2 of 8 draft foam

[afterdark230]

Hey guys might be an easy fix but figured I would ask the pros,
I have an eight draft system setup as follows

8 3/4" 50ft runs all glycooled
all 8 have 5' of 3/16" of choker line.
walkin is 38f and glycool is 26f to 27f and beer temp at head is 38f
PSI is set for 25psi of 100% co2

beer:
Magic hat #9
Budwiser "this one foams"
Mich Light "this one foams"
Labats Blue
Sam Addams
saranac
Blue Moon
yingling


1 regulator which is one of the double gage that micromatic sells, I have the co2 tank inside the walkin but for some reason "I have pressure tested the system" the gage that shows what is left in the tank only says 500 psi but if I warm the tank up again it shows the right psi.

I am wondering why after 2 days of having a fresh keg of bud and mich light they start foaming. I am thinking of adding another 2 or so feet to the 2 that are foaming to see if maybe slowing it down more would help.

let me know what you would think

[edramshaw]

You are overcarbonating your beers. The beer pours fine at first but over a few days the levels of disolved co2 become way to high and the beer pours foamy. You could solve this by using a blender or a co2/nitrogen blend. I am not sure of the exact mixture you would use, I assume it would be a 60/40 blend but you may need to adjust restriction in your lines to get things pouring just right. Some one else may be able to help. Good luck!

Ed

[Draught Prophet]

Afterdark, can you confirm the line inside diameter size in the trunk? 3/4 ??? We'll need this to balance the system.

Ed is correct with the overcarbonation. After a couple of days, it foams.

[happytappy]

Overcarbonation can happen anytime CO2 is over 18 PSI. A CO2/Nitrogen blender is the way to go.

[ernestbud]

it is an over-carb issue and at your current run i am assuming you meant 3/8 instead of 3/4 line you should only be running approx 15-17 lbs of pressure using mixed gas

[ernestbud]

your formula for pressure is as follows:
3/8 line resistence per foot=.064
lenth of run= 50 ft
50x.064=3.2
so add3.2lbs to the 12-14lb recommended= 15.2-17.2 lbs of applied pressure

[darck1]

Originally Posted by ernestbud

your formula for pressure is as follows:
3/8 line resistence per foot=.064
lenth of run= 50 ft
50x.064=3.2
so add3.2lbs to the 12-14lb recommended= 15.2-17.2 lbs of applied pressure

Didn't I read elsewhere on this forum that you should never modify CO2 pressure to suit your system? I thought for a correctly balanced system you should modify line diameter and length to suit the CO2 pressure? Which for domestic beer at 38F is usually 14 PSI.

I'm not an expert by any means and I'd love for somebody to correct me so that I know I'm working it out all wrong. But I'd work it out at this...

I thought the formula was...

L=(P-(H*0.5)-1)/R

Where L=Length (50 ft in this case), P=Pressure used (let's say 14),H=Lift (let's say 4 feet) and R=Resistance of line. We'd have to balance the equation to make L=50 (or close to it). The only variable we should really be altering is R since we don't want to change the carbonation level, and we can't change the lift.

50=(14-(4*.05)-1)/R

50=11/R

50R=11 (total resistance of the system)

We'd need to use lengths and diameters of line which equal 11 for this system...

If we use 47.5ft of .5ID (which is .025 resistance per foot) it would give us 1.1875 resistance. 3.25 feet of 3/16ID line (3 resistance per foot) would give us 9.75 resistance.

1.1875 + 9.75 = 10.9375

Not too far off from our ideal of 11lbs of resistance. We'd need to modify it slightly if the lift was different and we could use a little more of the .5ID line to make up the difference.

So.... 47 1/2 feet of 1/2"ID and 3 1/4 feet of 3/16"ID would do it. Puts you 3/4 feet over but what the hey?

[afterdark230]

now that I look back I am running 3/8" not 3/4". I was told I could do this without a mixer and would like to stay this way for right now. I will double check everything and make a few calls to micromatic and see what I am doing wrong.

Thanks for the help guys
Matt

[darck1]

Originally Posted by afterdark230

now that I look back I am running 3/8" not 3/4". I was told I could do this without a mixer and would like to stay this way for right now. I will double check everything and make a few calls to micromatic and see what I am doing wrong.

Thanks for the help guys
Matt

If you're running 50 ft of 3/8 the resistance would be 50 x 0.2 = 10. That leaves a 1 lb of pressure for your system... Wouldn't 4 inches of 3/16 spliced to the end do it?

[BeerBlast]

THe BeerBlast Mixed Gas Generator would fix your issue. Like the others said, you are overcarbonating at 25psi. Using a 60/40 blend at about 15-18psi would most-likely fix all your issues and empty your kegs complete. Check your kegs after they blow and see how much you're giving back. It's usually about 10 pints = $30+ per keg. The BeerBlast will eliminate that. it's a nitrogen generator with a McDantim Blender all in one. BWW, Outback, and others have/are switched all their stores.

www.southteksystems.com

[darck1]

Originally Posted by BeerBlast

THe BeerBlast Mixed Gas Generator would fix your issue. Like the others said, you are overcarbonating at 25psi. Using a 60/40 blend at about 15-18psi would most-likely fix all your issues and empty your kegs complete. Check your kegs after they blow and see how much you're giving back. It's usually about 10 pints = $30+ per keg. The BeerBlast will eliminate that. it's a nitrogen generator with a McDantim Blender all in one. BWW, Outback, and others have/are switched all their stores.

www.southteksystems.com

What the ----?!?

He already said he doesn't want to use a mixer. Didn't I just see a post of yours elsewhere? Plugging the "Beerblast"? Again? I guess this is free advertising for your machine?

Afterdark: Let me simplify for you without all the complicated math. Your CO2 was WAAAAY too high so you were overcarbonating your beers. You dialed your CO2 too high because, with 5 feet of 3/16" as choke, you had too much resistance in your line to dispense properly.

If you have 50ft of 3/8 just 4 inches of 3/16 spliced to the end would do it. I realise this might not be practical (4 inches is a little short).

A more efficient way of doing it might have been 50 feet of 1/2"ID with 3.25 feet of 3/16"ID for choke.

[afterdark230]

by the way I figured out what was causing the foam...... I needed to clean the faucets and it all cleared right up! go figure..... but thanks for all the help I did turn down the g*** pressure a few days after and I seem to be getting alot more from a keg then I was.

Thanks guys
Matt