Keg line balancing issue

[Jivetyrant]

So I kegged my Gratzer earlier this week and carbed to the recommended 3.6 volumes, which gives me a head pressure of about 24psi. I ordered a 3/16 polyethylene draft line that is 11' long, the manufacturer lists line resistance as 2.2psi/ft. I'm dispensing with a cobra tap that stays in the fridge. The equation I am using for calculating draft line length is as follows:

Length = keg pressure (24) -1 (apparently cobra taps create about 1psi of resistance) / line resistance (2.2 psi/ft). There is no elevation to take into account. So, the equation should be

Length = (24 - 1)/2.2 = 10.45.

I cut my line to 10.5', I am using a ball lock, 1/4" flared fitting and just crammed the line over it. The line is coiled up into a roughly 1' circle, and is sitting more of less on top of the keg.

All seems well on paper, but the beer shoots out of the draft line like a fire hydrant! Did I miss something? This will be the first time I've tried kegging a highly carbonated beer so I'm a bit lost. Does anyone else have experience with this?

 

[schematix]

i haven't had much luck calculating tube lengths. i serve my wit bier with a 20' beer line and it's just barely enough. there are some threads around about using an epoxy stirrer in the dip tube for additional restriction. that may be worth a look.

 

[JuanMoore]

All of those balancing equations/calculators are only applicable when serving beer very cold and close to the carb level of commercial beers. One of the main reasons for this is that line resistance isn't a fixed number for a given line, but actually varies depending on fluid velocity. As mentioned above, you're going to need to add a lot of line resistance for a beer carbed that highly. Either really long lines, epoxy mixer sticks in the diptube, a flow control faucet, or combination of the above. Also, poly lines offer significantly less resistance than vinyl, FWIW.

 

[ShockedHop]

Use this

http://www.mikesoltys.com/2012/09/17/determining-proper-hose-length-for-your-kegerator/
This is great. I used it ( commercial kegs) and it worked perfect. I'm sure it would work for home brew as well
This is the carb chart as well
http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php
I have a 1/6 keg of sam adams alpine spring at 12 psi with 9' of 3/16" id beer line and all is well.