Gas line length is inconsequential, beer line length matters. From your post it doesn’t sound like you are splitting your beer line. You can try lowering the pressure, but at that temp and 10psi, you would be at about 2 volumes of co2. That’s on the low end of many styles. 2.5 is near average for near any style.
So at 4 ft I want to be at 8 psi. Right now I am not splitting the line with only one keg on tap.
Yep, and at upper 40’s you would be looking at less than 2 volumes of co2. Try lowering the temperature a bit as well. At 40° you would be at about 2.2 volumes, 50° would be about 1.8
You wouldn’t want to split the beer line. I guess it could be done, but I imagine the pour quality wouldn’t be good at all.
Sorry I misled you. Im not splitting the beer line. Im going to add a second keg to run off the same co2 line. So when I do add the 2nd keg I want to up the psi to 16?
Nope, leave the pressure the same. the pressure will remain constant across the system.
From Micro-Matic Advanced Draft Training:
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Temperature is the 1st determining factor for everything else in a draught system.
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For every degree above 380F, the internal keg pressure increases 1/2 lb as the CO2 expands.
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380F is the most stable temperature for CO2
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At 380F, most kegged beer requires 12-14 lbs. of internal keg pressure in order to keep the CO2 balanced within the beer.
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With very short lines it’s gonna be difficult to get enough restriction applied to the keg while also keeping your flow rate low enough that beer doesn’t come flying out of your faucet… resulting in a ton of foam
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The ideal flow rate should be 2 oz’s/ sec. The best way to test this is to hook up a cleaner pot full of water to your system and pour into measuring pitcher. i.e. start stopwatch as soon as you open the valve and stop at 15. You should have 30 oz.'s of water in your pitcher.
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To adjust the flow rate while keeping the keg pressure ideal, you can utilize different diameter tubing. Tubing diameter is measured by the “I.D.” (interior diameter). I’m assuming you’ll be using Vinyl so I’ll list the restriction measurements for each size.
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3/16" - 3 lbs/ft
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1/4" - 0.85 lbs/ft
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5/16" - 0.40 lbs/ft
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3/8" - 0.20 lbs/ft
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1/2" - 0.025 lbs/ft
To sum everything up in an easy way, if you use 3/8" hose with a length of 6’, you won’t have a problem giving your beer the CO2 it requires while still providing enough restriction to keep your flow rate to 2 oz’s/ sec. So even though you don’t need 6’ in hose length right now, this allows for some flexibility to handle temperature changes as well as making adjustments according to your beer style.
When you extend your system to the upstairs, be sure to keep in mind that you’ll have to greatly increase your pressure to account for the added lift required.
The 380F?
Assuming 38.0F? Cause that’s what I thought at first…
I figured out my problem. Bad gauge. Tried everything so ordered a new gauge. Old one read 4psi when unhooked. Added new turn tank on and it read 18. Wth? It was a brand new reg. Oh well. Prefect pours now. Thank you all for the input.