Beer stops flowing after a few pulls????? help me

[lilwhody]

I have a Danby Kegerator, had it for a couple months now.

My problem is that i cant keep the beer flowing consistently, aftera few pulls it goes to nothing, then i have to take the keg out and tap it witha regular tap and it works fine (but doesnt stay cold and nor is it the reason i bought this kegerator, the longer i leave the keg in the kegerator the more pulls i can get before it goes dead.

not sure if its a problem with the regulator or the tap or maybe something else? if anyone could help, please do.

[edramshaw]

Check your co2.

[lilwhody]

the tank is full, i used about 5 kegs on it since i refilled it, but its been doing this since i had the kegerator

[edramshaw]

When you say "tap with a regular tap", what do you mean? A pony tap?

[lilwhody]

its the tap that came with the kegerator, not the ones you get when you buy a keg at the store

[Exurb]

I have a similar problem with my Danby. All of a sudden out of the blue, no flow. If I shut off the CO2, bleed off, untap and retap it comes back. Also, I have the excessive foam problem, however I have already done the resistor mod and have 35-38 degree liquid temp and 10-12psi CO2. Also, my tap seems to leak around the cylinder. If I haven't used it for a couple of days it sticks really bad until I pull it a couple of times. Are these problems related?

[Scott Zuhse]

The check ball in the coupler may stick if the beer is not dispensed for awhile. Or the coupler is not clean and it sticks. You would have to untap the keg and force a pen into the bottom of the coupler to free the ball. Probably a good time to brush the coupler clean.

[Exurb]

Scott, today this happend after about 6 beers, and this is is only my second keg. It happend with my first keg as well.

[DCullender]

Have you cleaned your keg coupler? As Scott stated there is a ball inside the coupler that acts like a backflow valve. Generally, if the ball is gummed up or dirty it will stick inside the coupler preventing beer flow.

If you untap the keg and shake the coupler you should hear it rattle. If it doesn't move freely this is most likely the problem.

Something else to check. Take a strong flashlight and check your beer line. You may have some type of debris floating inside the beer line. I have seen debris, packing material/paper/whatever, get inside the beer line and block the back of the shank blocking the beer flow. This would account for the pouring of a few beers and then nothing. The debris floats in the beer line until beer pressure forces it to the back of the shank. Then untapping releases the pressure and the debris floats free again.

Dennis
The Draft Doctor
Richmond, VA

[TAPMAN]

Try untapping the keg, take the coupler off the keg and put the handle down on the coupler as if you were tapping the keg and see if you have a constant CO2 flow. Sounds like the regulator is not regulating. Tapman

[Exurb]

Last night I broke down everything. Cleaned the line, coupler and tap using the Micromatic cleaning kit. Verified the check ball floats freely and lubricated the rubber parts with beer safe grease. Put everything back together, re-tapped and still 95% foam. When I first tapped this keg everything was fine and beer flow was what I would consider normal. Now, while I'm having the foam problem, flow seems very fast. What should I do next?

[Scott Zuhse]

Back to square one. Do you have two gauges on your regulator and is the cylinder inside the kegerator? What is the temperature of the beer, thus applied pressure?

One more thing came to mind with the coupler - be certain that there is a retainer in the probe preventing the check ball from stopping flow. If it is missing, this will cause major issue.