100% Foam... I am out of ideas. Please help.

[BigLarge]

Hello all,

I am flat out of ideas. Please help.

I installed a door-conversion kegerator kit approximately 4 months ago. Ran 3 kegs through it with ZERO problems.

Recently my roomates had a party at my house while I was at work. During this party the keg was replaced. Also apparently, during this party, the CO2 bottle and regulator were dropped. I say apparently, because, after questioning many people as to WHY my kegerator no longer worked no one had any idea. I discovered a week later that the C02 line pressure needle was STUCK because the dial (where the numbers are) had somehow been bent. I took off the cover and re-bent it back to its original state.

Now, my keg pours 100% FOAM. Not even 0.00001 OZ beer. It also flows very fast. I adjust the C02 pressure to 0 PSI (the regulator screw STOPS). It continues to flow fast and completely foam. I adjust it anywhere from 0 - 20 PSI with the same result.

An internal thermometor shows an average temperature of 40 degrees, however, my external thermostat is set on 36 degrees.

I just cleaned the lines and this didnt help. I've relieved the pressure on the keg (twice), let it set for 30 minutes, and then repressurized the keg. Still 100% foam.

At this point I dont know what else to do. Please help.

[Quality Req]

Did you try another keg sounds like the spear in the keg is faulty.Check the tapping head make sure nothing jammed in the top of keg(small bit of plastic maybe) and last what temp are you getting when you pour the beer.

[BigLarge]

Originally Posted by Quality Req

Did you try another keg sounds like the spear in the keg is faulty.Check the tapping head make sure nothing jammed in the top of keg(small bit of plastic maybe) and last what temp are you getting when you pour the beer.

Sorry, what is the "spear" ?

Havent tested the beer temperature yet.. whats the best way to do that?

[Quality Rep]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...eschnitten.jpg
Sorry the spear is the tube that runs down the middle of the keg brings the liquid out of the keg to the tapping head some times these have a small pin hole in them so when the liquid is being dispensed the gas and the liquid get mixed giving you foam.
Check the temp of your beer with any thermometer see what you get in the glass should be about 6c depending on your system.

[Scott Zuhse]

Originally Posted by BigLarge

Hello all,

I am flat out of ideas. Please help.

I installed a door-conversion kegerator kit approximately 4 months ago. Ran 3 kegs through it with ZERO problems.

Recently my roomates had a party at my house while I was at work. During this party the keg was replaced. Also apparently, during this party, the CO2 bottle and regulator were dropped. I say apparently, because, after questioning many people as to WHY my kegerator no longer worked no one had any idea. I discovered a week later that the C02 line pressure needle was STUCK because the dial (where the numbers are) had somehow been bent. I took off the cover and re-bent it back to its original state.

Now, my keg pours 100% FOAM. Not even 0.00001 OZ beer. It also flows very fast. I adjust the C02 pressure to 0 PSI (the regulator screw STOPS). It continues to flow fast and completely foam. I adjust it anywhere from 0 - 20 PSI with the same result.

An internal thermometor shows an average temperature of 40 degrees, however, my external thermostat is set on 36 degrees.

I just cleaned the lines and this didnt help. I've relieved the pressure on the keg (twice), let it set for 30 minutes, and then repressurized the keg. Still 100% foam.

At this point I dont know what else to do. Please help.

Realize that foam is always perceived as a fast flow. Determine your beer temperature by dispensing a couple of beers in the same glass. If it is still all foam and this is difficult, place a large glass or bucket of water your kegerator. Using a calibrated themometer, take the temperature of the second pour or wait for the water in the kegerator to acclimate for a few hours and test this.

When you state that the adjustmentscrew stops, does this mean you turned it counter clockwise until it simply spun freely? If so, this would mean that you did zero out the gauge. The needle on the gauge should read zero.

Once this is accomplished, turn the switch below the regulator off and pull the safety release ring on the coupler and relieve the pressure from the keg. If you have 38 F beer and it is a 2.6 volume carbonated product, set your pointer at 14.

If your gauge pointer does not perform correctly, time to replace. Do you have a high pressure gauge as well on your regulator?

[BigLarge]

Thanks all for your replies. You've all been very helpful. Turns out there were TWO problems which were directly related:

The regulator was indeed broke. I replaced the regulator, which subsequently allowed the beer to flow at the CORRECT rate. However, it STILL poured 100% foam. I decided to use a hand pump on the keg and see what would happen. Guess what, still 100% foam.

Replaced the keg, and now everything works fine.

The theory that my beer distibutor came up with was.... The regulator was broken, causing WAAYYY to much pressure to be forced into the keg. The keg was only about 1/4 full. The extreme pressure forced into the keg caused it to foam inside, and since it was under this pressure for so long.... the foam untimately would not settle. Replacing the keg was the only option.

Thanks again for everyone's help.