Having a few keg issues

[Paul Cannell]

Pressurised the keg to 30psi for 3 days.

Dropped it down to 10psi today for a sample and all I got was a horribly slow pour and 100% foam and flat beer.

Have checked all the connections a it's not leaking. The c02 is definitely getting into the keg.

Even when I pumped it up to 20psi it makes no difference to the pour.

Beer line is about 2m

C02 bottle has just been filled and fridge is sitting at about 3 degrees c.

Any ideas?

[paul m]

Nice one. Satisfaction!

[Cain Harland]

I just put some beer through my beer line to test the it out the beer was flat as but that's to be expected the gas was only hooked up yesterday. The beer rocketed out of the tap way too fast which makes me think my lines aren't balanced. I looked at a couple of calculators and 2m or 5.5 ID beer line looked excessive. I looked at the 1/4" and 3/16" and figured 5.5mm is somewhere in the middle.

Has anyone got experience with the 5.5mm ID 8mm OD line brew shop are selling for both beer and gas lines? Any advice welcome.

Does carbonated beer flow at the same rate as flat beer?

Here is a pic of my set up

[Peter Smith]

what gas pressure did you have on when you tested this?

[Cain Harland]

14 psi ish

[David R]

Can't help, but how do you find that regulator? It's this one ( url=http://www.brewshop.co.nz/kegging/co2-regulator-with-shut-off.html ) from brew eh? I'm regretting going cheap now, mine feels stiff and hard to adjust, I can't seem to get it right, turn the knob a little and nothing happens, turn it some more and it jumps up a heap...

[Cain Harland]

It is that one and its the only CO2 regulator I have ever owned so can't compare to anything but it is hard to adjust in exactly the way you say, its very hard to find 10-12 PSI on it, seems sits at about 9 while you turn then jumps to 14 or 15. That doesn't worry me too much, once I get my 4 way manifold I will just find a pressure that works and leave it alone. I plan on set and forget carbonating rather than crank and shake and even if there is something in there that would prefer a higher PSI it will be shearing the regulator with at least 1 keg of some kind of pale ale so unless I upgrade to a duel regulator setup at some stage I will have to find a general purpose pressure and not fuss with having it exactly right for a particular beer.

[David R]

I'm in exactly the same situation, and that's exactly what I plan to do...

One thing I just noticed about your pic, the lines drop below the top of the keg, which I read somewhere in the overwhelming sea of information regarding kegerators is a big no-no.

I'm only running 1.5M of that 5.5mm ID brewshop line, and it seems to pour OK at around 12psi, I think, could be wrong though?! I've not been able to get the carbonation right in my last pale ale though, there is fizz there and it forms a head when poured, but the beer tastes/feels nearly flat when drinking it.

[Cain Harland]

Just gave it another go at lower temp and pressure but still blasting out so ordered 8m of the 1/4" OD stuff from keg resources its ID is like 4.3mm so it should offer a lot more resistance. I will cut in half to start with then shorten it in smallish steps until its right. Hopefully with the thinner line I will end up at 2m or less and get all 3 lines I need out of my order.

I didn't know that about the line sagging below the keg, I will tidy up when have it all sorted.

[Hamish Jones]

get the nylon hose not the clear PVC stuff if your going to get some more but before doing that I would seriously try and source another reg from someone or take yours to someone else's fridge and check that out first as it may well be quite inaccurate

[Nathan]

Just looking at that pic tells me your beer out lines are way to big I had to go buy some real small stuff and still have about 2mtrs of it,the way I see it is no harm in being to long it will come out eventually and still be carbed ok.....On the odd occasion I just tip the glass up straight to get head

[Peter Smith]

take a look at your local liquor land shop growler filling setup or craft bar, they tend to run long thin lines. Lots of john guest type fittings etc,  the newmarket Liquor land setup is pretty cool

[Cain Harland]

Do you know the ID or OD of your lines?