New beer lines = foam?

[splyn]

I just replaced my beer lines with the same size of Bevlex 200 tubing as well as the liquid out ball lock connections. I measured out the new lines using the old ones so I know they are the same length (+/- 1"). But now every pour I've gotten is nothing but foam. The pressures have stayed the same and nothing else has changed. At first I thought the new lines may be warmer and causing the foam, but even after 24 hours I'm still getting foam.

Any ideas as to the cause? I'm really sick of all head and flat beers.

 

[Sammy86]

What PSI are you using? How long is the line? What temp is your beer at? All these things will help us answer your question better!

Cheers!

 

[paperairplane]

Any chance different ID on the new line?

 

[jmward21]

Did you clean the lines? They could have oil or dirt in them

 

[jmward21]

Btw, I had this same issue but it was because my fridge was too cold. Once I got the temp under control, everything worked great. 38 degrees was my magic number. 12 psi, 6 and 8 ft beer lines, 3/16 ID.

 

[splyn]

Temp is 40(F), pressure is 12psi, lines are 10' long with 1/4" ID (same as old lines). All this has remained the same. The only difference is the lines are new.

Ill double check the temp and PSIs and make sure the temp controller and pressure regulator are still working.

 

[day_trippr]

[...]lines are 10' long with 1/4" ID (same as old lines). [...]

There's your problem...

Cheers!

 

[tmendick]

generally the suggested tubing ID for 10 ft is 3/16. With 1/4 there is not enough restriction to balance the line pressure.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

You could run 1/4" but you would want to drop the pressure way down so that the beer is going slower. At that pressure and bore you are probably pouring very fast which is causing undue turbulence and forcing the co2 out of solution making foam. The other thing is that the lines were warm when you replaced them. When I put a new line on I flush it with starsan and then pull beer through it. I get quite a bit of foam until the line cools down. Then back to a good pour.

 

[JuanMoore]

At 40° you need a relatively slow pour to prevent foaming, which would require well over 50' of 1/4" ID line, or about 10' of 3/16" ID line. You absolutely sure the old line that poured well was 1/4"? My bet is that the old line was 3/16" ID,

 

[splyn]

Yup. old line was 3/16 and the new line was sent was 1/4 (although i ordered 3/16). Got it fixed and pours are back to normal.