gas pressure

[topgun3208]

how can I tell if i have the correct psi, I have a kenmore kegerator and it only came with a single stage regulator[?]

[topgun3208]

when I posted this question, I wasnt sure what was going on. I ordered the micromatic premium CO2 dual stage regulator and waiting until it is delivered and all questions will be resolved []

[Scott Zuhse]

Single gauge regulators have the low pressure gauge mounted. This is the gauge that shows the pressure going downstream to the keg. If you reside at sea level and the beer temp. is 38 degress, set your gauge at about 14 PSIG. Hopefully the kegerator came with at least 5' of 3/16" beer line. There is another port on the regulator, when plug is removed, where a high pressure gauge can be installed. Determine if you require left or right hand thread. This gauge will tell you the amount of pressure in the cylinder, thus the amount of gas left. When the gauge reads in the red, the cylinder should be changed. this is when all the liquid CO2 is gone. Not much left. Otherwise, without the gauge, you will see a significant change is dispensing signifying that the cylinder is empty.

Scott Zuhse, Instructor Micro Matic Dispense Institute

[topgun3208]

thanks MMCSCOTT for responding, my puter took a crap on me and I just got it back up and running. I received the micromatic dual stage regulator the other day and everything is acey ducey, no questions bout tank pressure or keg pressure. But there is one thing I noticed about the tank pressure, it is just above the red area about 500psi, how much psi do they refill these with? I do a cylinder exchange here in baltimore

[Scott Zuhse]

Depending on your cylinder size - 5, 10, 20 lb - determines how much gas liquid CO2 they refill into the cylinder. These sizes represent the actual liquid weight of the gas. The high side gauge represents the internal pressure of the head space of gas in the cylinder. Since gases expand and contract with temperature, the environment you store the cylinder in will determine the pressure.

At 70 degrees F, the gauge should read about 850 PSI until all of the liquid gas is gone. At this time the gauge will begin to drop and there is not much left. If you store your cylinder in the kegerator, the cylinder pressure will read at or in the red zone due to the cold environment. No need to worry. The same amount yield exist. You need to keep a closer eye on when the needle begins to drop signifying an empty cylinder.

Scott Zuhse, Instructor Micro Matic Dispense Institute

[brewski121]

I just put together my beer fridge the other day, I’m running it over a dual gauge regulator, I also had the issue of the high pressure just reading over the red but I guess that’s just what it does when its stored in the fridge. Iv gone through 3 kegs so far and find that it is very carbonated, it has been set to around 12- 14 psi. The beers were a bud light, bud select n natty light. I thought maybe I just messed up on the first two but now i would really like to figure out why my beers tasting like seltzer. The temperature is between 34-38. I dunno if I should try releasing all the pressure from the keg and try re-carbonating, I have now lowered the pressure on the regulator to about 7 psi and let it sit for 10 hours and it is still extremely carbonated. Thanks for any help, stefan