Draft System Problems / questions

[Bhaus]

I recently took over a bar that has 4 taps being fed from the walk in beer cooler in the back, and a tdd-04 with nine sixtels. The sixtels are great, but the long glyco system always burps foam if the tap isn't used constantly (non peak times), based on my data i'm getting roughly 85-95 16oz drafts per 1/2barrel compared to 110-115 from the direct draw system out front.

the lines get cleaned every monday so i'm not expecting, the same due to waste from that but i feel there is much improvement to be made. A new walkin cooler (larger) and a new glyco system (more taps) are in the works but month away due to budget reasons. So i'm hoping i can tweak this thing to get a little better management on the waste. our guiness tap also pours very foamy compared to bars that ive been at prior and requires more time to settle.


Here are the specs of the system as it is currently installed.

38degrees walk in
Glyco pump set to 36f (newer unit under 2years old and was serviced when i came in)
Shurflo beer pumps on all taps with fobs
84' of 3/8" line with two glyco lines in the trunk

Lines rise 7' leaving the walkin, then drop 9'6" to basement and go up 5' to faucets.

2' 1/2" Net rise from kegs if i did the math right.

100% C02 feeds three kegs
25/75 bottle feeds the guinness


c02 bottle reg set to 42 PSI
75/25 reg set to 36 PSI

Reg feeding the shruflo pumps set at 16 PSI

Miller Lite 12psi
Lager 10psi
Troegs IPA 14psi

all kegs go through the shruflos, does the guiness need to??

[spdbump]

Whats your beer temp at the faucet and in the walk in?
Is the walk in used for food storage also?
Do you have the plastic flaps in the walk in ?
Is 36* the gly bath temp?
What is the set points on the Gly unit ?
Does the Guinness experience the same issues as the other brands?
Whats the elevation of your location?
Yes the Guinness needs to go through the pump, your system was designed to use the pumps so leave it alone, possibly bump the pressure up to 40# on the Guinness

[Bhaus]

Whats your beer temp at the faucet and in the walk in?
Is the walk in used for food storage also?
Do you have the plastic flaps in the walk in ?
Is 36* the gly bath temp?
What is the set points on the Gly unit ?
Does the Guinness experience the same issues as the other brands?
Whats the elevation of your location?
Yes the Guinness needs to go through the pump, your system was designed to use the pumps so leave it alone, possibly bump the pressure up to 40# on the Guinness

yes the current walkin is a split use cooler.

i'm assuming you mean the plastic flaps used for seperating areas? if so then yes.

36 is what the module on top of the gly unit is set to, i think with + or minus - 3f. havent touched it, other then to look at the current temp


the guinness doesnt foam like crazy or burp on the first tap. it just takes longer to settle then other bars ive worked in. could just be a mental thing though.

i'm at 380 feet above sea level

[TAPMAN]

First thing I would do is turn that glycol cooler down to 29-30 degrees. If that doesn't fix it, then I would bump the pump pressure up to about 18-20lbs. Also, I would bump the CO2 pressure to kegs up a little. Lager and Miller Lite should be also around 14psi.

[DCullender]

Judging from this and your other posts, I would recommend you contact a reputable draft system company to go over your entire system. My company is in Virginia, and we get this type of call all the time. We can generally sit down with the owners, check their system and set up a plan of action in a couple of hours. I've noticed several problems in your post that a good tech could fix and get you back in the black.

Where are you located? MicroMatic has a "certified installer" group that would be able to help you.

You can send me a private message from this forum if you need help finding a tech.

Dennis Cullender
The Draft Doctor

[spdbump]

Yuo can also contact your distributors to see if the have an in house draft dept, the majority of them do. They can also go over your system and make reccomendations to fix the issue.