Kegerator Foaming Problem

[kberry]

I recently purchased a kegerator. The Danby one from Costco. I set it up today and attached my ball lock, corny keg. When pouring my beer, however, all I get is foam. Previously I had been using a picnic tap with ~6 feet of 3/18 ID tubing. This was producing perfect pours. Now the system has ~5 feet of 3/16 ID tubing. In both cases I had my CO2 tank set at 10 PSI, and my pouring technique is to completely open the tap and dispense into a glass on an angle.

Does anyone have an idea what might be causing my foaming issue?

[Targos]

I am still trying to figure this out as well but there are lots of resources online if you search for balancing draft systems.

http://www.byo.com/stories/item/164-bal ... ed-brewing" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; look good.

[ethier.sc]

I had a similar issue with my keezer. The problem with mine was that the beer line wasn't fully seated onto the tailpiece of the shank and that was introducing air. When you pour, does it look like there is foam in your line?

[kberry]

No foam in the line, just as it's coming out of the tap. I reduced the pressure from my CO2 tank to 4 PSI, bled the CO2 from the keg headspace and gave it some time to equilibrate. When I poured the next glass, there was a lot of foam at first then non-foamy beer came out. I poured another glass immediately to see if it was a temperature thing (in the tap) and the same thing happened. And again with the third glass. Now I've drank too much and still haven't resolved the problem. lol. Could it be that I just need longer tubing to allow the pressure to drop more before reaching the tap? I'm thinking of going to NG tomorrow and buying like 15 feet of tubing and seeing what happens. Do you think it may help/resolve the issue?

[mr x]

Might help. What temp is the fridge?

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[kberry]

Not sure what the temp is. I'll check when I'm home. I know that low temp can be a problem but would that not cause foam to appear in the tubing?

[mr x]

High temp is the problem. It can cause co2 to come out of solution at the wrong pressure. But it's been my experience that if the beer is too warm, it will blow foam out of the tap no matter what.

[jeffsmith]

High temp is the problem. It can cause co2 to come out of solution at the wrong pressure. But it's been my experience that if the beer is too warm, it will blow foam out of the tap no matter what.

Further to that, are your taps cold to the touch on the outside of the kegerator? The taps on my keezer act as sort of a heatsink and are always cold to the touch, perhaps if your taps are warm, they're causing the issue X mentioned above.

[kberry]

The tap was really cold to the touch, and the beer couldn't have been more than 8 deg C. It had been outside all weekend, and the temp wasn't high. It poured fine from the picnic tap when it was outside. I moved it directly from outside into the kegerator which was running.

[mr x]

Tear the tap apart.

[kberry]

Well that would relieve some frustration...

[kberry]

Update

So I installed about 16 feet of 3/16 tubing. Now when I open the tap the full way I still get foam but if I open it halfway I get a proper pour. Could this be due to the tubing being too long now?

Thank for the help!

[jeffsmith]

Sounds odd. I still wonder if there's something going on in your tap or shank. Do you have a Perlick or standard tap?

[kberry]

It's a standard tap. I want to get a Perlick double tap but before I invest in that I'd like to make this setup work.

What could be wrong with the tap? I've taken it apart and inspected it. The seals all look fine. There is supposed to be a rubber gasket between the tap and where it screws onto the tower, right?

[mr x]

That's really weird. Borrow another faucet.

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[kberry]

Hmm... anyone want to loan me a faucet?

So the tubing being as long as it is shouldn't present a problem?

[mr x]

Should only cause a slow pour if anything.

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[ethier.sc]

I've got two standard faucets that I'm not using right now. Just the taps though, no shanks.

[kberry]

Just to conclude this thread....

I replaced the faucet with a perlick 525 and now it works perfectly!

-Kevin

[mr x]