hooking a paintball bottle to a keg

[mr x]

They do so.

 

[weasle708]

I bought the portable Co2 systom from lowes the other day. I also stopped at my LHBS and picked up the quick disconnects and a party tap. I also got my kegs from Ebay on saturday. today i picked up a male fitting for my quick disconnect, an adapter to attach the tubing to the male fitting and some tubing. now all i have to do is plumb and check for leaks. Here is a pic of the stuff to make it work.

 

[GuateBrewer]

That looks sweet and safe - thinking I need to hunt one of those rigs down for going to parties and such, far easier than dragging a full tank along.

 

[weasle708]

i can't wait to try it. i just made a batch of October fest and once it is done i will have my system up and running.
here is a pic of the pieces fitted together.

 

[BeerCanuck]

I have been looking for a portability/backup option for myself C02 charger in Canada
After checking weasle708 link for the Kobalt Portable Compressed CO2 Regulator I noticed that there a Lowes located in Hamilton. I called the store and the sales agent confirmed they had in stock for $128 Canadian.

I just might go this route..its a bit pricey though
Interested in knowing how this works out for you weasle708

Cheers
BeerCanuck

 

[BarleyPop]

Williams Brewing has it for less here:
http://www.williamsbrewing.com/BREWER_S_EDGE_PAINTBALL_REGUL_P1954C117.cfm

The problem with the shank from williams is that its not dual purpose. You can only use a paintball tank or a full sz cylinder. The one from Morebeer you can go right from your full sz cylinder to a paintball without changing the shank in your regulator. My brother owns the patent for the Morebeer regulator shank.

:rockin:

 

[mr x]

Good to know.

 

[kilroy]

I bought the portable Co2 systom from lowes the other day. I also stopped at my LHBS and picked up the quick disconnects and a party tap. I also got my kegs from Ebay on saturday. today i picked up a male fitting for my quick disconnect, an adapter to attach the tubing to the male fitting and some tubing. now all i have to do is plumb and check for leaks. Here is a pic of the stuff to make it work.

Question on this setup - can you regulate the pressure coming out of the paintball cylinder?
cause this would be a nice setup for when I drag a keg to a party - the idea of tossing a 50 pound tank into the car is not too appealing. Taking a 3 gallon keg camping with a setup like this - makes sense.

Thanks
Kilroy

 

[Bobby_M]

The 9oz tanks are like $24 and I don't think you can get them refilled. They're not the same connections as paintball tanks right? If they're not refillable, you might as well go with the little 12 gram charger because $24 to dispense a single corny is totally nuts.

By the way, in any case, get some 3/16" tubing for the beerline. That 3/8" hose is going to foam a LOT.

 

[Chello]

as far as i can tell this should be a refillable co2 tank with the same connection as a paintball tank.

The description on the lowes website says its "environmentally friendly" as the cannisters are reusable.

 

[weasle708]

the tank that i am showing is a refillable co2 tank. you can also refill a 9oz tank. the 20oz tank cost about 4.00 to refill. the big blue connection has a dial that you can control the pressure that comes out of the tank. hope this helps

the tubing is 1/4 I.D. 3/8 O.D.

 

[Chello]

Any updates on how well this system works?

 

[weasle708]

patience young Jedi
not yet just racked my fest beer to the secondary. after Christmas i will be hooking it up. will have photos and information then.

 

[senorfartman]

I have a ton of old paintball gear laying around including one of these:

A 68 cubic inch, 4500 psi nitrogen tank. I haven't played in years so I can't remember if I have the 800 or 400 psi spring in the regulator. However I've got several inline regulators that could easily knock down the pressure to what the kegs need and supply enough volume.

Speaking of which, how much pressure do you need to feed the keg to get proper carbonation and have it still pour a an acceptable rate?

 

[weasle708]

I have a ton of old paintball gear laying around including one of these:

A 68 cubic inch, 4500 psi nitrogen tank. I haven't played in years so I can't remember if I have the 800 or 400 psi spring in the regulator. However I've got several inline regulators that could easily knock down the pressure to what the kegs need and supply enough volume.

Speaking of which, how much pressure do you need to feed the keg to get proper carbonation and have it still pour a an acceptable rate?

you cant use this tank. it is not for co2. there is a nifty carbination chart that you can search for that will help. the carbination level depends on the type of beer you have in your keg and the temp.
hope this helped somewhat.

 

[senorfartman]

I thought you could use nitrogen/compressed air for this? Or is there something specifically about CO2 that is useful in brewing?

Worst case I could just use the tank for pouring like the Guinness kegs.

 

[weasle708]

I thought you could use nitrogen/compressed air for this? Or is there something specifically about CO2 that is useful in brewing?

Worst case I could just use the tank for pouring like the Guinness kegs.

you need co2 to carb beer. oxygen will harm beer. there are other people here that can answer you question better than i can. for they know more than me.

 

[weasle708]

so i hooked it up it works great and looks cool

 

[Chello]

I guess that knob on top is used to adjust the pressure?

And when you buy it from lowes does the tank come full already? (just out of curiosity)

 

[weasle708]

yea the knob on the side controls the press. yes if you buy a tank from Lowe's it will be full. I play paint ball so i have the CO2 tanks all ready so that was one thing that i did not buy.
a word of caution is that the knob needs to be turned fully out to shut the air off if you get it and turn in the knob that will give the reg full pressure 120 psi.
one nice future is that you could strap the CO2 tank to the keg.

 

[Chello]

one more question... does the regulator come with a tank or do they try to sell you that too?

 

[msiler]

All you need is one of these$10 a spare regulator $30 and about $5 worth of hardware store fittings i built mine for well under $20 with a regulator i already had on hand.

 

[Chello]

All you need is one of these$10 a spare regulator $30 and about $5 worth of hardware store fittings i built mine for well under $20 with a regulator i already had on hand.

Where can you find that piece of hardware?

 

[weasle708]

You get the regulator as a kit that includes a air line, tire pressure gauge, tire inflater, a blower wand and safety glasses. It does not include the tank which was fine with me. I had extra tanks that i could use.
what i like about it is the fact that i can use it for so much more that just beer. I can use nail guns inflate tires. (thing to keep the SWMBO happy). priceless

 

[mZnthebend]

Nice work weasle708!! I too came across the same system. I got a 5# set-up through Craigslist and have been at a loss for CO2. I can buy another steel tank and take time off of work to get there in time, but no-one in the area will fill my aluminum. I remembered the Kobalt system from Lowes and picked it up the other day. I came home and did a seach and saw you had already posted your work. It is my first time kegging, I set the pressure for 14 psi and went on vacation for a week When I came back the system was great and I've pulled a dozen or so drafts off of the system!! As far as I can tell, it is a great option for people with limited access to CO2, I talked to Dick's and it was between $2 and $3 for a fill on a 9, 12, or 20 oz. tank. Quick question for you, did your set-up come with two tanks? I got a free filled 9 oz. tank and an empty 9 oz. in the packaging.

 

[weasle708]

Glad to here that it worked for you. glad this thread could help.
No the one i got did not come with a tank. I had some already.

 

[Sean from New Hampshire]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that Co2 varies between food grade and what they call "dirty" Co2. I thought paintball Co2 was dirty gas because its unfilter, and has traces of oil in it.

As a paintballer of 6 years I've been around it alot, but my local field filled kegerator tanks as well as our co2 tanks. Maybe I'm wrong though.... hows it taste?

Sean

 

[weasle708]

I just finished drinking my first keg using this method and it tasted fine to me. I don't think there is a difference. I will have to google it now that you brought that up.

 

[Chello]

I used to hear that some of the small 12 or 16 gram(whichever they sell for pellet guns) disposable co2 things did contain trace amounts of oil to lube the gun. Not sure about paintball co2 fill ups however.

 

[weasle708]

I guess if you are really concerned about anything getting in you beer you could in stall a small inline filter to remove anything that would be in the CO2 tank.