Need help troubleshooting first keg!

[ChaddyWa]

Just setup my new kegerator and kegged my first beer last weekend.

I have a 10ft line, 3/16th vinyl, single tap tower. I forced carbed overnight for 24-36 hours at 35 psi. However when I went to pull the tap the next evening, nothing came out. I purged the keg (heard a bunch co2 rush out), repressurized, and beer began flowing with a nice level of carbonation and head. Tasty IPA. I lowered to 12 psi, again overnight. The next night I went to grab a beer and again nothing came out of the tap?!?! I purged the keg, repressurized and again beer began coming out. This time with a bit more foam, but not terrible. What the hell is going on? There were bubbles in the line...is it underpressurized?

 

[ChaddyWa]

Just setup my new kegerator and kegged my first beer last weekend.

I have a 10ft line, 3/16th vinyl, single tap tower. I forced carbed overnight for 24-36 hours at 35 psi. However when I went to pull the tap the next evening, nothing came out. I purged the keg (heard a bunch co2 rush out), repressurized, and beer began flowing with a nice level of carbonation and head. Tasty IPA. I lowered to 12 psi, again overnight. The next night I went to grab a beer and again nothing came out of the tap?!?! I purged the keg, repressurized and again beer began coming out. This time with a bit more foam, but not terrible. What the hell is going on? There were bubbles in the line...is it underpressurized?

Forgot to add - I didn’t measure the temp but wondering if the beer line is freezing? There was a bit of ‘frost’ on the co2 tank. Wondering if I just have the temp set to low. Perhaps when I’m taking the keg/lines out to mess with that it is warming up a bit and that is what is causing the beer to suddenly flow?

 

[STR87]

bubbles in the line may be for two reasons.
1. there is a leak in a system.
2. It's underpressurized

Try slowly turning pressure up to see if that's fix the problem.

IMHO, If line would be frozen, then re-pressuring wouldn't help. At least you would see ice in a beer, or you would need about 15min for lines to warm up.

I don't have kegerator, so don't know why this is happening.

 

[myndflyte]

So when you first open the tap, not a single thing comes out? Not even a slow trickle? Do the lines stay filled with beer after they've sat for a 24 hours?

 

[FunkedOut]

Your beer line icing theory is my first thought.
Make sure the line is further away from the cooling surface than the keg.
I had the same issue when my lines were up against the back wall.
Opening the door would be just enough to thaw the blockage. Sometimes opening the tap for long enough is.

Only other thought is gunk at the bottom of the keg clogging the dip tube. Pressure futuatuons might be clearing that me up.

Ice s more likely.

 

[ChaddyWa]

Initially I get a few drops but that’s it. Yes, the lines stay filled with beer. Just checked again this morning (after I had a beer last night), and again nothing. Noticed there was some ice that was still frozen at the bottom of the fridge. I’m thinking the lines are frozen. I’ll try to thaw everythng out tonight and see if that works.

 

[myndflyte]

Initially I get a few drops but that’s it. Yes, the lines stay filled with beer. Just checked again this morning (after I had a beer last night), and again nothing. Noticed there was some ice that was still frozen at the bottom of the fridge. I’m thinking the lines are frozen. I’ll try to thaw everythng out tonight and see if that works.

Well now that the lines are actually filled with beer, I'm leaning towards them icing up. I think thawing everything out is a good idea and maybe raise the temp on the thermostat a little bit.

 

[mattdee1]

I'm brand new to to kegging and I've already had the "no flow" issue happen twice. The first time was confirmed to be a frozen line, and was easily corrected by slightly bumping up the temperature in the fridge. The second time was hop matter from the keg clogging up the works. I think the actual blockage was in the tap itself (Taprite 650SS). I removed the tap and cleaned it out. For the latter example, it happened because I dry-hopped in the keg, and some gunk must have got out of the hop bag.

 

[ChaddyWa]

The beer lines were frozen. Easy fix! Now I think I overcarbed it...way to much foam. Ugh, always something it seems when your setting up.