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  • Newbie to the Kegerator World

    Just got my first Kegerator at age 59, having a few issues. Been reading the hec out of the forum, before
    Joining and posting. My first 1/4 keg of Yuengling was a BIG OLD MESS of foam. I did end up getting 3 good glasses before the keg went empty. The things that I found wrong were 1. Warm beer 2. High Co2
    Pressure and a warm Tower. I replaced the single gauge with new set of premium dual gauges from Micro
    Matic, a Tower Fan and a certified lab thermometer. Beer coming out of the tap after making the changes was at 37 degrees according to my Lab thermometer. Setting up new 1/2 Keg of Yuengling this Friday, and letting it sit until Sunday before tapping it. Will repost on how things go. Great site, learning a lot about home Keg Systems. Need to learn more about Brewery Specs on Kegs, CO2 and temps. Guess it will come in time.

    Thanks Everybody.

  • #2
    Beer Daddy,
    Welcome, and the questions:
    What type/brand of tower cooler (fan? If DIY how you made it?)?
    Is it 37 degrees 1st glass, 2nd glass, calibrated thermometer, infrared, analog digital (yes I understand lab but just to be sure)?
    What do you need to know about "Brewery Specs" and what "Brewery Specs" are you talking about?
    Have you did any other modifications (longer beer line, if so what ID of line, additional fans)?
    Next post if you need help, brand and make of kegerator, elevation and PSI (FYI v/v of Yuengling is 2.6).
    Honestly most stock regulators are fine (except for the original Nostalgia Electronics one), new SS faucet/ shank would be a better replacement part.
    KB
    Last edited by KillianBoy; 05-27-2015, 06:40 PM.

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    • #3
      Sorry I forgot to mention the brand of the Kegerator, its a Haier Model # HBF05E. The Tower fan is 34 CFM, an electronic buddy of mine built it for me. The beer line is 5 foot in length & 3/16 ID, analog digital calibrated at 4 fixed temperatures by a friend who is a instrument technician. 2nd glass @ 37 degrees, as for the new gauges. I Mig weld and I like to know what is in the bottle as well as what I am putting out, not a big fan of a internal relief valve built into a regulator assembly. The new one has an external relief valve which can manually be operated if need be. As for a new Faucet, I was thinking about ordering a new SS variable flow if my foaming problem comes back on the next keg. As for Keg specs, I was referring to what the manufacture suggest on pressures and temps on different brews. I am new at this so please bare with me.

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      • #4
        Beer Daddy,
        Thanks for all the information, I myself am a Haier person, but most members need to know HOW things are made or modified, OK:
        When you say "Tower fan is 34 CFM, an electronic buddy of mine built it for me", really doesn't tell me HOW it was made. Standard? project box, 34 CFM fan (type????) and hose up tower blowing against shanks? OR just a 34 CFM fan blowing air up tower? Can you tell me how it was made?
        Temperature taken by "analog digital (??) calibrated at 4 fixed temperatures by a friend who is a instrument technician", OK, was temperature taken by a calibrated thermometer of the liquid temperature of the 2nd glass of beer @37 degrees? (to be simple, did you use a digital thermometer to get a liquid temperature of XX.X reading of the 2nd poured consecutive beer, also did you check 3rd+ glass and honestly never heard of a analog digital thermometer, can you explain?)
        "As for Keg specs, I was referring to what the manufacture suggest on pressures and temps on different brews." OK, some micro breweries have a preferred temperature to PSI setting, but most here will base PSI upon v/v of the particular beer. check out the carbonation sticky for v/v, this is the only "brewery specs" you really need to know. If a brewery says best at XX (temperature) @ XX (PSI), then fine but honestly it is your beer, drink at what temperature you want, once you have this temperature you set PSI to v/v of beer you have, simple. Most breweries will have a set v/v across the board for all their beers (there are exceptions), but the thread and search tab should find what v/v you can use.
        "I Mig weld and I like to know what is in the bottle as well as what I am putting out, not a big fan of a internal relief valve built into a regulator assembly. The new one has an external relief valve which can manually be operated if need be"
        Honestly this is really overthinking what is going on. High pressure gauge tells you what pressure is in tank, low pressure tells you what is applied to keg, this is all you need. Mark point of high pressure level when filled for the first time (black tape, erasable marker, etc) once it falls below this level, think about filling tank. All the pressure relief valves on the regulator and coupler do are prove gas is getting to a certain point, that's all (and of course if too much PSI is applied will blow). Also by MIG welding something to regulator might throw off PSI applied depending on where and how welded.
        A new regulator won't help with foam (unless stock regulator is defective which is rare), a Haier regulator should be fine, a SS faucet AND shank won't help with foam (brand new), but in the long run, yeah.
        Going longer line should help you the most, if foam, foam, foam, replace line to 7.5+ and see if it makes a difference. Replacing stock faucet with a variable flow faucet or forward sealing one might help, but longer line would be my first mod.
        Check out my newbie thread, it should help.
        KB
        Last edited by KillianBoy; 05-28-2015, 05:35 AM.

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        • #5
          that should have read digital thermometer reading, tower fan was built into a plastic box with discharge hose of 1 inch in diameter running to the tower for cooling from the floor of the kegerator. I was not referring to welding something to the regulators, I was referring to being able to read bottle pressure and supply pressure from the regulator to the source it is applied to. thanks for the info

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          • #7
            Beer Daddy,
            Thanks for the clarification regarding MIG weld, by mentioning it I thought you had done some sort of modification, it always is good to have the gauges but honestly won't help with foam.
            I will assume you are using an 80 MM computer muffin fan in the project box, if you are just pull out the hose and circulate air, just for now. One of the biggest mistakes newbies make is assuming their tower cooler (fan) works as designed, but 99.9% it isn't the case.
            If you still have foam (on 3rd+ glass), the next best mod is to replace the beer line, the Haier I take care of has a nipple shank, if yours is the same it should be fairly easy to replace line without removing the shank.
            Next post if you need help, describe flow from faucet, how long did the previous keg last, did you clean gear, did you disassemble faucet, PSI and temperature reading?
            Best way to suss out foam problem is to use a 6 ounce glass and pitcher, pull beer, note foam level and temperature, dump in pitcher, repeat several times, in end (4+) foam should be at a manageable level and temperature should be temperature of beer in keg. If foam is bad (75%+) on all glasses, then something else is wrong, most likely damaged or dirty gear, clean gear properly and check keg seal on keg for damage.
            KB

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