Faucet Height Question

[VikeMan]

So I'm building a keezer with a collar, and I might just be able to squeeze an extra keg in on the compressor shelf if I make the collar high enough. Question is...

Does the faucet have to necessarily be higher than the top of the keg? TIA!

---VikeMan

 

[david_42]

no 34567890

 

[Merlin-CO]

No, it doesn't. It'll just make the system flow/balancing a bit strange (i.e. the line length vs. CO2 pressure) in that it may provide a bit of siphon-like flow properties (depending on how much lower the tap is from the liquid level in that keg) and so a negative resistance factor - but I have no idea how much. But I don't see any real issue with having one a few inches lower.

 

[VikeMan]

Thanks Merlin. So a longer line should restore the lost resistance, right?

 

[jgourd]

Thanks Merlin. So a longer line should restore the lost resistance, right?

You'll lose ~0.5 PSI per horizontal foot difference between the faucet and the keg (we usually measure with the center of the keg). If your keg is higher than the tap, then it becomes -0.5 PSI per foot (or you gain 0.5 PSI per foot difference). So you can make that up with longer lines. 3/16" ID vinyl beer line drops about 2 PSI per foot. So you can pretty easily calculate how long of a line you might need to make up for the height difference.