floating vs standard dip tubes and affects on serving temps

Homebrew Talk

Help Support Homebrew Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

odie

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2016
Messages
2,896
Reaction score
2,013
Location
CC, TX
I got to thinking recently...yeah...usually a bad idea...

I was wondering if there was any meaningful different in the serving temps between the two dip tube methods?

My gut instinct tells me that a standard dip tube is pulling beer from the bottom of the keg, and the bottom of the keezer or kegerator is probably the coldest area.

How much colder from top to bottom of the keezer/kegerator I don't know. significant or negligible?

This is all assuming there is no internal fan or anything to circulate air or make the internal temps all even top to bottom.
 
This is all assuming there is no internal fan or anything to circulate air or make the internal temps all even top to bottom.
^IMHO That's the truly important part of a kegerator/keezer...without air-recirculation the unit will not operate as efficiently as it could and temp-stratification will be a big deal.
In my first kegerator (a commecial unit) I experimented with the fan on and off,..had a thermometer sitting on the floor and another clip-on thermometer hanging at the top and without the fan I was getting varying 5°-11° differneces from top to bottom and some very long compressor cycle times. With the fan constantly on I never spotted more than a 1° difference and the cycle times were shorter. I also had a power-monitor and even with the fan always on, it used significantly less power every 24-hour period.
Don't choose between top and bottom draw, just add a recirc fan. That's my 2-cents anyway.
:mug:

EDIT: Just to be clear; The 'laughing' 'like' is in response to your first sentence...a trait I believe we share :p
 
Last edited:
well...a deep freezer, and most kegerators don't have fans per say, well home units don't. And traditionally, kegs pull from the bottom.

Wherever the thermostat is, is where the unit will decide to run or not. I don't think it will make it any more or less efficient per say.

Granted, a deep freezer. if it's frozen or "really" frozen...doesn't really matter that much

But with serving beer...It is about desired serving temps.

My probe is in a bottle of anti freeze mix sitting on the bottom.
 
I know I'm in a minority, but as a disabled worker in Canada my income hovers just above poverty and I live in a town with some of the highest electricity costs in the country so my 'Red Alert' always goes off when I see energy-efficiency issues..
Do yourself a favour and put a thermometer on the bottom and another on top and spend a few days checking them..If you regularly have more than a 5° difference, consider one of those recirc fans, either DIY or tried and true such as this;
https://www.morebeer.com/products/draft-tower-fan-kit.html
It really does make a significant difference, if not to the beer itself, at least to the expense of keeping it and the temp and energy-efficiency of the unit.
:mug:
 
well I've got a few digital thermometers with wire probes...

The control unit probe is in liquid at the bottom of the freezer. the other ones I guess should be in liquid too.

My other kegerator is a 1946 Westinghouse fridge...Ice box part is at the top near the lines and shanks. No warm beer issues there and I already have beer lines partially freezing time to time. The coldest spot is probably at the top of the kegs right under the iceberg.
 
If you have a tower in your serving cooler, @odie , then a fan like @Broken Crow suggests would be an excellent choice. For some reason, I bought a more expensive one (don't recall why) called ColdTower on eBay. Even if you don't have a tower, a tower cooling fan kit could help you aim air from the bottom to the top of your cooler. Others have used cheap computer fans to get air circulating.

I respect the Crow's report about efficiency gain, and I love saving electricity. I'm curious just how circulating helps with efficiency.
 
If you have a tower in your serving cooler, @odie , then a fan like @Broken Crow suggests would be an excellent choice. For some reason, I bought a more expensive one (don't recall why) called ColdTower on eBay. Even if you don't have a tower, a tower cooling fan kit could help you aim air from the bottom to the top of your cooler. Others have used cheap computer fans to get air circulating.

I respect the Crow's report about efficiency gain, and I love saving electricity. I'm curious just how circulating helps with efficiency.
no tower..that was one of my older designs...I used a copper sleeve for the beer lines and evaporator plate to drawn cold up the tower. Not sure how successful that was.

Just a simple keezer with a 2x4 collar. Very tight fit with the kegs. 5x5 gal and 2x3 gal in an 8cf freezer. Actually very little open space to even place a fan. not sure if the fan consumption off sets any efficiency gains.

The fridge one the shanks go thru the door very close to the evap plate, which on a 1946 fridge...is shortly encased in ice.
 
How do you remove a floating dip tube?

I just picked up a new-to-me corny keg that came with a silicone floating dip tube. I can't figure out how to get it off the short outfeed tube without damaging it. I don't have any plans to reuse it right away, but I'd like to save it if I can for potential future use. There has to be an easy way. How do people remove these things between batches for regular cleaning?
 
How do you remove a floating dip tube?

I just picked up a new-to-me corny keg that came with a silicone floating dip tube. I can't figure out how to get it off the short outfeed tube without damaging it. I don't have any plans to reuse it right away, but I'd like to save it if I can for potential future use. There has to be an easy way. How do people remove these things between batches for regular cleaning?
just pull out the short dip tube straight up. don't pull on the hose from inside the keg.

think "Chinese finger trap/puzzle"...
 
@rhys333 , the hose should remain in the keg as the dip tube is firmly pulled up. The hole that carries the dip tube is too narrow to allow the hose to follow, so it peels off gracefully. Or, anyhow, it should. Clear?
 

Latest posts

Back
Top