Foam Party with temperature issues

[mcirish05]

Hi Everyone,
I am new to the forum and like most newbies am experiencing massive amounts of foam. Anyways, I purchased a Summit SBC-500J from a friend on Monday. He had only run two kegs through the system and he said he cleaned it before storing it for the past few years. When I got the kegerator, I cleaned all of the lines thoroughly with the cleaning solution that came with the kegerator. After pumping about ¾ gallon of cleaning solution through all of the lines, I ran over a gallon of cold water through them to ensure that I rinsed all the lines. I also soaked all of the faucets and gaskets in cleaning solution.
The next day, I went out a bought a keg of Budweiser Select. Anxious to see if it worked, I hooked it up to the system and tried to pour my glass…all FOAM. Therefore, I attributed this problem to the keg being too shaken up from the drive home. So I waited about 4 hours and tried again…Still all FOAM. I have changed the pressure from around 9-14 PSI and still nothing but foam. The beer tastes fine once the 80%:20% Foam to beer ratio equilibrates. One problem I think I am having is that the tower faucet is too warm. My apartment is at ~80 degrees because my landlord turned off the AC two weeks ago due to "fall temperatures". I have filled the tower with paper towels to try and insulate it a little bit until I get something better to use. I have read about installing computer tower fans and buying tubing insulation, but not sure which one will provide the best result and didn’t want to make the money and time investment if it won’t solve my problem. I would assume the tubing insulation will be the most efficient for keeping the lines at a constant temperature without spending ~50 on a tower blower
Additionally, I see no air bubbles in the lines. The faucet it cold to touch after pouring a beer and I just can’t figure out why there is no beer and all foam. Any suggestions would be helpful since I am supposed to be hosting a college football party only on Saturday. Does anyone know how to put a 100k resistor in my Summit like many of you have done on the Danbys?

Here are some key notes:

Kegerator: Summit SBC-500J
Beer: Budweiser Select.
Pressure: 14 PSI
Line length and diameter from Keg to tap:5 ft, 3/16" ID
Temperature inside Kegerator: 40F
Temperature of 1st Glass poured: 45 F
Temperature of 2nd Glass poured: 41 F
Location: Northwest Ohio

Thanks so much and I hope you can give me some solutions

[Hophead]

You really need to get the temp down. When you bring a new keg home, it's almost always "warm" - like 45 degrees. It really needs to be 38 degrees (the temp of the second glass poured). The temp of the beer determines the exact setting of the CO2 pressure. At 38, Bud Select should pour just fine at 12-14 PSI. At 41 or so, you're going to need more pressure - closer to 16 PSI - to keep the carbonation from breaking out of the beer (foam!). The problem with that is at 16 PSI, its going to pour really fast which can also cause foam. So, as you can see, the solution is to get the beer colder.

As far as the tower goes, yes, if you can't keep it cold too, then the first beer you pour (after letting it sit for 15 minutes or more), will be foamy. But any pours within 10 minutes or so after the first should be just fine.

[mcirish05]

Thanks, that is what I assumed I would have to do. So does anyone know how to make a Summit Kegerator colder than the coldest setting of "colder?" I dont want to keep wasting foam/beer because I wasted a lot doing trial and error. I had 95:5% foam:beer ratio when I started so I dont want to keep losing carbonation. Also, how much of a difference would insulation around the tube in the tower help vs. the more expensive tower fan. Whats the best/simplist way to cool the line as it goes from keg to tap? Thanks!!

[KillianBoy]

mcirish05,

I agree with Hophead, temps need to be lower, but understand even if you get the keg down to temp, buy all new gear and lengthen beer line it won't guarantee the beer will pour perfect tomorrow. It took me 2 1/2 kegs, 2 1/6 kegs and 1 5 gallon to get where I am (1/2 keg of Budweiser pouring perfect). As a back up plan you should rent a party tap and get some ice in case it still foams. If lowering temps don't work, things to keep in mind for next keg.

1. Clean all parts with brush, soaking parts (especially old used parts) will not eliminate all contaminants from where it touches beer. (pay close attention to check ball in coupler)

2. Keeping temps of kegerator is key, buy a wireless thermometer to monitor temps when door is closed, opening door too often will keep keg warm, tower cooler or fan inside is essential to circulate air in unit.

The Danby mod may not work with Summit, I wouldn't try unless you find someone who posted in forum. Right now turn unit to coldest setting and hope it works.
Also can you post size of keg and pour speed of beer flow, thanks and good luck.

KB

[bonefish]

It can take a few days for the keg to cool down. Thats what you need to solve first.
SEAN

[mcirish05]

1/2 Keg and flow rate is slightly faster than what you see at a bar tap
Thanks guys. I bought pipe insulator for the tower and also bought a digital thermometer to moniter the temperature on the inside of the unit. I did have an analog thermometer from wal-mart that I just bought for it, but it wasnt giving me precise enough readings. The unit now is at 39 F. I will attempt to measure beer temp tomorrow afternoon once it cools down more. My main concern is that since its at the coldest setting, it will never get colder than 39 degrees. I have a lap top cooling fan in there now to circulate the air better.

Aside from temperature, How do I check the coupler? I can hear a ball move when I blow into it so I think its good.
I soaked everything and cleaned all the interior surfaces with q-tips to make sure any dirt or grim was removed. This helped a lot after I had the 95% foam when I first purchased the keg. What else do I need to do?

Lastly, Will a longer line help with foam and carbonation or will it only slow down the flow from the tap?


Thanks!

[KillianBoy]

mcirish05,
A longer line may lessen the foam and calm the flow, but will do nothing to the carbonation. The only thing you can do before the football party is pray that everything you did takes care of the foam problem.

Look into the brushes MM sells, I use the SS one for the faucet and coupler, I will tell you it really helps to scrub everything down well and to strip everything down and clean properly. I also use the lubricant the MM sells, it keeps the rubber gaskets in faucet and coupler from getting too filthy.

Don't know much about the Summit kegerator, the max setting is just to get it to temperature for tomorrow, look through forum to find how to mod for daily use.

The coupler should be taken apart fully, the nut holding the handle to the coupler should be removed and the coupler comes apart, take off check ball retainer and then clean check ball (don't lose or let run away), this should be done between kegs, again good luck and crossed fingers.

KB

[mcirish05]

So I am doing much better today after adding a second fan into the kegerator and not opening the door for more than 3 seconds in the past 40 hours lol. I also added foam pipe insulation all the way around the line in the tower. With these additions, First pour is about 70% foam with a temp at 40 F and second pour is nearly about 15% foam at 38 degrees. The second fan in there really helped circulate air better. It's still at the coldest possible setting possible which makes me nervous about burner out the compressor. Will this happen if I keep running it full blast? Thanks for the continued help guys