Short trunk line

[Strecker25]

I need to build a short trunk line, about 6’, to go from a freezer to my four faucet bar tower.

I’m happy to DIY it but for this short run I may just buy one, since it won’t cost much.

Couple really basic questions:

most commercial trunk lines appear to come in 1/4” product line sizes. I’ve typically used 3/16, so I’ll have to add some hose inside the freezer to make it pour nicely around 10-12psi.

How do these trunk lines attach to standard beer line (at both the keg end and the tower shank)? It looks to me like they’re a pex-like material so I assume there’s some kind of union needed to get back to clear line.

Any preferred vendor, or are the big ones like Micromatic the best bet?

 

[day_trippr]

Do you have a trunk line cooling solution in mind?

Cheers!

 

[Strecker25]

Do you have a trunk line cooling solution in mind?

Cheers!

I’m going to try the cheapy route first - pond pump and a bucket in the fridge.

Not opposed to a chiller if absolutely necessary, though.

 

[day_trippr]

So for such a short "trunk line" I was going to suggest fabricating your own using a better grade tubing that would support a short run than you're likely to find from a trunk line supplier - as long as you had a workable cooling solution. With enough insulation it's conceivable your solution could work, and if your total keg to shank run really is only 6 feet I'd go with EVABarrier 4mm ID (8mm OD) tubing for the beer lines and strap them around your cooling loop tubing - which could be PEX. Add some thick neoprene insulation and a crapton of tape to wrap it and you're in business...

Cheers!

 

[Strecker25]

lines

So for such a short "trunk line" I was going to suggest fabricating your own using a better grade tubing that would support a short run than you're likely to find from a trunk line supplier - as long as you had a workable cooling solution. With enough insulation it's conceivable your solution could work, and if your total keg to shank run really is only 6 feet I'd go with EVABarrier 4mm ID (8mm OD) tubing for the beer lines and strap them around your cooling loop tubing - which could be PEX. Add some thick neoprene insulation and a crapton of tape to wrap it and you're in business...

Cheers!

Interesting! I haven’t looked into these quality lines, always bought cheaper clear line and I’ve been out of the game for a while, but that is intriguing.

I just ran a string to the furthest keg and being generous with plenty of slack it’ll be closer to 12’ if I’m including inside the freezer distance.

But I do like the idea of the evabarrier line and it can go straight from keg QD to shank that way. Looks like 100’ of the stuff is pretty reasonably priced and the quick disconnect system is slick.

Thanks for the heads up, I’m going to give this a bit of thought and maybe give diy a go after all

 

[day_trippr]

At the worst you'd be out fairly small $$ as most of the connecting bits you're going to need no matter how you solve the trunk line part
And no matter how you solve that you really should do it with the EVABarrier tubing. Going from the old industry standard Bevlex 200 PVC to EVABarrier is transformative for home dispensing as staling is practically eliminated...

Cheers!

 

[hotbeer]

For buying a ready made hose/line, I'd think the cost in fabrication is going to be the cost of terminating the two ends of the hose. Not the length of the hose in between.

 

[Bobby_M]

Use EVA barrier and make it yourself. Since 4mm ID stuff can make a beautiful pour at 5-6 feet, in order to give you some wiggle room inside the freezer, I'd just say go with 13 feet of 5mm ID EVA. Encapsulate in closed cell foam pipe insulation and wrap it with vapor barrier tape. Be sure that there are no entry points for room air to get into the bundle or the interior will get soaking wet. Wherever it gets into the freezer or the tower, inject silicone caulk into the bundle to fill every opening between the tubes and insulation.

At this length, trying to cool it is a waste of effort and equipment. You just have to be willing to dump 2 ounces at the start of the pour.

 

[Strecker25]

Use EVA barrier and make it yourself. Since 4mm ID stuff can make a beautiful pour at 5-6 feet, in order to give you some wiggle room inside the freezer, I'd just say go with 13 feet of 5mm ID EVA. Encapsulate in closed cell foam pipe insulation and wrap it with vapor barrier tape. Be sure that there are no entry points for room air to get into the bundle or the interior will get soaking wet. Wherever it gets into the freezer or the tower, inject silicone caulk into the bundle to fill every opening between the tubes and insulation.

At this length, trying to cool it is a waste of effort and equipment. You just have to be willing to dump 2 ounces at the start of the pour.

cool! I bought 30m of 5mm eva barrier that should be here this weekend to start messing wi.
Any particular brand of foam insulation? I see the K-FLEX stuff referenced and that looks decent. Haven't gone to the local stores to see what they stock yet though. I'd think with 4 product lines I'll be needing something with at least a 1" ID.

 

[Bobby_M]

The OD of EVA is 8mm or 5/16 so a four pack of them will fit in a 3/4" ID insulation cavity. Home depot sells 3/4" ID K-Flex. Then wrap it with something like 10 mil pipe wrap tape.

 

[Strecker25]

The OD of EVA is 8mm or 5/16 so a four pack of them will fit in a 3/4" ID insulation cavity. Home depot sells 3/4" ID K-Flex. Then wrap it with something like 10 mil pipe wrap tape.

View attachment 861161

Legend. Thanks man.

 

[Strecker25]

So I went ahead and DIY’d it. (4) 8mm EVA and although not necessary, I added a cooling loop using 15mm pex I had left over. I tried a pour without the chilled water running through and as Bobby said, first few ounces foam like crazy and after that it seems ok

Here’s my problem - I’m the only one drinking most of the time and I go long enough between pours that the lines warm back up, so I think I’d like to utilize to cooling tubes. I tried a vivosun 800gph pond pump in a bucket of 37* water and the damn thing seems to give off enough heat to warm up the bucket - it was around 45* after an hour of running.

For a cheap setup like this, any preferred or proven pond pumps? I may try something like a 150-200gph to see if it gives off less heat since I need very little lift and it’s only about 20’ of pex through the loop

 

[Bobby_M]

Pumps will always add heat to the process but it's worse with submersibles. You also can't use the keg cooler to cool the loop coolant. It just won't be cold enough. That loop needs glycol chilled to 26F and the machine that makes it that cold needs to be able to keep it that cold. Air inside a fridge can't pull heat out of a tank fast enough.

 

[Strecker25]

Thanks, time to keep an eye on Facebook marketplace I suppose!

 

[Strecker25]

As a stopgap I had 10' of copper 3/8 tubing laying around. I coiled that up and put it right after the pump output against the wall of the freezer (where the cooling lines are), t before it enters the trunk line. With the freezer at 38*, the water reservoir holds at about 40, and dips to 39 when the freezer is cooling.

Pour is pretty good, tiny bit of foam on the first ounce but the stays good unless hours pass between pours. I can drop a couple frozen water bottles in the water to bring it down to around 35* when we have a few people over.

An aside on the glycol options - someday I'd like to find one that can double as fermenter temp control and trunk line cooler simultaneously. Do folks typically temp probe the trunk line when using a chiller so that the pump for that loop cycles on and off, or does the glycol run in a loop constantly?

I would think a constant run could risk freezing the lines if the unit is also being used as fermentation control and the glycol temp was set to below freezing point.

 

[day_trippr]

I can't imagine anyone setting a chest freezer used as a ferm chamber so low as to risk freezing a glycol loop, even for a hard crash...

Cheers!

 

[Strecker25]

I can't imagine anyone setting a chest freezer used as a ferm chamber so low as to risk freezing a glycol loop, even for a hard crash...

Cheers!

sorry - that was a confusing post. What I tried to say was, eventually I'd like to get a glycol chiller with a few outputs. One would be used for the trunk line 100% of the time, while the others could be used for ferm temp control as needed.

I was more curious how folks run the trunk line loop from a glycol chiller. Run the trunk line pump 24/7, temp triggered, only when in use, etc.