Question about kegerator operation

[leasureryan]

New to this, I have a Danby Kegerator. Just bought a keg of Columbus IPA. my buddy runs about 2psi Co2 to his tap. And that is what I have mine set on. I had quite a bit of foam just after tapping, and it seems like I have a lot of foam even ten beers later. Like the first half of a glass seems to be foam. Should I trim down the hose length to the tap? Set Co2 pressure different? I have the little rubber valve piece in the Co2 line, and it's assemble correctly to my knowledge. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Zamial]

For most commercial brews you want 13-15 psi and 4 feet of tubing. Sometimes having a very long piece of tubing coiled can also reduce the foam.

GL

 

[opiate82]

Yup, 2psi sound very low. Sure he didn't mean 12psi? Or maybe 2psi per foot of beer line? The general rule of thumb I have seen is 3psi per foot of beer line for 3/16" inner diameter line (standard beer line), but you need to keep in mind that most kegs are pressurized to 12-15psi so you need to have long enough beer lines to accommodate those pressure levels. So assuming a 15psi commercial keg, you would want 5 feet of beer line, and then you'd want to set your regulator at 15psi to match the keg.

Generally craft beer kegs are 10-12psi while macro beers and some other styles are 13-16psi.

Both too low and too high psi setting will result in foamy beer.

 

[lukebeulah]

If you are going to replace your lines, definitely go long and trim as needed. You should start with 10 foot 3/16" line. This should give you a nice slow poor at 12 psi or so. Coil up and zip tie the extra line in the fridge and see what that gives you.
Edit- keep in mind that a good pour should take you somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 seconds to pour a pint

 

[acidrain]

Your beer line is too short, requiring very low pressure, or it will pour too fast.
When the pressure is lower than the beer Co2 volume, when you pour, the Co2 will come out of solution and foam up.
The gas side hose makes no difference.
The beer side hose is critical... it creates flow restriction, It allows you to pressurize at the correct balance (about 12 psi) and yet not pour so fast that it foams.
It's a balancing act.
10' of 3/16" beer hose, and 12 psi should be about right.

 

[leasureryan]

wow thanks guys I had no idea. yeah I only have about 3 ft of line on this thing. the previous owner must have cut it. I will order some line immediately.

On a side note, had my co2 tank filled yesterday, and the safety valve blew off in my basement releasing all the gas. Whats up with that? from what I'm reading, the idiot who filled it must have overfilled the tank.

 

[n240sxguy]

What kind of pressure did the high side gauge show? What temp was the tank? The little brass blow off thing popped?


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[leasureryan]

Yeah it blew off in my basement. was at 2200 or more psi when I open valve. I thought nothing of it (didn't know better). Granted it was very cold out, so tank was cold, brought in house where it was 70. The tank was super heavy. Contacted place that filled tank, and they refilled it for free and put a new safety on. I asked them not to over fill it. they said "ah we been fillin' tanks like that forever" I told them that most tanks filled with 5lbs reads about 850-900 psi (from what I have read) when at room temp or so, less when cold. When I got home, the tank was only filled to about 500psi. So if they "fill tanks like that all the time" why didn't he fill it that way again. And is the owner of the shop getting ripped off because his employees are giving his gas away? why the inconsistency? Don't think I will be going back there again.

What is a good price for a 5lb tank fill? I paid $16 at the "we kinda know what we are doing" shop

 

[opiate82]

The tank should have been filled by weight and your PSI reading wouldn't reflect what weight they put in at all. If you tank is cold the PSI will read lower, if your tank is warm the PSI will read higher. Basically, you can't really tell how much gas was in there based on the PSI reading, the only thing that PSI reading is good for is giving you a ballpark of how much gas is left IF the tank is stored at a constant temperature. Oh, or warning you if the pressure is getting too high. :cross:

Depending on how they fill the tanks they might have chilled the tank down first (generally done by adding a little CO2 then purging it) because a chilled tank more easily accepts liquid CO2. If you want to be sure you aren't getting ripped of next time, when you go to get your tank filled make sure it is completely purged and weigh it empty, then weigh it again when full. It should be 5lbs heavier.

As far as your burst disk blowing, most of the time when I've seen it happen it has been because the tank was stored in direct sunlight or somewhere where it was exposed to excessive heat. Even a properly filled tank will blow a burst disk in those conditions.

 

[n240sxguy]

I pay $9-10 at a local fire extinguisher service place to fill my 5lb bottle.


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[leasureryan]

The tank should have been filled by weight and your PSI reading wouldn't reflect what weight they put in at all. If you tank is cold the PSI will read lower, if your tank is warm the PSI will read higher. Basically, you can't really tell how much gas was in there based on the PSI reading, the only thing that PSI reading is good for is giving you a ballpark of how much gas is left IF the tank is stored at a constant temperature. Oh, or warning you if the pressure is getting too high. :cross:

Depending on how they fill the tanks they might have chilled the tank down first (generally done by adding a little CO2 then purging it) because a chilled tank more easily accepts liquid CO2. If you want to be sure you aren't getting ripped of next time, when you go to get your tank filled make sure it is completely purged and weigh it empty, then weigh it again when full. It should be 5lbs heavier.

As far as your burst disk blowing, most of the time when I've seen it happen it has been because the tank was stored in direct sunlight or somewhere where it was exposed to excessive heat. Even a properly filled tank will blow a burst disk in those conditions.

no extreme heat here. It's lucky to hit 20 degrees here in ohio this last month. It sat in my car while at work, 20 degrees or less. brought into the house which was 70, sat about 30 minutes then blew off.

PSI in previous tank that blew off when first opened valve was 2200+

PSI in tank after they fixed their mistake was 600psi or less

why the difference? also, tank was much lighter when I left the second time. Bottom line is, it's obvious it was overfilled. Won't be returning there

 

[leasureryan]

I pay $9-10 at a local fire extinguisher service place to fill my 5lb bottle.


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Thanks man! I will being buying elsewhere from now on.

Now lets go drift that 240 already!

 

[n240sxguy]

Thanks man! I will being buying elsewhere from now on.



Now lets go drift that 240 already!

Wrecked that damn thing many moons ago. All cosmetic, but expensive stuff. I was too young and under funded to know how to buy it back after it was scrapped. I got a 91 MR2 turbo after that. Talk about night and day! It would blow the doors off that 240.


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[leasureryan]

Yeah those MR2's were wicked fast! My cousin used to have one, Fun little car

 

[n240sxguy]

Yeah those MR2's were wicked fast! My cousin used to have one, Fun little car

Yeah, 45 more hp and a few hundred pounds lighter. If the 240 had a little more power, and we got the HICAS system in the US, it would be pretty close.


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