Hi there,
So my friend and i are going to start kegging now that hes settles in with his new baby girl. My question is thus. Morebeer suggest 3/16 ID Beer line and 5/16 ID Gas line, Is this correct according to all you kegging vets? Also, Is normal Vinyl/PVC line ok for the gas side? Is High Heat Silicone Line ok for the Beer side?
Any advice would be great!
Thanks,
Jeff
Sizes are fine. I’ve always been told that you want to use “real” beer line because the inside is smoother and minimizes foaming.
Would 1/4 ID vinyl tubing work for the Gas side? I have easier access to it at a significant savings. Also, please define(with a link if possible) what “real” beer line is!
Thanks
Jeff
That’s fine. The diameter of the gas line doesn’t matter for the flow rates we need.
3/16" ID x 7/16" OD vinyl beverage tubing. Any decent homebrew shop will have it at something like $1/ft: 3/16" ID Beverage Line Tubing
Much better to buy a spool at ~$.50/ft: The Micro Matic Touch: The Best Quality Beverage Dispensing Systems
Perfect! Thanks Sean.
I use the Bevflex 200 3/16" line in my kegerator. It stays very flexible , even at serving temperatures, which is important to me since the space inside my kegerator is very tight.
I think I use 1/4" reinforced vinyl tubing for the gas line. It’s been a while since I set it up and can’t remember the exact stuff.
I use 3/16" beverage line all the way around. It works fine and saves me needing to stock 2 different sizes and remembering which is which.
Paul
This is the best solution and by using standard lengths with 1/4" flare connections on the end of all lines they are totally interchangeable for every use, everywhere. You can keep longer and shorter lengths ready to properly balance your system for carbonation levels that are outside the common range, and also with the flare fittings you can swap in short extra lengths to achieve this easily.
Also using the clear serving line instead of the colored “gas” lines allows you to see if you get anything back in the gas side, which will happen some time to everyone.
I have the red 5/16" lines for my gas lines and I’ve gotten beer backed up before. It was the culprit to beers going bad after a week in the keg for almost 2 years! I disassembled everything, soaked in PBW and hang dried them for a couple days; all is well. I’m definitely going with clear lines when I replace these, though, just so I can see when that happens.
Wouldn’t check valves prevent this? If you don’t have them in your manifold, you can buy gas disconnects that contain their own.
The diameter of liquid line depends on how far you are moving the beer from the keg (both length and height) and at what pressure you’re keeping the beer at. For most beers serving at 36-40 F at a keg pressure of 12-14 psi about 6-8 ft of 3/16" beer line works. If you’re running from a basement to, say, an upstairs tap then you may need 1/4" line to get the right serving pressure to kill the foaming. If you’re serving higher-pressure belgians or wheats then you’re going to need longer lines to balance out the inc keg psi.
The idea of using 5/16" gas line is more to allow for proper gas volume going into the keg for consistent flow on the restricted “out” side of the keg. If you are using the same diameter gas line going into the keg than the liquid line out (or smaller diameter in than out) it MAY create a kind of vacuum effect int he keg that can intermittently reduce out-line pressure and create foaming when you dispense.