I bought some new fittings and I’m trying to figure out how to balance the line etc. I’m using 12 feet of 1/4 vinyl line (ID 1/4, OD 3/8). I just moved the kegs and I’m getting a good amount of foam. Not sure if it’s because I just moved the kegs or what. I’m using a Perlick faucet.
I’ve backed the pressure down to about 8 PSI figuring I could go up from there. I normally ran the old lines at about 12.
Any help would be appreciated.
1/4" line has a pretty low restriction - the numbers vary by source, but I’ve seen 0.65-0.85 psi. The line may still be too short for 8 psi.
Beyond the actual pressure on the keg, how many volumes of CO2 are in the beer and what is the temperature? If you have a check valve in the keg and if the CO2 is coming out of solution in the keg, then the pressure in the keg may be higher than is registering at the gauge. This could also cause the problem.
1/4" ID tubing should drop about 0.2-0.3 psi/ft, depending on flow rate. So you’d need something like 25 ft to pour at 12 psi, but 12 ft should be good at 8 psi. I think Tom’s probably right about the pressure in the keg, assuming you haven’t vented it.
Is this beverage tubing? That would normally be 1/2" OD. Regular vinyl tubing might be too rough and be knocking CO2 out in the line. That would be easy to check for visually.
It’s regular vinyl.
I will try to get some 3/16 and change them out. I took the 1/4 because that was what I could get easily and local but I can try to find some 3/16. It did seem that the 1/4 fit the barbs on the cornie attachments very well but mayb e 3/16 would fit just a well.
I did vent the kegs and that helped but not enough. The beer has also been forced at high PSI (18) for a few days to get it carbed. I expect that as it drops closer to 8 it will pour better but also will pour flatter. I wish I had the ability to run multiple PSI lines but as of today I don’t.
I thought the resistance was higher (0.7 or so) so I thought it would be closer at 12 feet of line. Guess I should have asked first.
Thanks