Kegerator spitting foam and no beer

[Ram1977]

Using a new edgestar kegerator, first brew in a keg. Have had the keg in the fridge at about 40 degrees for 2 weeks. Pressure was set at 15 psi before refrigeration.
Today I pressured the keg to 12 psi. Hooked up the beer line. Was hoping for a frosty mug of homebrew…. Instead got about 10 pints of foam. No fluid is coming out only suds.
Backed the pressure down down to 2, gradually built up to 10-12. No change in foam except more spitting.
Disconnected everything to make sure I wasn’t missing something.
Everything seems correct.
Beer hose is original, probably 5’
Beer hose is all bubbles, no liquid appears to be flowing.
On top of that, beer somehow got up into the gas line too.
Needless to say I am puzzled. Any suggestions on where to start?
Thanks

 

[camonick]

The liquid hose is definitely too short to achieve a nice pour at those pressures, but doesn’t account for the hose full of foam. That sounds like a severe over carbonation, compromised liquid dip tube o-ring or large temperature differential in your liquid lines. Perhaps a combination of all 3. Are you operating the faucet at full open & and full closed… no in between? Kegerator companies would receive a lot more positive reviews if they would just add $10 more tubing of the appropriate size.

 

[Broken Crow]

I can't find specs online for it, but don't those kegerators come with a line that apart from being too short, also has a 3/8ID?

 

[Ram1977]

Really appreciate the quick response! Today was pretty comically.
Not sure on the spec of the liquid tube either. Overcarbonation, tube length and diam. I will get those squared away.
Overcarbonation - just release the pressure value for a couple days?
Tube 3/16” 10 ft or longer?
Do I have to wait to check dip tub o-ring? Probably not recommended to crack open the vessel?
Thanks again

 

[Broken Crow]

Just noticed you're new here; Welcome to the fun!
Definitely do not open the keg under pressure! Just wondering, is it a new or used keg? Corny or Sankey?

 

[camonick]

Over carbonation may or may not be the issue. If your regulator isn’t faulty, what you described should be fine. The only thing that concerned me was the beer backing up your gas line.
Read this: Overcarbed Keg? Here's an INSTANT SOLUTION!
The general rule of thumb is 1 foot + of 3/16” beer line per psi. 4mm EVABARRIER is better yet.
You can check your liquid dip tube o-ring… just be sure there is no headspace pressure when you do, sanitize and re-install and purge. If you don’t have any keg lube, I would suggest getting a tube.

 

[Ram1977]

Thanks for the welcome. It’s a new corny keg and new regulator.
I will try those and read up a bit. Appreciate the assistance

 

[Rich1234]

I'd start with the basics...

Sounds almost like you have your lines reversed..? Make sure white (gas) is hooked up to IN and black (liquid) to OUT. Also, did you take the keg apart when you cleaned it? Are you sure that the long dip tube is on the OUT port and the short one is on the IN post?

If your beer temp is 40 degrees, 12 psi is probably too high. I'd try 8 or 9 and leave it alone for a few days. Relieve a little pressure from the blowoff 1-2 times a day. My guess is that the beer backed up from the 12-15psi in the keg into your regulator when you were messing around with the lower pressures. Sounds like your regulator might not have a check valve.

Rich

 

[balrog]

Also keep in mind that CO2 takes time to dissolve into or outgas from beer. If it is overcarbed, you really need to remove the keg from the cold to warm up some to promote outgassing from the liquid, which of course requires releasing head pressure to come to new equilibrium of dissolved CO2 and headspace pressure.

As to beer in gas line, if it made it to the regulator that will have to disassembled, cleaned and dried. As @Rich1234 mentioned, double/triple check you did not switch in/out lines but if you're getting foam on output it'd be had to do if it was hooked to gas in line.

 

[camonick]

If your beer temp is 40 degrees, 12 psi is probably too high.

12 psi @ 40° is 2.47 volumes. OP doesn’t say what kind of beer, but that’s just about perfect for most styles.
https://www.kegoutlet.com/media/uploads_ckeditor/Carbonatin-Chart.jpg

 

[camonick]

Also, keg/regulator pressure should never have to be adjusted once it’s set for your temperature and desired carbonation level. Liquid line length is what’s used to balance the system. This calculator is used to determine your line length. I personally find it a little conservative and have to add a little length to the final results to achieve the pour I like. I’m not pouring multiple beers in a pub setting, so if it pours slowly with no foam, I’m okay with that.

 

[GoodTruble]

I second the suspicion that the lines were mixed up. At least that would explain all foam and beer in the gas line. Other than that, maybe an odd couple of leaks, but that will be hard to track.

I would check to make sure lines are attached to correct posts (out = liquid) if they are, use the pressure relief valve to just release all pressure (don't worry, you re-pressure later). Wait an hour, then release pressure again. Then set PSI at 3-5 (as low as you can) and try a pour. At that point, it should not be foamy from overcarb. If it is still foamy, you have an odd leak issue somewhere.

 

[Rich1234]

12 psi @ 40° is 2.47 volumes. OP doesn’t say what kind of beer, but that’s just about perfect for most styles.
https://www.kegoutlet.com/media/uploads_ckeditor/Carbonatin-Chart.jpg

Not knocking your point about the liquid line, I agree. I get what you're saying about volumes of carbonation, but where I was going with that was eliminating the foam bombs. If we can get him to pouring better, but a little undercarbed he can adjust up from there. It's something he can do while he's rounding up his parts.

At the risk of speaking without knowing anything about edgestar kegerators or the op, I'm going to guess he's going to run into the partial foam pour issues (such as warm tower) after this..

I remember my first days trying to get my kegerator to give me a good pour.. He's probably just dying to see a nice glass of liquid at this point.. lol

 

[Ram1977]

Thanks again for the replies and suggestions. Indeed just need a damn beer at this point!
Once I get home I am going to make sure the lines aren’t backwards. Longer line will be delivered on Tuesday.

 

[GoodTruble]

Also, My suggestion assumes the dip tube is connected to the "out" side. I've never seen a keg assembled with the dip tube on the wrong side (the "in" side), but just another very, very remote possibility.

 

[Broken Crow]

As to beer backing up the gas line,

Backed the pressure down down to 2, gradually built up to 10-12.

That is likely when it happened rather than having lines reversed. I could well be wrong, but that's my first thought. To me it really does sound as simple as to the too-short and too-wide lines that come standard with kegerators destined for purchase at a hardware store. No slight on the unit, but most consumer kegerators are designed for people who just buy the commercial brews available in Sankey's, and can serve the lot of us just fine after we make the informed adjustments which pretty much always mean replacing the lines, if not the shank and tap as well.

 

[Bobby_M]

Lay the keg on its,side and see if it stops. If it does, I will explain the problem.

 

[day_trippr]

"Spitting foam" is classically indicative of CO2 in the keg head space being injected directly into the beer stream under the Out post, due to a missing or damaged O-ring under the Out/Beer diptube flange (a much much less frequent cause is a pin hole leak in the Out dip tube above the beer line).

To fix, obtain a new dip tube O-ring, remove both disconnects from their respective posts, open the PRV and latch it open, then remove the Out post and then the Out dip tube. Remove the original O-ring and install the new, sanitize the dip tube and install it, then install the Out post...

Cheers!

 

[Ram1977]

Folks, I am happy to report that the problem has been solved and i am sorry to report that my kids (4 & 2) have a couple more words in their vocabulary for school tomorrow. WTF!
In and out posts were reversed.
Got to really take a minute to appreciate all of your detailed troubleshooting. So cool to have the resources like this forum with quick responses on a weekend. So cool. Thanks guys!

 

[day_trippr]

Hahahaha! That's a first for me - gonna need to remember that one!

Cheers!

 

[camonick]

Folks, I am happy to report that the problem has been solved and i am sorry to report that my kids (4 & 2) have a couple more words in their vocabulary for school tomorrow. WTF!
In and out posts were reversed.
Got to really take a minute to appreciate all of your detailed troubleshooting. So cool to have the resources like this forum with quick responses on a weekend. So cool. Thanks guys!

Enjoy your beer. Glad it was an easy fix.

 

[Rich1234]

Awesome! Glad you found your issue. Cheers!

 

[skirbs]

Lay the keg on its,side and see if it stops. If it does, I will explain the problem.

Hey Bobby - I am having an issue with my keg where it just spits foam. Searching the board for a solution, I found this comment, and laying the keg on its side resolved my issue. When I turned it back up right, however, the issue came back. Could you explain whats going on?

 

[day_trippr]

Greetings, @skirbs! Welcome to the forums at homebrewtalk.com

Not Bobby, but the first thing I would suspect is the small O-ring under the long Out dip tube flange is missing or is damaged, and resting the keg on its side submerged the dip tube so CO2 can't leak through. As described here Kegerator spitting foam and no beer.

Much less likely would be a pin hole up high in the long dip tube...

Cheers!

 

[Bobby_M]

Agree

 

[odie]

posts mixed up? Inspect your QDs. they are different sizes. One will swap without notice. but the other will be super tight.

 

[Bobby_M]

posts mixed up? Inspect your QDs. they are different sizes. One will swap without notice. but the other will be super tight.

Even worse, the QDs might be on the right posts but those posts have mixed up diptubes. I.e. the short gas diptube is sitting under the liquid QD. It would make sense actually because as Co2 streams down to the bottom of the keg, it will create a big head of foam on the top of the beer which would reach up high enough to blow out the short gas diptube.

Solutions..

1. Swap the grey QD onto the liquid hose and vice versa until the keg is empty.
2. Flip the keg upside down and leave it that way until empty.
3. Vent the keg, remove the posts and verify the correct diptubes are under there. (this is last resort as you'll expose the beer to oxygen).