Faster carbing of Soda water: refilling when not empty?

[Jr873]

I drink a lot of bubbly water. I can fit two cornys in my frig, but decided to fill one with kombucha so I have no backup of water.

When I refill the empty keg, it takes more than 2 days to get re-pressurized. Any way I could speed that up? I'm carbing at 30psi, have been afraid to push my cheap regulator past that. I know about the rocking-the-keg method, but it scuffs up the kitchen floor, and doesn't seem to accelerate things too much.

Was thinking about refilling the keg when its ~ 2/3 empty, hoping it would get to 30psi faster. ?
... Would the warm tap water just decarbonate the remaining third?
I do have space for a couple gallons in the frig. Would pre-chilling the water speed things up noticeably?
Finally, the carb stone. I bought one, but I maybe I don't understand how to use it. I thought it was important for the gas line to NOT be submerged?

ideas?

 

[MikeCo]

Try chilling before carbonating. Cold liquids will absorb CO2 faster than warm liquids.

 

[Cool_Hand_Luke]

I picked up one of these recently and plumbed it in with duotight fittings. Works great. It has a float valve built in so cuts off the flow once the keg is full. The keg never gets less than 7/8 full or so and stays cold and carbonated. Carbonator Keg Reactor Lid

 

[day_trippr]

That is actually pretty cool - another clever product from KegLand.
And I may have space in my next keezer for a fizzy water tap. Hmm...

Cheers!

 

[MikeCo]

That is innovative. Didn't know this existed - thanks.

 

[Carolina_Matt]

I saw the Carbonator Keg Lid in an email a week or so ago, and it definitely looks like a great option. The part I don't quite understand is how you hook up your water line to it, when the keg is in your kegerator/keezer. Unless your kegerator/keezer is right next to your fridge or sink, it seems like you'd need to run a pretty long line? I may be missing something obvious though.

When I downgraded from a 6-keg keezer to a 3-keg kegerator, I didn't have any room for seltzer anymore. I bought one of these carbonation caps. It threads onto a 1-liter or 2-liter bottle. You fill it with water, hook it up to gas, then shake it for maybe 20 seconds. It carbonates the water pretty well, and fast. It's not quite as convenient as having seltzer on tap, but it doesn't take up any room in my kegerator and I'm ok with the 2-liter bottles.

https://www.morebeer.com/products/carbonation-line-cleaning-ball-lock-cap-stainless.html

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, I have a rinser setup on my keezer using a pair of shorty ball lock kegs - one for water supply, the other to catch the drainage from the rinser and my drip tray. I ran a fill line from the supply keg out the back of the keezer, which allows both refilling the supply keg and also pressurizing it when necessary. The only time I need to open the keezer to service the rinser is to empty the catch keg...

Cheers!

 

[Cool_Hand_Luke]

Unless your kegerator/keezer is right next to your fridge or sink, it seems like you'd need to run a pretty long line? I may be missing something obvious though.

I used 1/4" PET tubing to route the supply line to the lid. It's small, easy to route, and can be used with John Guest/Duotight fittings. Depending on your set-up/arrangement there's quite a few ways to route it over. I have mine tied into my RO system, but you could just as easily use one of those refrigerator ice-maker kits to tie it into a water line under a sink or in the basement. Depending on the set up you may want to add a check valve (duotight makes these) in the fill line so you don't accidentally push CO2 into your house water distribution piping.

 

[jddevinn]

You can use a carbonation stone through the lid to increase the carb speed. Hook the gas up at target temp and pressure then crack the pressure release a couple times, the small CO2 bubbles released from the stone carbonate very quickly and you you will not over carb this way. With water I see no reason to need to change back to a regular lid after carbing.

 

[pvpeacock]

I had the exact same problem, so I bought a carbonation stone lid just for this purpose. It will re-carbonate your water at 30 psi overnight although it really reaches its peak carbonation/flavor level after about a day.

 

[giftedeye2]

I drink a lot of bubbly water. I can fit two cornys in my frig, but decided to fill one with kombucha so I have no backup of water.

When I refill the empty keg, it takes more than 2 days to get re-pressurized. Any way I could speed that up? I'm carbing at 30psi, have been afraid to push my cheap regulator past that. I know about the rocking-the-keg method, but it scuffs up the kitchen floor, and doesn't seem to accelerate things too much.

Was thinking about refilling the keg when its ~ 2/3 empty, hoping it would get to 30psi faster. ?
... Would the warm tap water just decarbonate the remaining third?
I do have space for a couple gallons in the frig. Would pre-chilling the water speed things up noticeably?
Finally, the carb stone. I bought one, but I maybe I don't understand how to use it. I thought it was important for the gas line to NOT be submerged?

ideas?

I have my water carbonated in like an hour. I just pick up and shake or rock on the carpet, keep it hooked up at 30 psi for an hour. Make sure everything is cold.