All foam, NO BEER? Please help

[bronco69]

Recently a friend of mine got married so he gave me his keg fridge which he said worked fine for him. He made this Keg fridge about a year ago from a kit purchased at beverage *******. It is the standard kit with the 5 1/8" shank. The kit has the Hi and Lo pressure regulators but the gauge that tells you how much Co2 is in the tank does not appear to work. I bought my first keg two weeks ago along with BLC to clean all the lines and couplers. I let the Keg sit in the fridge for two days to get cold before tapping it then I let it sit for a few hours before pouring my first cold one which ended up being all foam along with the next 10. I have read all the forums to try and fix this problem with no luck yet. So far I have replaced the Co2 tank, replaced the shank and faucet, replaced the beer line with 3/16" ID line from beverage *******, replaced all of the gaskets including the diaphram in the Co2 line, and I thoroughly cleaned the coupler again. I am still getting all foam. The fridge itself I have set at 34F which is getting the beer to the faucet at about 36F to 38F. I have also wrapped the beer lines with insulation. I have been adjusting the pressure form 10-16 psi trying to get a change but still nothing. The keg is Bud light and I live in Birmingham, Ohio which is not far off from sea level. So far I have probably poured 20 pitchers or better with all foam. Is it possible that I just got a bad keg? Someone please help???

[Scott Zuhse]

Stop pouring foam into a pitcher. Stop dispensing period. Otherwise the beer will start pouring clear since there is not any gas left in it. Every time foam comes out of the faucet you lower the gas content of the beer. Eventually it will be flat.

Have you tested the system for pressure leaks? The high pressure gauge will be required for this. Inspect this gauge and determine if the pointer is stuck due to the face plate being bent over onto the pointer. Remove the screws from the back of the gauge, remove the clear cover from the front of the gauge and attempt to straighten. Otherwise, buy a new one.

What is the "diaphragm" in the 3/16" line you are referring to? There should not be anything in the 3/16" line.

Try to target 38F beer temperature using a calibrated thermometer. At sea level @ 38F @ 14 PSIG for Bud Lt.

Did your friend have any issues with the kegerator?

[bronco69]

Thanks for the tips Scott, but it still pours nothing but foam. I checked the high pressure gauge like you said and you were right, the needle was stuck. As of now, my gauge shows around 800 psi and I closed the tank to check the gauge and it didn't drop so I don't think there is any leaks in the line. I also checked the beer coming out of the faucet and found it coming out at
40F so I turned the temp down some more, but it is still pouring all foam. After about three minutes the foam than turns into a glass of flat beer. I did notice that the beer line above the coupler gets lots of tiny bubbles so I tried to purge the system but the bubbles keep coming back. As far as the diaphram I was referring to is inside the Co2 line where it conects to the coupler. So at this point I have replaced the Faucet, shank, beer line, gaskets, Co2 tank, and scrubbed the coupler in BLC. I have adjusted the temperature and the pressure from 10-16 psi. I am still getting nothing but foam. I talked to my friend and he said that he never had any problems with it. Judging by the old beer line I believe him because it was pretty discolored like alot of beer has ran through that thing. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Scott Zuhse]

Attempt to acquire an accurate temperature of the beer itself using a calibrated thermometer. Read the temp of the second pour in the same glass.

To rule out the keg, uncouple the keg and evaluate the top ring on the keg seal to determine if there is any damage.

If you have bubbles rising from the top of the keg, this is gas breakout from the beer. Normally a sign of warm beer. Keep us posted.

[KillianBoy]

I was figuring someone with more experience would answer but think most have hit the sack after a long night of drinking, if this were happening to me I’d check to see if everything is connected correctly. I’d look at the lines and check if the lines are not reversed (beer line from the top and gas from side). If everything connected right, I’d check for leaks, and look at the coupler and see if the check ball not stuck. If all of this is right then I’d look at the regulator, out of all the things you replaced, I think this was the only piece of original equipment that you didn’t replace, maybe you can rent or borrow one and see if that’s the problem. If the regulator works, I don't know where to go after that unless your beer is way too warm as Scott says. But from what you said the beer is in at least the 40's.

KB

[bronco69]

Thanks for all the input. I checked the temperature after I cooled the fridge down and I have the beer at the faucet at 37F but I am still getting all foam. I am also getting the small air bubbles in the beer line. As far as i can tell there are no leaks in any of the lines. I had a friend stop by today that has been a local bartender for around 10 years. He told me that everything seems to be fine and that he has had some problems in the past with the same distributor at his bar providing them with bad kegs. Is that possible and if so what could cause the keg to be bad? My friend said he has a hand tap that I am thinking about trying out to see if the beer flows. Should I try this or will it just ruin the keg?

[Hophead]

If you have bubbles in the beer line, then the carbonation is coming out of the beer (foam!) because there's not enough pressure. The gauge on your regulator may be off. Try raising the pressure 1-2 PSI, pour a beer, let the keg sit for 10-15 minutes and see if you still have bubbles. Keep doing this until you don't see bubbles in the beer line and the beer starts to pour clear.

[bronco69]

Alright Hophead I tried your theory now and still I have had no luck. I cranked that tank all the way up to about 22 psi. There is no air in the lines anymore but I'm still getting nothing but foam. Is it possible that the keg was over pressurized from the distributor or bad from the distributor? I think at this point I have tried everything with the same result everytime. All Foam??????

[fnmocurtis]

You can check you CO2 line pressure with a a dial tire gauge. Some will slip right into the CO2 line with the tailpiece removed. This will eliminate a bad gauge. I changed the tailpiece that attatches to the coupler from a straight one to a one with a 90 degree bend. This makes sure there is no kink in the line that would cause any turbulence in the beer. How long is you beer line? You may need a longer line than the standard 5'.

[Hophead]

If you still have foam, then you have either A) something very dirty in the system (line, shank, faucet or coupler) OR B) some other restriction in the system (blown out gasket, etc.)

It's pretty plain and simple. Foam is caused by 1) Pressure is too low, 2) dirty system and/or 3) a restriction in the system causing turbulance. There really isn't anything else. Find the problem and you'll be pouring perfect beer!

[cm11599ps]

For what it's worth, my keg was pouring fine after a bit of first pour foam. Subsequent pours were fine.

I then turned the dial on my thermostat in an attempt to make it a little more frosty. For the past two days I've been getting ALL foam.

I just took a better look and found that I actually turned the thermostat the wrong way. I turned it back to the original position and then some to get it colder in there.

Further inspection reveals bubbles in the beer line. Scott mentioned above that warm beer would cause this problem.

I'm ordering my digital thermometer from MM as we speak. lol

I'm hoping it will pour better tomorrow after a full day of chilling. There's still a bit over half the keg left so there's a lot to cool.

[bronco69]

Hey Scott,
I still have all foam and no beer. The good news is that i think I may have figured it out. After reading through thousands of posts on multiple websites, I found out that there is supposed to be a ball check valve in the coupler itself. My coupler came with the the lastic stopper, but no ball in it. So my new question is can I use a marble or some sort of little plastic ball to do the trick or does it have to be an exact weight? Also how far down in the coupler does the plastic restraint or stopper need to go? I am assuming that the ball works to slow the beer flow down which would then produce less foam? Any help is appreciated.

[kenny]

All the check ball does is keep the beer from coming out of the beer line when you uncouple the keg...it has nothing to do with beer flow. If you only uncouple when your keg is empty you really don't need it.