put the SS coils showed up, I had a BBQ cookoff to go to. We got a keg of Shiner (don't have any homebrewed stuff yet). We kept the keg on ice and just used ~20ft of 3/16" beer line (plastic) in the jockey box and kept it covered in ice. It worked great. I didn't get any real cooking effect from the beer line, but it didn't foam since I kept the keg cold.

So short answer is yes, 25ft will work as long as you keep the keg cold.

On a side note, I didn't want to pay big bucks for the coils either, so I bought 304 SS tubing at Grainer (~$50) and bent it myself - saved quite a bit of cash!

 

[DBbrewing]

I use 25 feet for each of my taps in my jockey box and have never had a foam problem.

 

[Xalwine]

Thanks for all the quick replies! 25 feet is what I'll go with. Next question, will using dry ice work better than ice water?

 

[JRems]

Dry Ice would work great with a plate chiller since you just want ice and no water. But with a coil it's better to have ice/water to completely surround the coils for the best heat transfer. I also separated the coils with plastic cable/zip ties so each loop of the coil sits about 5/16" above the Lower one. This way they have the most surface area touching the icy water instead of the coils sitting In a big pile and touching each other.
If you want it colder and don't mind using more ice, dump salt on the ice it will melt fast but get super cold.