how I solved my foam issues

[j5ryall]

Thought I would share my experience as I have had my kegerator for 2 years now and sort of have things figured out. Hopefully this post will be helpful to anyone considering the various modifications and tweaks suggested elsewhere on this site.

I have a Kegco 199-B which I bought from one of the online retailers. Upgraded to stainless steel tower and Perlick faucet, and double gauge CO2 regulator when I purchased it. Everything else was stock. Shipping was great, setup was easy enough. Initially bought a preassembled tower cooler from the guy on ebay (the one with the beer funnel sized clear hose).

I keep it in the garage which is not ideal because it gets pretty hot in there in the summer, but the wife won

[j5ryall]

Got cut off. Is there a character limit?

[Sketch]

Shouldn't be, unless it's some sort of anti spam measure.

[j5ryall]

Trying again

Thought I would share my experience as I have had my kegerator for 2 years now and sort of have things figured out. Hopefully this post will be helpful to anyone considering the various modifications and tweaks suggested elsewhere on this site.

I have a Kegco 199-B which I bought from one of the online retailers. Upgraded to stainless steel tower and Perlick faucet, and double gauge CO2 regulator when I purchased it. Everything else was stock. Shipping was great, setup was easy enough. Initially bought a preassembled tower cooler from the guy on ebay (the one with the beer funnel sized clear hose).

I keep it in the garage which is not ideal because it gets pretty hot in there in the summer, but the wife won

[KillianBoy]

j5ryall,
If you are cutting and pasting from another document, the mechanics of the MM system will cut off parts, if you are cutting, just try and edit old post and see.
KB

[j5ryall]

Not going to retype everything. The short version of things I eventually did but should have done at the outset before I ever poured a single beer:

• Learning about v/v and carbonation levels was very important, as is accurate 2d pour beer temp measurement.
• Added 1 psi to recommended setting prevented CO2 breakout and never caused wild or foamy beers.
• Using super tower cooler purchased online. It is good but should have made my own.
• Removed plastic ball check thing from the coupler.
• Increased beer line to 8 or 9 feet. Helped control foam. Never pours too slow.
• Bypassed thermostat and now use external temp controller (kegco 199b would only get beer to 41).
• Because my kegerator is in the garage where it gets very hot I insulated my tower. Cut the bottoms off three of the thinner beer coozies and slipped them over the top with a hole in the final one for the shank (so my tower is black neoprene). I realize that keeping it in the garage will shorten compressor life but nothing I can do about it because my wife does not want the thing in the house. besides when the thing craps out I can just build one out of a chest freezer which is what I should have done in the first place

).

Most of these are things I never would have been able to do without the help of everyone on this forum. So thank you.

[pismo10]

I concur.
My biggest fixes were
1) Cold temps
2) Longer beer lines, 10 feet or more.
3) Patience. No matter what settings you use, it will equilibrate on it's own after some time and pour well. Use the correct ones to start and give it time to "adjust"

[bmackrell]

Guys,

When increasing beer line lengths as described above are you still using 3/16 ID line or are you also increasing diameter also? If so to what. Not sure I've actually found a calculation for that.

Regards,

BillMac

[PointPleasantNJBeerguy]

For any small kegerator type setup always stick with 3/16" ID beerline.

[bmackrell]

thanks will do!

[pvs6]

To increase Dia. would defeat the benefit.

If a 1 inch pipe fills a gallon in a minute doubling to a 2 inch pipe would fill 4 gallons a minute. 2x dia. = 4x volume.

The reason that people lengthen the line is to slow down pour speed and in doing so reduce agitation. The longer the line is the more energy that is required to push it through increases linearly to length. The energy in this case is the fix Psi. Since that's a constant lengthening slows down the flow.

3/16th only and 10' max. anything over that and you reach a point of diminishing returns.

[BigKutta]

And keep an eye out for the coupler. yes, these can cauase issues too if all of the above do not fix your issues