gas pockets in my beer line - sprials?!?

[garyb]

I have a Sanyo 1/2 barrel kegerator, 5' of 3/16 line, a (locally brewed) extra pale ale at 38 degrees and 10psi. My tower is air cooled, but I'm not 100% convinced that's good enough - even though it's insulated. The first beer of the day isn't as cold as beers 2-X. I can see pockets of what I'm assuming is co2 in my beer line, slowly building from tiny bubbles to (24 hours later) large gaps of beer. From what I've read, the beer line isn't supposed to have traps, but how does five feet of beer line traverse four vertical inches without traps?!? Do people construct objects that coax the line into large spirals? The short version: the first 2 seconds of EVERY pour is foam, followed by sweet, sweet beer.

[edramshaw]

Two things are probably happening. One is that the gas in your beer is "degassing" because your psi is set to 10. Most beers are carbonated around 2.4 to 2.6 volumes and at 38 degrees you would need to be between 12-15 psi at sea level depending on the beer to obtain that. The second thing that is seems to be going on is your tower is not keeping the lines as cold as the cooler itself. When a liquid warms it cannot hold as much of the co2 in the solution as it could when colder. This causes the co2 to breakout in the lines which can cause these gaps. Tackling you pressure and temp issues should get this straightened out.

[garyb]

Thanks for quick response! I have set my psi higher (12). Flow from the faucet is almost unmanagibly fast, so I suspect I need a longer beer line. As for keeping the line itself cold - I've read about people using fans, but isn't that for homemade apparatus? I would think that a new, tower-insulated (somewhat expensive) brand name kegerator would be capable of delivering what was necessary for it to function. :-( So... is there no merit to some of the posts that say I need to make sure the line is uphill through its entirety? I had envisioned needing to create a circular ramp of some sort to direct the line's position.

[jackstraw]

Sorry for the disappointment, but you need to cool your insulated tower. Unless you have a unit like a Beverage Air which has a fan already installed to cool the tower. If you pop the lid off your tower and stick your finger down there, it's going to be warm... that's not a good place for beer to be sitting... in a warm (insulated) tower.

You do not need to create a ramp. I've never heard of anyone doing such a thing.

[Scott Zuhse]

Be careful when insulating the tower. These air cooled towers require no more than a 1/4" inner jacket under the cap and at the walls. If the tower is stuffed with insulation, this will cause additional heat issues.

[garyb]

You were absolutely correct about the warmth in my tower. I've now read MANY of the posts on how to make a blower and it looks like I have a weekend project now! I'll post a picture and sing your praises when I get that first perfect pour!

[garyb]

My buddy and I finally worked out all the kinks (he recently bought a kegerator as well). Here's the break down:

one 12V 500MA Regulated CCTV Power Supply AC to DC Power Adapter PW12500R 1AR (Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more) $9.99
one 12 VDC 76 MM MINI-BLOWER - CF-333 (All Electronics | Electronic and Electro-Mechanical Parts and Supplies at Discount Prices) $5.75
5' of 3/4" type M Copper pipe (The Home Depot) $15.99
two 90 degree angle 3/4" copper joints (The Home Depot) $1.06 each
one 1.5" to 3/4" reduction joint (The Home Depot) $3.89
1' duct tape

The copper pipe and joints are simply pushed together. No soldering was necessary, as the snugness was enough to keep it all in place. The 1.5" end of the reduction joint matches the blower's opening almost exactly and is held in place by duct tape. The blower is only 9 CFM, but the copper's super low friction makes 9 go a LONG way.

The amount of cold air coming back down from the tower is quite impressive. The outside of the tower is drenched with condensation and I'm getting a perfect pour EVERY time (so far)! Hooray for beer!

When I get home tonight I'll check all three thermometers (bottom of unit, top of unit, inside tower) to gauge consistency. BTW: I'm quite happy with this thermometer I found ($8.29) for two of the three locations.

DealExtreme: $8.29 Indoor/Outdoor Digital Thermometer

Thanks to everyone for their help!
gAry