New guy here and hoping for some friendly advice. I've got a Summit sbc490bisstb... I'm on my 3rd 1/6 barrel and having a couple learning curve type issues: 1. My pour is hit or miss... the Summit came with short lines, maybe 3 or 4 ft, so I'm at 8psi. A local summer ale and cream ale ran well, but Sierra Nevada is coming out all foam. I hear a lot about longer lines, but figured that a Summit would package their system within the appropriate parameters. Thoughts? 2. My CO2 ran dry on my third 1/6 barrel. This is too short and makes me think I have a leak. However, it lasted long enough to make me think that it's not a major leak. Frankly, I haven't run any leak tests -- i.e. soapy water -- but wondering if anyone had any experienced thoughts on a premature but not extremely fast depletion of CO2. I'm thinking maybe it's a slow drain off the nut and some teflon tape may do the trick. Any advice on what to consider and in what order would be helpful. Getting there one pint at a time.... Cheers!
Hopefully you researched this forum.8 psi is low but without knowing your pouring temps we cannot fix. As far as your co2 running empty you probably have a loose connection somewhere. 8 out of ten it's at your regulator to tank connection. And answer to the short lines, summit doesn't make the towers they buy then off a supplier. All towers come standard with 5ft of line from faucet. Get 10ft of line from micromatic. Turning pressure down to slow pour isn't the answer to slowing your pours.
Thanks for he insight. I'll look to swap for 10ft lines as this seems to be a common theme. I'm storing and pouring at 36F... and you're right, I've been calming the pressure to slow the pour. On the CO2, I'll give Teflon tape a try and be sure to check for leaks. I hadn't previously checked and hard to check now with an empty tank. Thanks guys...
Start with 10ft. And cut back as you go till you find a good speed. Also no Teflon tape should be needed in draft beer dispensing. Check your gasket and see if it's deformed on regator to tank hook up. Also check make sure at other end of co2 line on coupler the check valve is seated properly under the nut and that it's tightened down good. Last are you using the crap plastic clamps on the co2 line or s/s hose clamps? Because the plastics ones don't give a good clamp on the co2 line.
Indeed! Teflon tape is only used on NPT fittings (tapered threads). Gauges and manifolds are usually the only place you'll find these on a draft beer system. It does absolutely nothing on barbed or flared fittings, nor on any fittings that use gaskets or o-rings.
Hose clamps are s/s but I never ran a gas leak check. Too thirsty I suppose. Likely unrelated, but I can't help but think I screwed something up when cleaning my lines (for the first time). The correlation is that my first two 1/6s were very steady. Before tapping my third, I wanted to clean the lines. Can't see this being related to the CO2 running dry shortly after, but can't help but ponder it since it was days before my pressure dropped. Point here is to check whether I cleaned correctly. I turned off the CO2, hit the PRV to let loose, untapped, and dropped the coupler in a bucket of cleaning solution. Then, disassembled the faucet, connected my cleaner, used a fingertip to press in the ball bearing on the coupler, and let gravity pull the cleaner down through the beer lines. Repeat and rinse. This should have nothing to do with the CO2 correct? Just a willy that the cleaning solution may have done something to the CO2 hose or clamp on the coupler.
When you cleaned the line and took the coupler off, you took the CO2 off also, right? Maybe you didn't tighten it good during reassembly or over tightened it and wrecked the duckbill. You did put the duck bill back, right? To check for leaks after you have done anything run the pressure up to 45-50 and listen.
Yikes, I did not take the CO2 off when cleaning. I dropped the coupler in the bucket of water with both beer line and CO2 line still attached. With the hose clamp, it did not seem like something you want to take off and reassemble. Could this of somehow botched the CO2 connection?
Ok, so I AM an idiot. I looked at the coupler again, and of course I could have removed the beer and CO2 lines when cleaning. BUT, I didn't.... so I guess the question is whether that could have damaged my system or if it simply didn't get a good cleaning. Hoping it's the latter.
So if you weren't aware the CO2 line was removable is it safe to assume you probably didn't check how tight that connection was? I'd bet your leak is there. Do the 50 psi test when you hook up the new bottle.
Very safe assumption. The Summit system was setup during construction of our home, so I had not done the install myself... And for better or worse, I had not checked any connections before tapping the first keg. Airgas opens on Monday, so I plan to grab a new 5#er and check all connections when hooking up. Hope I can recarb the keg as I was only a couple pints deep...
