I'm Confused

[badhabit]

I'm lost! I have been kegging and serving with a picnic tap for some time and ready to build a Kegerator. I am unable to find a discription of the parts that I need to build the taps in the door of the Kegerator. I have kegs, CO2, and regulators.
1.) I know I need a tap (sounds like perlick is the clear choice??) and handle along with a shank but have no clear picture of the hardware that I need beyond that. Is there a site that will give me that info or can someone enlighten me?? I have spent a lot of time looking and can find no clear answers.
2.) I have barbed gas and beer disconnects for my picnic tap and think that I may also need to go to the MFL type for the build. I would like others thoughts on that and the hardware to do that,
3.) and on in line plastic quick disconnects. (I have a brass in line quick disconnect for my current gas line set up.)
4.) If I have 4 taps what do I need to know about manifolds and their connections? (Backflow??)
5.) Last I need to understand more about line size and material (no foam???) for gas and beer...what is the best size....do I just use 3/16ths for all? I see lots of information that leads me to believe that I need to have 10 feet of beer line for each tap to hold and serve at about 10psi???
Again I have spent a lot of time looking for this here and other sites and don't yet have clear answers. If there is someplace to better get the answers please just let me know that. I would rather do it right the first time and spend the money to do it right rather than have to do it more than once and waste the money that I could have used well the first time.
Thanks for the help and patience.

 

[weirdboy]

1. You want a faucet and a shank, and accompanying shank nut if they are sold separately. Usually you can find a combo package that has that stuff together, and maybe includes other stuff as well.

2. For the disconnects I prefer MFL with swivel nuts/barbs, but barbed QDs work fine, too.

3. I use the plastic QDs because they are much easier and faster to swap out kegs with.

4. Here I cannot help you. I use a secondary regulator on each line so I can carb and serve and different pressures. I would say the most important thing with serving multiple taps is to make sure you have a check valve on each line.

5. This gets tricky because there are a lot more factors than just the ID of the hose, the length, and the pressure. You also need to consider the temperature of the kegs, and control the temperature all the way through the lines to the faucets, and in addition, just changing the brand of beverage line can have a huge impact on the amount of flow you get at the faucet. Personally I use about 9-10 feet of line on each tap, and 3/16" ID beverage line that I got from Micromatic. I don't remember the manufacturer off the top of my head but it's stamped on the hose.

Also, my GAS line is definitely not 3/16. I use the 5/16" red gas line because when you have hoses going all over the place in a small confined space like my kegerator, it is very useful to be able to quickly distinguish the two.

If it were me doing this for the first time, I would get a roll of the hose. At least 50' but probably more like 100' of beverage line so that if I screw up for whatever reason, or need to replace a hose or two over the weekend months from now I don't need to sit around waiting for a shipment. There are whole threads, and threads spawning off of those, just about what brand of tubing to use so that you don't get as much plastic flavor, etc. when you pour. My solution to that is to pour off the beer in the line if it's been sitting there for a while without me drinking from that tap. This also accomplishes the job of getting the faucet pouring at the same temp as the beer and hose in the kegerator, which eliminates the foaming. If you absolutely have to preserve every last drop in your keg, well good luck, sir.


On the shank length, you will need to buy a shank that is long enough to go through your fridge door if you are converting a fridge and putting the taps on the door. If you are using a tower then shorter shanks are good. Again, most places sell kits with all this stuff combined at a reduced price, so look for that first and then ask them about specific upgrades (e.g. for perlick faucets, more hose, manifold, check valves, etc.) and you will get better pricing usually.

 

[SBC]

I thought Weirdboy's answers were good. I will add to question 4
4) Make sure the manifold has check valves, whether you use MFL connectors or shutoffs. I use MFL connectors with no shutoff on my 7 tap keezer but that is personal choice. I would have a manifold that is as big as the # of kegs that will fit, this way you can carb beer before it goes on. You can go crazy and have a secondary reg for each keg, again, personal preference. It all depends on what your budget it.

 

[badhabit]

Thanks for the help! I still have a lot to learn and slowly I seem to be getting the information that I need.

 

[simtel20]

Is there any reason to get a shank that's longer than the thickness of the fridge door? I've got a mini-fridge that I've put a couple of feet up on a shelf so I can serve from the door, and now I'm trying to figure out the spacing of everything (shanks, taps, lines, etc) for when I have 2 tall+skinny cornys inside. I'm guessing I need placement high and in the middle to not collide with the cornys, but beyond that... anyone have advice on this?

P.S. the reason for wanting a high front-mounting kegerator is because I want it to be out of reach of a toddler (now) and a small kid (future) as said toddler grows.

 

[gstrawn]

Is there any reason to get a shank that's longer than the thickness of the fridge door? I've got a mini-fridge that I've put a couple of feet up on a shelf so I can serve from the door, and now I'm trying to figure out the spacing of everything (shanks, taps, lines, etc) for when I have 2 tall+skinny cornys inside. I'm guessing I need placement high and in the middle to not collide with the cornys, but beyond that... anyone have advice on this?

P.S. the reason for wanting a high front-mounting kegerator is because I want it to be out of reach of a toddler (now) and a small kid (future) as said toddler grows.

You ask if there is any reason? Yes. Is it necessary? No. If you haven't purchased a shank yet I would recommend going longer because a longer shank inside of the door will help to keep the shank cooler, thereby not heating your beer as much during dispensing and therefore decreasing foam. The increased area of metal within the fridge will absorb the cold, and even help cool the area of the shank within the door.

 

[SBC]

The biggest problem with taps higher on a fridge door is with opening the freezer door, if the freezer is on top. Someone opens the freezer and bumps the taps open and beer is everywhere. Since it is a mini-fridge, just watch as to where things are when trying to clse the door, as you said.