Evabarrier right angle

[myndflyte]

So I scored a new keezer and decided for this one, I wanted to use Evabarrier on the liquid side. It can fit 6 kegs but things get a little tight in there so to help make it easier to get kegs in and out, I was thinking about using the right angle connector right off the shank. Has anyone used that before and are there any foaming issue with it hitting a right angle right before coming out the tap?

 

[day_trippr]

I can't answer your question, but are you sure you need the 90° stems? The bend radius on the 4mm ID EVABarrier is quite tight verging on an inch.

This is a 3" column with the fitting at least a 1/4" into its circumference and there really isn't much pressure on the tubing at roughly 1-3/8" bend radius. It could certainly go tighter...

Cheers!

 

[duncan.brown]

Has anyone used that before and are there any foaming issue with it hitting a right angle right before coming out the tap?

I think the fluid-dynamics phrasing of this question is "will the 90-degree bend cause turbulent flow and will that cause nucleation?" Having avoided teaching fluid dynamics, I'm reaching back to my undergrad days and the best answer I can come up with is "it depends."

If the temperature of the beer in the line all the way to the tap is low enough to keep the carbon dioxide in solution and it doesn't warm up enough for it to want to come out of solution, then I think you will be OK. However, if the temperature of the beer increases and the carbon dioxide becomes supersaturated then the transition from laminar flow to turbulent flow in the 90 degree fitting could cause nucleation and foaming. My recollection is that the high and low pressures you get in turbulent flow encourage nucleation of the carbon dioxide and hence foam.

One thing I do recall clearly is that the theory is sufficiently complicated that I'd just do the experiment, if it's cheap to do so. Try a 90 degree fitting and if you get foam use the radius of curvature that @day_trippr suggests and see what happens. If you don't have something like @day_trippr's setup, google "JG Speedfit Cold Forming Bend" and you'll find plastic parts that will hold a 90-degree bend in the tubing without the hole in the image above.

 

[TenaCJed]

I have had too many issues with those fittings cracking, with much less of a radius than posted above.

With that said, I have a 90 elbow right before the shanks and have not had issues. I think my overall line length is between 4 - 5 feet if I remember correctly.

I only use the fittings on beer side now, no more gas side for me as I have just had too many of them crack on me, to include the 90 degree one on the prevent the keg from overflowing setup! I am not rough on these things, and have had too many crack.

 

[Vale71]

Has anyone used that before and are there any foaming issue with it hitting a right angle right before coming out the tap?

I haven't but even if I had my results could be completely different from the results you might get with your particular setup. There are too many variables such as carbonation level, beer temperature and rate of flow to be able to predict whether this will work for you or not. If you think you really need this kind of setup you'll just have to try it out and see if this works for you or not.

 

[myndflyte]

With that said, I have a 90 elbow right before the shanks and have not had issues. I think my overall line length is between 4 - 5 feet if I remember correctly.

Well that's good to hear. I bought the 90 degree elbow so I'll just give it a shot and yeah, like you, I'm only using it on the liquid side. I'm just going with the normal tubing for the gas.

 

[duncan.brown]

I'm just going with the normal tubing for the gas.

FWIW, I use John Guest fittings on the gas side and have had no problems with cracks or leaks. I use BevSeal Ultra with a 5/16" OD so I use the inch-size Acetal fittings. I believe that the 8mm metric-size works well for EVABarrier, if you want an alternative to duo tight. The only time the I've had a fitting crack was deliberately over-torquing the NPT side of an NPT to speed-fit connector to see how much force it would take.

 

[Consigliere]

Late reply, I have 90" right before the duotight shank fittings. I do have 10ft of 4mm beer line on all my lines as well. No issues with foaming as a result of this setup. I did have it setup with just tubing before and also no issues there so adding the 90 did not change that.

 

[Knightshade]

Not sure if this is what you’re looking for, but I have a kegerator with a tower that utilizes duotight connectors and 4mm ID EVABarrier on the liquid side.

The shanks have 90 degree bends into the taps and I don’t have any issues either.

 

[Indian_villager]

Pardon the late reply I have used these on the keg side successfuly, I have not used these on the faucet size. However this does meet the description on what you are looking for. John Guest Stem Elbow Connector - 5/16 Stem x 5/16 Tube