How many kegs per tank?

[ronjonacron]

So I think I'm going through too much co2. Before I go through and retighten everything I wanted to make sure that this isn't just the norm. I force carbonate and run 4 kegs currently. It's hard to know exactly what percentages of the kegs have been dispensed, but I will say half of each of them for simplicity and carbonated 2 or 3 since my last bottle was filled.

I found a chart on a blog showing that you can only dispense about 5-7 corny kegs on a 5 lb tank. Are others experiences in line with this and I'm just being paranoid? I guess it may be time to upgrade to a bigger tank or keep a backup. I still feel like a kegging noob, so it's strange to think I need to upgrade beyond the standard 5 lb tank. Perhaps I'll also consider natural carbing in the keg to save co2.

Thank for any feedback guys/gals

RonJon

 

[day_trippr]

For just dispensing, I'd think 5-7 is way low. Consider all you're using the gas for is displacement, and a full 5 pound tank should provide 20 cubic feet of gas at STP, and a full corny holds 5.25 gallons - or .7 cubic feet - the math suggests you should be able to push nearly 30 kegs through the taps.

If you add in carbonation needs, at an average of 2.5 volumes * 5.25 gallons, each keg would use ~1.8 cubic feet of gas. Add on the displacement gas and now you're at 2.5 cubic feet per keg, which indicates a full CO2 tank should be able to carb and dispense 8 kegs...

Cheers!

 

[ronjonacron]

Ok, then I will go check for a leak then. Keep in the tank in the fridge shouldn't cause it to deplete any faster should it?

 

[solbes]

I just checked my records. I have kegged 22 batches. About 2/3 were naturally primed with sugar. I have gone through about 2 1/4 tanks (5 pounders) Cheers!

I find 30 kegs force carbed with 5# gas cylinder to be pretty unlikely. I may have had a small leak in my first tank, but I check every other keg now by spraying StarSan on connections.

Having the tank in your fridge does not change the mass or amount of CO2 thats in the tank. It will drop the level shown on the tank high pressure gage, but this doesn't change anything in how your tank operates.

 

[zachattack]

I find 30 kegs force carbed with 5# gas cylinder to be pretty unlikely.

He said push, not force carb. If you were buying commercial beer or naturally carbonating your kegs, I think it's achievable.

 

[solbes]

Ah my bad, reading is not one of my skills today.

 

[zachattack]

While I lived in a small studio apartment for a year, I let one of my friends "take care" of my keezer. I lost count of the number of commercial sixtels he pushed through there using the same fill on my 10 lb CO2 tank that I'd used to push maybe 6 sixtels and carb+push a few corneys. I was able to carbonate and serve a couple more corneys off it, and in the end I only ran out of gas because my regulator decided to spring a leak.