Kegerator balance question.

[Thomas_S]

I built my own kegerator but I am not yet home brewing, I do plan on it soon. Here is a pic!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/44gwzkumuo7x9jo/emp.jpg

Now on to my question. I am new but I have been trying to read as much as possible. I am getting a keg of Killian's this weekend. I know that it needs 2.75 volumes of CO2. I am getting my kegerator to a steady 38 degrees and I am 800 ft above sea level. Using online calculators it is saying I need <5 feet of 3/16 ID hose. Most things I read online never recommended a hose that short. I have 7 feet of hose. Should I see what happens at 7 feet or should I just start with the calculated 4.3 ft of hose?

Resources:

This chart says 14psi, + 1 for almost 1k above sea level??
http://www.kegerators.com/carbonation-table.php

Using this formula is where I got my <5 feet of line.
http://www.brewersfriend.com/2009/0...our-kegged-beer-co2-line-length-and-pressure/

Any tips are appreciated!
Thanks,
Thomas

 

[freisste]

I would not cut the line. Try 7' and see how it works. If you're good, you're good. If it pours too slowly, you can cut it down. From personal experience (granted I'm not at your elevation) 7' wasn't enough for me.

 

[Thomas_S]

Is there a reason I read a lot of real world experience that says longer hose and the calculator says a shorter hose?

 

[freisste]

Probably....I just don't know what it is .

 

[gr8shandini]

I think most of the folks running 10 foot lines are trying for absolutely zero foam. In my opinion, a proper pour should have at least 1/2" of head on it when you begin drinking, so you want a good 3/4" - 1" of foam at the end of the pour since some will settle out.

I follow the calculations an have never had a problem with 5 feet of 3/16" at 12 psi. However, I don't know how you're coming up with less than 5 feet for 14 psi, though. The only way I could see that working out is if your keg is several feet below your faucet.

 

[Pie_Man]

For a commerical keg, you really just need enough CO2 to push the beer out of the keg as the keg is already carbonated.

 

[Thomas_S]

I think most of the folks running 10 foot lines are trying for absolutely zero foam. In my opinion, a proper pour should have at least 1/2" of head on it when you begin drinking, so you want a good 3/4" - 1" of foam at the end of the pour since some will settle out.

I follow the calculations an have never had a problem with 5 feet of 3/16" at 12 psi. However, I don't know how you're coming up with less than 5 feet for 14 psi, though. The only way I could see that working out is if your keg is several feet below your faucet.

I used the website listed in my OP.

L = (P -(H x .5) – 1 ) / R

Where:
L = length of beer line in feet
P = pressure set of regulator
H = total height from center of keg to faucet in feet
R = resistance of the line from the following table
1 = residual pressure remaining at faucet (this can be increased to 2 if you need to increase pressure to increase dispense rate)

L = (14psi -(1ftx.5) -1)) / 3
L = (14 - .5 -1)/3
L = (14 -1.5)/3
L = 12.5/3
L = 4.16

If I add 1 psi for nearly 1k above sea level that works out to 4.5 foot of hose. Maybe the 3 for psi loss per foot for 3/16 ID is wrong or the formula is wrong.

 

[Thomas_S]

For a commerical keg, you really just need enough CO2 to push the beer out of the keg as the keg is already carbonated.

Right, but I would like to keep the 2.75 by volume. It is my understanding that CO2 will leave the beer to fill the head space, thus making your beer flat. So I need to keep the proper CO2 levels and dispense the beer.

Correct anything I have wrong please.

 

[Pie_Man]

Right, but I would like to keep the 2.75 by volume. It is my understanding that CO2 will leave the beer to fill the head space, thus making your beer flat. So I need to keep the proper CO2 levels and dispense the beer.

Correct anything I have wrong please.

In my experience with commerical kegs, setting the PSI at 4-5 is sufficient. You can always adjust the pressure upward from there.

 

[WileECoyote]

Hello, the short of it is, the shorter your hose is, the lower serving pressure has to be to keep the beer from foaming to much,

Use the 7' hose, you will be able to maintain a higher serving pressure and maintain your beer co2 volumes, also it takes time for co2 to come out of solution while under pressure.

I use 9 psi on my kegerator with 5' hoses and at 550' above sea level and my beers are plenty carbed up, I do like a bit less carbonation in my drinks but my wife likes hers fully carbonated drinks and says its more than enough co2.

Cheers

 

[gr8shandini]

I used the website listed in my OP.

L = (P -(H x .5) – 1 ) / R

Where:
L = length of beer line in feet
P = pressure set of regulator
H = total height from center of keg to faucet in feet
R = resistance of the line from the following table
1 = residual pressure remaining at faucet (this can be increased to 2 if you need to increase pressure to increase dispense rate)

L = (14psi -(1ftx.5) -1)) / 3
L = (14 - .5 -1)/3
L = (14 -1.5)/3
L = 12.5/3
L = 4.16

If I add 1 psi for nearly 1k above sea level that works out to 4.5 foot of hose. Maybe the 3 for psi loss per foot for 3/16 ID is wrong or the formula is wrong.

3 is a little optimistic. I haven't run the calcs in a while, but I remember 3/16" line being closer to 2 or 2.5. It's also good to leave a little extra since the line eventually relaxes under the pressure and the resistance falls a bit. Being a little long is better than being a little short [that's what she said], so if you already have 7 foot lines made up, I'd just leave 'em and you'll be fine.

And as far as the suggestion to just run enough pressure to push the beer, that'll work for a day or two. But if you're below the equilibrium pressure in the chart, the beer will off-gas on its own and eventually go flat.

 

[Thomas_S]

Here is a pic of my 2nd beer out of it. I didn't have any problems! Well, I did forget to open the shut off on my regulator at first. But after that everything seems good. Pours kind of slow, but I think it is okay. Passes the flash light test. I am right around 13-14psi.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/e8mxiiz7z15upc3/emp_2.jpg