Kegerator service in Boston

A couple of points - not only does the beer have to be cold, it needs to be a consistent temperature from keg to faucet. That's why the tower cooler is key. You need to be careful insulating the tower, you need to allow enough room for return air from the cooler to get back into the main compartment. No air flow, you are back to square 1. I'd suggest skipping the insulation until the foam is under control.
You should now take this time to read up on balancing your system, which is the science behind dissolved CO2 in beer. There are formulas which tie together the measured beer temperature (you choose this based on preference, 38 is the most common), the volumes of CO2 the beer was kegged at (you get this from the brewery or a site that has a running list of values, or at worst guess at something, most typically around 2.6 or 2.7) and applied pressure (you set this based on using a force carbonation chart, the temperature of the beer and the volumes of CO2. I've had a variety of Harpoon on tap in my house, it is a nice stable product to work with, very repeatable and consistent.

 

Do a search for "force carbonation chart" and you will have what you need as far as the relationship between values. There are many discussions here about foam, and with few exceptions the path to balance is the same.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/foaming.193492/

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/help-with-balancing-my-system.248243/


As long as the keg is still being cooled, it is salvageable.

 

CO2 line length is irrelevant, yes you need a washer at the coupler outlet on the beer line.

 

Indeed. You will also lose a lot of temp while you are installing and upgrading all this stuff so give it a reasonable chance to get settled back in before you do anything drastic.

 

It is easy.

 

I don't know about the adjustment, all the other stuff is easy, that's what I was referring to.

 

Leaks will cause foam, but your pressure is too low anyway. Using 2.6 for a volumes of CO2, and 40 degrees you need to be up around 13 psi. With the long line you can easily go a bit higher. My preference for the line is to keep it at the bottom of the unit, you want consistent temps and the beer comes from the bottom of the keg. The warmest place in the box would be on top of the keg.

Adjust the pressure to 13 and wait 12 hours. Draw a beer, which will likely still have foam. It is your next one that should show you where you are at. Let the unit sit for a while and watch what is going on in the beer line - if you have bubbles moving you are still unbalanced and likely low on the pressure.

 

For the temperature, are you using a calibrated thermometer and taking the temperature of the second glass?

 

Hmm...
Tell us about your leak. That's definitely a problem and definitely something that needs correction.
Pictures if you can.

You will never get proper draft beer with a liquid leak, and you will piss away money if you have a gas leak. Come to think of it, you'll be pissing away beer if you have a liquid leak. So let's have it. We will fix it. No leaks allowed.
Frustration? Almost there! Don't quit now!

We have some other minor issues to check out but first things first. Having temps dialed in puts you 90% of the way there. And then...

Draft Beer Nirvana,

Cheers.

 

Yes, more details on the leak....
- is it beer or gas? both?
- is it at the faucet or coupler?
- you mentioned the coupler didn't come with a washer, what washer did you use?