Flat cider and beer after 3 weeks

[stever1000]

I have ongoing issues with my kegerator and I am at a loss of what to try next.

My system is as follows:
20lb CO2 connected to hose through the drain hole in my mini fridge. The hose goes to a manifold where there are 2 outputs for my two kegs. From there it goes directly to each keg.

I have replaced the poppets, all seals, pressure tested prior to filling, and checked for leaks using starsan.

The hoses all have clamps on the ends, and are new last year.

I take apart the posts every time and give them a soaking in PBW so the beer residue is cleaned off.

I have 8-10ft of liquid hose. It goes from the liquid post, coiling the slack on top of the keg, and then through copper tubing, up to the faucet tower. There is a PC fan circulating the air towards the tower.

I use the "set it and forget it" method at 15 psi. The temp is 38F and dispenses into the glass slightly higher.

It has been over 3 weeks, and the cider dispenses without any head, and has no bubbles after poured.
The beer (in the other keg) has been 4 weeks and pours with a foamy head, but then the beer itself has no bubbles and tastes flat.

Could the kegging gods please help?

 

[stever1000]

I should also mention the keg disconnects are brand new, and I have made over 6 batches and they all have been under carbonated, even after sitting for weeks under pressure...

 

[Yooper]

I should also mention the keg disconnects are brand new, and I have made over 6 batches and they all have been under carbonated, even after sitting for weeks under pressure...

The serving lines are generally best at 1 foot of 3/16" line per 1 psi on the regulator, in my experience. What happens with shorter lines is the restriction isn't enough so that the turbulence "knocks" the co2 out of the beer, leaving a foamy head but seemingly little carbonation. It's not that the beer is undercarbed, it's just that it lost its co2 on the way to the glass. Longer lines will fix that. If your lines aren't 3/16" OD beverage lines, changing them to the right size will be very helpful.

For cider, it's usually carbed more highly than beer and it will have the same line requirements, so it there is a double whammy there.

 

[stever1000]

The serving lines are generally best at 1 foot of 3/16" line per 1 psi on the regulator, in my experience. What happens with shorter lines is the restriction isn't enough so that the turbulence "knocks" the co2 out of the beer, leaving a foamy head but seemingly little carbonation. It's not that the beer is undercarbed, it's just that it lost its co2 on the way to the glass. Longer lines will fix that. If your lines aren't 3/16" OD beverage lines, changing them to the right size will be very helpful.

For cider, it's usually carbed more highly than beer and it will have the same line requirements, so it there is a double whammy there.

The lines are 8-10' long (I want to say 10' but I can't quite remember) and they are 3/16"
So would I be best at 10psi for 10' lines?

 

[stever1000]

I have been adjusting the pressure and there still is hardly any carbonation at all, whether at 8psi or 15 psi and anywhere in between...

 

[stever1000]

This is still an ongoing problem - the only time I have had carbonated beer from my kegerator is naturally carbonating first for 3 weeks with priming sugar. Then using my CO2 tank to push the beer out

I have checked everything possible and the only thing I can think to try next is replacing all of the CO2 lines in case they got knicked??

 

[V-Fib]

Sounds like a odd problem. I'm not sure replacing the lines would fix the issue since if it was related to a kink bad enough to stop gas flow no beer would be pushed out of the keg. I'm really at a loss as to why you're beer isn't carbing but I hit my kegs with 30 PSI to seal, purge a few times, then drop the CO2 down to 10 PSI. At the 2 week mark is when the beer has carbed as it should and things have settled out.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

Is the tubing bev line of vinyl tubing from the hardware store?

 

[stever1000]

Is the tubing bev line of vinyl tubing from the hardware store?

No its the braided hose meant for CO2 pressure

I am trying again the next 2 weeks for my current batch. I set it to 30psi, checked for leaks, and will let it sit at 15psi and see where I'm at in 2 weeks

 

[harry_the_face]

I've never seen braided CO2 line. Are you sure it is not leaking?