Three lines beer tap?

[Lapja]

I recently purchased a secondhand commercial beer tap. It came with "new lines" but I just do not understand why should be three lines coming from a single tap. See attached pic. I could eventually end by dismounting everything in order to understand but I was wondering whether there was a straight answer to that question

View attachment 1490858048083.jpg

 

[Ruvort]

Those are most likely the glycol lines

 

[ncsuwerewolf]

I concur. One to the faucet. One loop for glycol chilling of the tower.

 

[Lapja]

Thanks for your answers. it makes sense indeed why when I insert water on one line it comes out from another ....

I wonder If I could make a use of those glycol lines. Recirculate water from a jockey box ? but that implies leaving a pump running all the time...hmm

 

[passedpawn]

You'll need to run something cold through those glycol lines or your first pour will always be foamy.

Running a small submersible aquarium pump isn't a big deal.

 

[MrTCS]

I could be totally wrong but that also appears to be a nitro tap.

 

[jddevinn]

1. That is a nitro tap if you didn't know.
2. Yes cooling lines.
3. I pulled mine apart and stuck a temp probe in top of the insulation. Gave a set point about 10°F warmer than my keg and coolant reserve storage. The pond pump only runs about 50% of the time.

 

[Lapja]

Nitro ? there are a bunch of abbreviations that could start with "nitro" ;-) but it cannot be a gas or a liquid gas running through those lines because I believe they are not strong enough to withhold significant pressure.

My idea is to create a sort of jockey box but dedicated to cooling and run water from a submersible aquarium pump. The issue is though that aquarium pumps do not push water very high so it can become a problem as the jockey box would need to be underneath the tap and the tap itself is quite long.

I'll try to run a test this weekend and report here the outcomes.

 

[jddevinn]

Nitro ? there are a bunch of abbreviations that could start with "nitro" ;-) but it cannot be a gas or a liquid gas running through those lines because I believe they are not strong enough to withhold significant pressure.

My idea is to create a sort of jockey box but dedicated to cooling and run water from a submersible aquarium pump. The issue is though that aquarium pumps do not push water very high so it can become a problem as the jockey box would need to be underneath the tap and the tap itself is quite long.

I'll try to run a test this weekend and report here the outcomes.

Most of the time for most beer styles the beer is carbonated with CO2 and pushed from the keg (on a non long draw system) through the faucet with CO2 at a pressure determined by the desired carbonation level and storage temperature.

Sometimes for a different mouthfeel and head the gas that pushes a lightly carbonated beer is Nitrogen or a Nitrogen/CO2 blend. The "nitro faucet" that is used has a restrictor plate right at the exit. The beer is pushed at a higher pressure than a normal CO2 setup across this restrictor plate to create the smooth and creamy texture (thing of Guinness as the classic example). Using high pressure Nitrogen or blend instead of CO2 stops the beer from becoming over carbonated at the serving pressure.

Normal faucets do not have this restrictor plate. (EDIT: note that in my the next reply I have a picture of my taps, the one on the end is Nitro the rest are regular CO2)

That said, you should be able to remove the plate and the restrictor plate and cone (#16 and #17 on the exploded Taprite drawing below) and have it operate SIMILAR to a standard faucet.

https://www.craftbeer.com/craft-beer-muses/good-beer-gas-nitro-beers-explained

http://d163axztg8am2h.cloudfront.ne...8345b8a23cd38d328b4598bc/sf2003_catalog_b.pdf

 

[jddevinn]

Lapja, The good thing about pumping FROM and TO the same place is that once the system starts running the head pressure due to elevation cancels and the pump only has to overcome the line resistance. I run a pond pump from Lowes through two 5 tap manifolds at nearly the full flow rate. The small pump I bought wasn't enough but the medium one they had was (I can look when I'm home at the flow ratings if you are interested).

Ruvort, responding to your PM here in case it is useful to anyone else.

I'm using a cheap STC-1000 to turn the pump on and off. I located the temperature probe under the insulation (that I had to redo anyway) at the end of the cooling loop. I typically set the temp to 5-10°F over the storage temp. During the middle of the day in the summer when the taps are in direct sunlight the pump runs almost non stop, when the house is in the 70°Fs and the taps aren't in direct light it only runs occasionally.

Pictures of construction are before I filled with insulation. If y'all want any additional pictures or details please let me know.