I can't figure it out! Slow pour help.

[GreenDragon]

My keg pours slow, really slow. It has since I constructed it. I have replaced the gas line, the beer line, the tap and even tried a different keg. I moved the CO2 canister to outside the fridge. I tried more pressure, less pressure, more hose length, less hose length.

Current setup:
Frigidaire Refrigerator running at 39F
5lb CO2 tank mounted outside the fridge
Pressure at 11psi (I use the set it and forget it method for carbing)
5/16 ID gas line - 4ft
Pin Lock 5 gallon keg
3/16 ID beer line - 10ft
5 1/8" Shank
Perlick "Perl" Faucet
Boring plastic tap handle (replacing soon)

I obviously don't need 10ft of beer line so I have it looping a few times with the loops attached to the door very loosely with a zip tie. I am getting bubbles in my beer line, I don't know if this is affecting anything or not.

The weird thing is it's carbed almost perfectly, it just pours really really slow. It takes about 30-60 seconds to pour a pint.

The only thing I can think of is it's the shank. The shank is also the only part I purchased locally, everything else I'm currently running came from Keg Connection. Maybe the shank is applying back pressure or something?

 

[IrregularPulse]

You didn't post your pressure setting. Kind of important.

 

[GreenDragon]

Oh sorry.. 11psi set it and forget it method. Current keg has been hooked up for almost a week.

11psi is on the high side but I don't really want to go lower until this pour situation is fixed.

 

[carrotmalt]

You might throw a picnic tap on it and see if the problem's at the perlick end. Otherwise, maybe the pin lock is bad and it's not fully depressing the poppet valve. Are you sure you have a full tank of gas? Can you put a guage on your gas side to make sure your regulator's working properly? Just brainstorming here. Good luck and let us know once you figure it out.

 

[wildwest450]

Line length controls the pour speed, if you don't have foaming issues, cut a foot off at a time until you're happy with the speed.
Dropping the psi after the beer is carbed will cause foaming and a loss of carbonation.


_

 

[GreenDragon]

I'm pretty sure it's not the perlick as the default tap that came with my kit had the same issue. I'll try a picnic tap just to rule it out though.

 

[shortyjacobs]

Does this happen with both kegs? I agree, check the poppet, check the liquid out tube, (can be clogged), check the liquid QD.

 

[berkeleyjack]

Ten feet seems like a lot.
I think I have mine around 6 feet, but I'm using picnic taps.

 

[shortyjacobs]

Meh, I have 10 ft, coiled, and 11 PSI. Get a pint in 8-10 seconds...I'm voting hardware.

 

[GreenDragon]

The keg!!! I got a new keg in today from Midwest and painstakingly transferred the beer from the old keg that I got from my LHBS to the Midwest keg and hooked everything back up. Blamo It's pouring like a champ!

I am never ever buying anything other than yeast from my LHBS again. I was trying to be nice and buy local but they screwed up so much on this keg setup it's not even funny. They gave me 1/4 ID tubing for the gas and beer lines and it wasn't food quality, it was Ace Hardware plastic tubing! The connects they gave me were the wrong sizes. The keg they sold me was obviously defective. The ONLY thing they really got right was the regulator but it's hard to screw one of those up since they come pre-packaged.

Lessen learned, stick to the pro's for the expensive stuff!

 

[GreenDragon]

Oh yeah.. one weird thing.. the pin lock keg I got from Midwest has a pressure release valve. Does that mean it's a converted ball lock? I don't mind, it's a nice addition, just curious.

 

[day_trippr]

Ok, so the other keg has a defective Out post poppet. It happens. Doesn't seem to rise to the level of an intifada, but wtfdik

As for the new keg, pinlock kegs normally don't have a manual pressure release - and frankly I've never heard of someone converting a ball lock keg to a pin lock. So, most likely, you got a pin lock keg that had the lid replaced with a lid from a ball lock keg...

Cheers!

 

[carrotmalt]

...So, most likely, you got a pin lock keg that had the lid replaced with a lid from a ball lock keg...

I bought a pin lock keg since my LHBS was out of ball-locks and talked the guy into letting me take a ball lock lid with it just for the pressure release. Fits just fine.