Jockey Box to Corny Keg Question

[TheHopfather]

So I was given a pre-built jockey box as a gift, however it appears that the unit is setup to accept Sanke kegs and I am looking to hook up corny kegs. Everything on the inside of the unit appears to be 3/16" (2 runs of tubing going to and from a 70' SS coil, all I can find on the coil is that it is 5/16" OD). The problem being that the tailpiece that would hook to the beer line measures 3/8" (you can kinda see the tailpiece in one of the pics).

It looks like getting a 3/16" piece of tubing on to a 3/8" tailpiece is impossible. So how does one go about converting this to hook up to a corny?

I was thinking of picking up a "Universal Tailpiece" which would allow a 1/4" MFL connection. Then just get 5' of 3/16" beer line with 1/4" swivel nuts on either end and I'm done. I'm just concerned that the new tail piece won't fit the existing assembly on the jockey box.

Am I overthinking this? Could I simply hook up to the keg with a 5/16" beer line on the barbed tailpiece and a 5/16" MFL connector for the ball lock connector? How important is 3/16" beer line from the keg to the coil?

 

[Spartan1979]

Am I overthinking this? Could I simply hook up to the keg with a 5/16" beer line on the barbed tailpiece and a 5/16" MFL connector for the ball lock connector? How important is 3/16" beer line from the keg to the coil?

Yes, yes, not very.

 

[kydan47]

You can Change out the 3/8" tailpiece to the std 3/16. 3/16 reduces line pressure 1.8 psi per foot. ss line is like .11 x70? You can find the math here - http://www.draughtquality.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/DQM_Full_Final.pdf. Then it depends on serving pressure & temp.

 

[camiller]

The beverage store I work at part time has 15 jockey boxes (we cater wedding and corporate events) and all use 5/16 beer line to the kegs. Because of all the extra pressure you need to overcome 70' of tubing with a bunch or relatively tight 90 degree turns it won't hurt to use 5/16 beer line in this application. Be aware that you will probably need to use a higher dispense pressure than you would in a typical kegerator. We use cold plates in all of ours and while they only have ~20-25 feet of tubing per run the turns inside the block are really tight so we dispense at 22-24 psi.

 

[krazydave]

I built mine with 5/16" line to the keg. And as camiller mentioned above, it's how most of them are built.
I also use beergas (75% nitrogen 25% co2) to push through the jockey box at the higher pressure. That way if anything is left in the keg after the event, it's not over carbonated.