hey everyone, first post, and first keg here. I'm having a bit of trouble, which from what I have read may be any number of things so I'll just get into it. The keg in a 1/6 Kona big wave golden ale, if that makes a difference or not. My kegerator is an Igloo 6 cu ft, http://m.homedepot.com/p/IGLOO-6-0-cu-ft-Beer-Keg-Dispenser-FRB200/203474205 I picked up a 5lb co2 tank and hooked it up per the instructions in the book. Initially I set it up at 12psi per the instructions. I'm finding out that this may not be good and I may need to set this higher. The reason I'm finding problems is the beer that comes out is mostly foam, but the beer that does come out is flat. Also, as I drew a few pints, thinking that transportation of the keg shook it up a bit, I noticed the psi dropped to 0 and would not pour anymore. I took the tank off the line and reattached it, got the psi back up and it seems to be holding where I have it set. It's sitting at about 32psi right now. I have a party in 2 days, is there anyway to get this functional for then? Thanks for all your help!!!
ah, the party in 2 days thread... you cant fix this in two days. you may believe i am being a dick. what can home depot do for you? return it. the kegerator you bought has one job and it doesn't do the one job. return it. ask the guy in plumbing to fix it. or ask for a refund. then take your $400, increase to $800 or so and buy a proper kegerator. this is the story of cheap kegerators. plenty of us will help you out. you bought a piece of shit. sorry. it wont work, not in 2 days it wont. send it back to China with a note that says defective. i am being 100% serious. home depot kegerators don't work. congratulations. Caveat Emptor. edit. 32 psi? pos regulator. in addition to the crappy thermostat, crappy faucet, no tower fan and genuinely shitty compressor they gave you a pos regulator. 32 psi is waaaay too high. you want maybe 10 or 11 psi. but given the the fact that your brand new regulator is crap you will never know the actual pressure. a new quality regulator is about $50. getting closer to the $800 i told you about....
Luckily I got this on sale for $130 and had a gift card so I paid around $100 for this piece of junk, haha. I don't think you're being a dick at all btw. I appreciate the honesty. I do have to be honest as well though, I'm looking for modest functionality here. I'm not overly concerned at this point with whatever keg goes in there being absolutely perfect. I'm just hoping to get a beer with the same carbonation I would get if I poured it from a bottle. And please, don't take that as me being a dick, I'm just not overly driven with perfection with my beer. Maybe I'm just naive here and am missing the point that I need what you're telling me to get close to what I'm looking for. I'm an allagash white, Sierra Nevada kelerweis, Guinness, and arrogant bastard drinker, but that about draws the line at this point in my life for beers I enjoy. I mostly stick to wine and neat single malts.
Odds of this happening are less than the Cowboys (3 - 8) making the playoffs. Here's a good starting point to see what's necessary: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/foaming.193492/ http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/help-with-balancing-my-system.248243/#post-3183725 I don't know anything about this unit . . . but read the reviews in your link for an idea of what to expect. The surest way to have good beer at the party is to buy some really good craft brews and explain to the guest that the kegerator is new and hasn't been balanced yet. That'll confuse them enough to ask for another (bottled) beer. This is the goal of all draft systems. It can be achieved if you have the correct temp & pressure & dispense properly (see links above).
Cool guys, thanks for the info and the honest opinions, and for not being too harsh on this noob. I talked with my fiancées cousin who brews his own beer and he gave some suggestions. He said turn the psi down to about 8, and also to pull the pin of the coupler (is this what I've read about as purging?). Well as luck would have it I drew a few pints and they were excellent. Maybe it won't last this way but I got it going for the time being.
