First Pour Foam (again) with Tower Cooler

[nawow]

Hey guys,
First of all, thanks to all contributors to this forum, there has been a wealth of information for me to learn / read about. I started out thinking that getting a kegerator setup was a simple process; I’ve learned that it is a little more complex thanks to everyone on here.

So onto my problem, as the title says, I’m having foam issues on my first pour, and I can’t figure out why. Here is a little background of what I have:
- I purchase the Danby DKC146SLDB from Costco
- I made a project box tower cooler (Purchased the project box from Sayal electronics, I live in Ontario Canada and had a hard time finding one) using a Noctua NF-R8 80 MM Fan (I went for a balance of a quiet fan / good air flow), wired into a 12v 200mA DC plug.
- I run a ¾” ID braided hose to right under the shank.
- I run my beer line through that braided hose.
- I purchased an upgraded Perlick 525SS Faucet
- I changed the hose line to a 10’ x 3/16” ID thin wall
- My beer temp is between 37.6 and 38.2 depending on the time I take the reading at
- A glass of water in the fridge shows the same temperatures (currently showing 37.7).
- I have a full keg of Moosehead, I emailed the brewery and they say their kegs contain 2.6-2.67 volumes of Co2 in their kegs.
- I have my PSI currently set at 13
- I live 1049’ above elevation
- I tried to get an accurate reading from my tower, and it say it’s at about 43, so it’s not as cold as it should be (that could be the problem?)
- I use the ThermoWorks - Super Fast Thermapen to gauge my temperatures, so it's pretty accurate.

If anyone has any ideas on what I'm doing wrong, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks for the help guys.

[KillianBoy]

nawow,
Thank you for the detailed post, all you numbers look good, the only thing I'd do is play around with the cooler, normally the beer line is in the return air, by putting the beer line (especially thin walled) it might get too cold and cause foam problems, just put the air hose to shank as you posted, make sure there is enough space for return air and beer line and see how that works. You'll never get the exact 38 degree air temperature throughout 24/7, when compressor kicks off the temperature in tower always drop, it can't be helped.
Also do you have a Radio Shack in Canada?
KB

[nawow]

Thanks for the response KillianBoy!

What you said about the return air, is something I've read a bit about before. To be honest, it's a little tight for return air in the hole that danby provides you, I was thinking about enlarging that hole to see if it works, but obviously, I'm a bit nervous to do any modifications like that just in case I mess it up even more. I shoved a 1/2" OD hose up the tower to hopefully act as a return air flow, but it might be too little.

If thin wall isn't recommended, I'll pick up 10' of thick wall stuff and try that out. I never thought about the beer line getting too cold, but I didn't think that was the case, because when I touch the faucet, it doesn't seem cold at all, so I thought my tower cooler might not be "pushing" enough air to make any sort of difference.

We used to have Radio Shack in Canada, but they went out of business. Nothing has really replaced them, that's why I gave a shout out to Sayal, just incase there are other people in the same boat as I am in!

[KillianBoy]

nawow,
The thicker walled beer line has better insulating ability, if you run beer line in the up flow, it will help keep the beer from getting too cold, remember your taking the coldest air (28-34 degree) from bottom to shank, and applying same to whatever is in the air hose.
You can run another hose but for the air to get back, you have to create positive pressure so air flow goes down hose and might be best to wrap insulation around both and shove down tower, once you got this in and running you should feel a little air flow from 1/2 hose. You don't need much airflow against shank, just enough to keep it cold, if operating right there should be a little sweat coming off shank. Most guys will just open the hole up under the tower to get better air flow return. Make sure the box is sealed tight and flow is going in the right direction.
Radio Shack has a website, but shipping might be a killer, if not check on Amazon and see if they have anything that can be helpful. I use a blower type fan and not a muffin, they can compress air flow and are very efficient, I actually have bleed air flow from my box and run at a way lower voltage.
KB