Can't get my kegs to serve at the same pressure!?

[mrstone14]

So I've been kegging my beer for about a year now and ever since I started I have had a problem getting my kegs to serve at the same pressure. I have 2 ball lock kegs, a standard dual gauge regulator sending 12 psi to both kegs, 5' of beer out line and a two-faucet tower. One keg always serves at a nice speed, no crazy foaming and perfectly carbed beer every time. The other keg pours out like Niagara Falls after a rainstorm, completely foaming over my beer, leaving it flat. As far as I can tell the only difference between my two kegs is the ball lock tank plugs and poppets. They are slightly different styles. One keg does have a nice dent in it, but I wouldn't think that should matter. I've cleaned every nook and cranny to make sure there are no obstructions, and there aren't any lines freezing over. Anyone have any insights?

 

[redsoxfan1974]

Release the pressure and dial back the CO2 to 8 psi. If the kegs are carbed already you only need to push the beer through the lines. Also 5' for beer line is not enough. I use 10-12' which provides enough restriction for the beer to flow properly.

 

[mrstone14]

That still doesn't quite explain why I might get different pressures from the 2 kegs. I have thought about increasing the line in the keg that foams, but decreasing the serving pressure doesn't really help. I've tried it before, but if I leave the kegs at a lower serving pressure, CO2 is released from the solution and gets trapped in my beer lines, leading to more foaming.

 

[day_trippr]

If you can rule out a kink in the beer line, perhaps the poppet in the cranky keg Out post isn't opening as wide as the other. Pull a half pint from each and then compare the beer lines to see if the cranky one has a lot of gas bubbles...

Cheers!

 

[mrstone14]

No bubbles in the line at all. I even watched the line while pouring and didn't see any.

 

[day_trippr]

Excellent!

What kind of faucets?

Cheers!

 

[mrstone14]

Perlick 525 Stainless.

 

[Jeremy_N]

I'm not saying that everyone that says you need longer lines is wrong, but I never see anyone say otherwise. I have 5 foot lines and serve at 10-12 psi and I don't get a lot of foam. Just thought I'd let you know that apparently the line length is not always an issue with everyone.

 

[mrstone14]

And I don't have a problem with a getting longer lines. Obviously the 5' works on my other keg. Even if I did get longer lines the two kegs would serve at different pressures. I'd need two different lengths to fix my problem. Thanks for the 2 cents though, nice to know the 5' works for some people.

 

[JeepDiver]

Does one of the lines in the tower get warmer than the other

 

[mrstone14]

Not that I can tell. I have a fan in there blowing air into the tower, so it's pretty cold to the point that the tower sweats. I've also tried switching the beer lines between the kegs and the problem stays with the one keg.

 

[processhead]

Switch the kegs and see if the issue follows the keg or stays with the faucet.
That will narrow down the location of the problem.

 

[mrstone14]

I beat you to it! Like I just posted, the problem follows the keg.

 

[mdgagne]

Try switching beer out posts/poppets?

 

[mrstone14]

Try switching beer out posts/poppets?

That will probably be my next test. I will try to do it tonight and post the results.

 

[day_trippr]

That will probably be my next test. I will try to do it tonight and post the results.

Worth a shot I suppose - though if there was a CO2-breakout problem at the keg end you would have noted it when you compared the two lines.

How did you carb the two kegs? Any differences? And are the FGs similar - or is one an APA and the other a sweet stout?

Cheers!

 

[acidrain]

If one keg always pours fast, I would add line length to that keg.

 

[mrstone14]

Worth a shot I suppose - though if there was a CO2-breakout problem at the keg end you would have noted it when you compared the two lines.

How did you carb the two kegs? Any differences? And are the FGs similar - or is one an APA and the other a sweet stout?

Cheers!

I always do the set and forget method. The beer in the good keg is a saison and the other a belgian ipa, both are in the mid 6% range with very similar FGs.

I also tried switching the posts last night to no avail. I am truly stumped on this one.

 

[beaksnbeer]

Bad seal on the dip tube causes gas from the top to get drawn in while dispensing

 

[day_trippr]

Bad seal on the dip tube causes gas from the top to get drawn in while dispensing

That's a relevant fact.

When I asked earlier if the OP could see the bubbles in the beer line (that direct CO2 injection at the Out post would surely induce) his response was "No bubbles in the line at all. I even watched the line while pouring and didn't see any."

That said, as he's already swapped the post, I would go ahead and swap the Out dip tube and the o-ring thereon. If the problem moves to the other keg, either the o-ring is bad or there's a pin-hole in the dip tube...

Cheers!

 

[FuzzyNegguts]

So from the ball lock to the faucet has checked out.

The gas lines going into the keg haven't been switched correct? Might be worth a try to switch those to see if there's some sort of restriction in one of the lines. If not, something's going on with the keg.

I originally started this post thinking you had said dual regulator, but i went back to see you had in fact said dual gauge regulator. I was considering the gauges may not be accurate. Either way, a possible gas restriction might exist?

 

[ANGELofDEBT]

A buddy of mine had a similar problem. I suggested he cut alittle bit of the dip tube. It fixed the problem. If the dip tube touches the bottom it creates a restriction point causing foaming.

Most of the corny kegs were used for unmixed syrups were the flow was low and you wanted to leave the least amount behind so the dip tubes were made long.

 

[mrstone14]

I've already tried switching the gas lines, which definitely didn't help.

I will try switching the dip tubes and I have some new o-rings that I can install. I usually use keg lube to ensure a good seal, but it's possible that there is an issue here somewhere.

If neither of those work I'll try trimming the dip tube. Mine do touch the bottom, so maybe that's causing a problem.

 

[mrstone14]

So in case anyone else was wondering about this issue, I have found at least one problem that existed and it's a biggie. I purchased all my kegging equipment from beveragefactoy.com, of which I probably should have known better, but it's only a few miles from my house so I went for it. Turns out their so-called 3/16" beer line is actually 1/4"! I had ordered some new 3/16" line so I could just go to 10' lines and was shocked when it looked smaller than my original lines. Out came the ruler and suddenly a lot of my problems made sense. I still can't figure out why the kegs were serving at different pressures, but with 10' of 3/16" line on both kegs, they pour so perfectly that I don't really care anymore at this point. Just thought I would share my findings in case anyone else might be having this problem.

+1 to the longer beer lines. It makes all the difference. And beware of beveragefactory.com. Their customer service is horrible.

 

[day_trippr]

Awesome! Glad you got it sorted!

And thanks for following up on your thread. Closure is good!

Cheers!