Beer line question

[barley ben]

Just courious, what size beer line do you use and how much of it..

The reason is I had one tap that I just changed over to three last night. I had 3/16 I.D. on the original. At 2 psi per foot of resistance and 4.5 feet, thats 9. It pours perfect.

When I went to buy the stuff to add on to my set-up, they sold me 1/4 I.D. and told me this is what they always use. I came home and looked up the resistance and it is .65 ppf. That means that I need 13 feet for each tap. Well I hooked up the gas lines and only had 8 feet left so I used it all on one tap. It gushes foam. This weekend I'm going to buy the 3/16 that I am already using for for my original tap. That just seems like too much line per tap to be practical. Just the 4.5 feet gets in the way. Can't imagine 26 more feet I would need for the other two taps. It would be fine if it had to travel far but my faucets are only a foot from the kegs!

[Jughead]

I have about 4 feet of 3/16" on one of my taps and it works great. The other tap I had to hook up with about 5 feet of 1/4" since it was all I had at the time. It's very foamy. I finally picked up some 3/16" to 1/4" connectors, so I'll be switching it over to 3/16" soon (maybe tonight).

[barley ben]

I guess it's too late since you said you already have them but I found if you soak the end of the 3/16 in hot water, it slides right on and tightens up great when it cools back down. I still use clamps just to be safe though. I'm going out in a bit to get the right hose and get my co2 manifold. Right now I only have the one gas line so I have to keep swapping it between the two kegs. The store I went to didn't have the 3 way gas splitter either.

[bigmf]

I use 3/16 and about 6 feet of it. The hot water trick does work well, but it was hard on the old hands. My system pours like a dream, and its a cobrahead picnic style tap.

I will never go back to bottles.

M.

[Jughead]

The 3/16" hose I'm using is kind of rigid. I've tried the hot water stretching idea, but it does not work for this hose. I finally found some fittings at about 5 bucks each :mad:

[barley ben]

Well, I got my correct line and my manifold. Got it all hooked up and it's all perfect except now I need a third batch. Guess I'll make a quickie this weekend. And yes, they are a b$%ch to get on even with the hot water and elbow grease. I finally won the battle though and only lost two chunks of my knuckles when the line slipped as I was pushing. Thats nothing new though. No matter what I do, I get an injury or two!!!

[toneyc]

Just think of it as a blood sacrifice. Now everything will work just fine.

:)
Toney.

[danno]

ben, I guess I'd wonder about the advice of the shop that told you 1/4" was the standard. I'm also a 3/16" user, 5 foot lengths. (I run soda at 30psi, so I also have coils of 15' tubing in my chest freezer...)

keg lube is also handy for getting your beer line on your fittings...

[barley ben]

I guess I'd wonder about the advice of the shop that told you 1/4" was the standard.

I perfer to not give names when talking bad about someone(unless it's AB). It is a new shop and only 20 minutes from my house. I decided to go back to Beercrafters in Turnersville,NJ. It is a 45 minute drive but I get the right advise and they always have what I need. They seem like they are still in it for the fun. Guess I learned not to sacrifice quality for convenience.

[Moondoggy]

I am going to change over to 3/16 line.

My question is: Do I only need it on the serving line or do I need on the pressure line as well?

[Jughead]

The gas (pressure) side does not matter. Use whatever is easy.

[O2 Mash]

Originally posted by danno
ben, I guess I'd wonder about the advice of the shop that told you 1/4" was the standard. I'm also a 3/16" user, 5 foot lengths. (I run soda at 30psi, so I also have coils of 15' tubing in my chest freezer...)

keg lube is also handy for getting your beer line on your fittings...

Danno:
Yesterday a guy told me that Root Beer could be pressurized the same as beer, and dispensed the same as beer, but Orange Soda for example must be pressurized at a much higher pressure and dispensed at a higher pressure. He showed me a larger shank and restrictor assembly so soda could be dispensed correctly, and insisted that if I ran soda out of my beer faucets at a higher pressure, it would spray all over the place. I know you have used beer faucets for soda. What are your findings?

[danno]

I run my sodas at ~25psi through 15 foot 3/16" beer line. the soda is carbonated OK, but I get little head retention from the soda kits. But no, spraying all over the place has never been an issue... I haven't hooked up the VentMatics to my soda taps yet (just beer, love them...), but after I get back from vacation that'll happen next...

I tried root beer at beer pressures, and it seemed really flat...

I'm still toying with the idea of mashing a little carapils and using it with the root beer, just to see if I could improve head retention...