Extending beer lines

[Bru]

Im having foaming issues and need to extend my beer lines. I have a Keg Connection three tower kit with Perlick taps.
Do I leave the existing lines in place and extend them by splicing a new length onto them ? How ?
Or do I replace them entirely with a new length ? How hard is this to do ? Can someone provide instructions please.

 

[wildwest450]

Im having foaming issues and need to extend my beer lines. I have a Keg Connection three tower kit with Perlick taps.
Do I leave the existing lines in place and extend them by splicing a new length onto them ? How ?
Or do I replace them entirely with a new length ? How hard is this to do ? Can someone provide instructions please.

You may have other options. How long is your current line? Give us your carbing method, and temp of beer. Is your tower cooled? Changing line length may be the last step to take.

 

[sethga]

Agreed... temperature and tower cooling are most likely a bigger factor with foaming. Line length is more towards dispensing speed IIRC..

 

[Bru]

Current length of beer line is Keg Connection standard 5' (3/16).

I force carbed at 30 PSI for 24hrs, purged keg and reduced pressure to 12 PSI. Keg has been at 12 PSI for two weeks at a constant 2C. Tower is not cooled at the moment but I will be installing copper tubes asap. I suspect the 33C+ temps we are having doesn't help.

To pour I purge keg and reduce pressure to 5 PSI. First glass is 80% foam, pours after that leave a 20% head and are perfect.

I suspect Johannesburg altitude of 5500ft asl may increase foaming as there is less pressure to keep CO2 dissolved ?
Standard beer line rule of thumb seems to be to start with 10' and adjust from there ?
Does anyone use 5' with any success with a reasonably carbed beer ?

All advice and comments appreciated.

 

[KhellendrosXS]

I think youll have great success in cooling down the lines in the tower to match the temp of your fridge. There are a good number of people that have the same problem with uncooled towers where the gas comes out of solution in the warm line and causes the first pour to foam excessively. What happens is cooler beer moves in behind the warm stuff and that is why the subsequent pours come out like they are supposed to (they dont have a chance to warm up before being served).

I personally like this webpage for figuring out line lenght vs serving pressure:

http://www.franklinbrew.org/brewinfo/balance.html


Also, Im not sure how altitude affects the way CO2 dissolves into a liquid but inside your keg and your lines it should be the same as your regulator because they act as a barrier to atmospheric pressure. The variable is when you open your tap.

However, longer line and a cool tower should clear up most the problem you are having.

 

[conpewter]

I'd make sure to cool the tower, but also extend your lines to 10' (by that I mean new lines, not actually extending the ones you have...) You want to be able to pour at the pressure you store them at (12 PSI) instead of dropping and upping the pressure each time.

 

[wildwest450]

First cool the tower, second never drop psi to serve. These two steps will probably solve your problems. If this doesn't work longer lines will help some. But, it will work.


Now that I checked what 2 Celsius is, that's 35f, what type of beer is it? Your pushing close to 3 volumes of Co2, that's a lot of carbonation for some styles.

 

[Richard-SSV]

I extended my beer lines with a coupler connection and have had no issues at all. The kegging set up I bought came with 5 ft lines and the tower that I bought separately also came with 5 ft lines. I simply joined them together with a coupler that I bought at Home Depot for about $2. It has performed flawlessly with no foaming or pressure issues.

 

[Bru]

Thanks for the pointers guys. Ive ordered longer lines and will also install copper cooling pipes for the tower. I agree wildwest - 2C is a bit cold - I will increase to 4C.
Im not sure why the keg suppliers supply 5' with their kits if 10' is a better option.

 

[sethga]

I am not familiar with the keg kit you purchased.. but I did spend a lot of time on micromatic's forum back when I first built my kegerator years ago. 6' was the standard.. the guys with towers always had problems with foaming until they cooled down the tower / insulated the lines then they were good to go

 

[wildwest450]

Im not sure why the keg suppliers supply 5' with their kits if 10' is a better option.

It's not exactly a better option, but it's easier to get a better pour without addressing the other causes.