Same old problem?

Your foaming is likely caused by insufficient restriction. Stay with me here.

Restriction is how we slow the flow of the beer, and it is related to the applied pressure. The 3/16" tubing is meant to supply enough resistance to slow the flow of beer to a manageable force. If the beer comes out like a fire hose it will hit the glass hard and foam.

So we must have about 6 feet of 3/16" beverage line. You should probably double check that line ID. And be certain it is beverage line, not generic Watts brand or something from Lowes. Bev line supplies 2.0 psi of restriction per foot. So 6 feet on a 12 psi system is "neutral" (not exactly but for this purpose it is). At 10 psi your system has enough friction to counter the applied pressure.

Next, if the applied pressure is too great, then 6' will not be enough to balance the flow. And if your regulator is lying to you, then it is difficult to know what is going on. In addition if the applied pressure is a moving target it can be impossible to actually fix the problem. Once the keg sits for a day or two at 18 psi, and maybe moved to 12 psi, then back to 14 psi, good luck getting it back to the required 10 psi. All those adjustments are made in the dark.

So
Confirm line diameter, length and brand.
Figure out if the gauges on the regulators are accurate.

And just because 9 out of 10 system balance problems are temp related, be 100% certain your temps are steady, all the way from kegerator (with a glass of water inside) to the first 4 ounce pour, to the next pint pour. All temps must match, within a degree and not much more.

Cheers.

 

Bill's point was use beer line, and not bulk vinyl line from a hardware store, not quite sure what you mean by 'regular line'. Beer line is smooth but has a certain amount of resistance in the sidewalls which is part of how the line is designed. Braided line is a more durable type of line, the braids being in the side walls but not the lumen of the line.

 

Besides the obvious flow issue, the stuff you find at HD is not rated for food contact, so it is likely to be leaching chemicals into the beer. With the new line your flow will be normal and your beer will taste better.

 

How long is the line? Should be 5' to 6'

I think you should 1, turn off the gas 2, release gas from the keg about once every half hour for a few hours, more or less. The keg will eventually not release much gas at all after a few hours.
Then 3, apply 10 psi and 4, wait a day.

Then pour.

Try to get the keg to actually 10 psi of applied pressure. Degassing and recharging with a known pressure is the best way.
Cheers.

 

A hard reset on the pressure is a good idea, and just to go way back to the basic basics - when you open the faucet, you are opening it all the way? That won't cause a fast pour, but it will definitely contribute to foaming and maybe the appearance of a fast flow. I wouldn't worry about cutting the line back just yet if you are over 6', it will only give you really slow pours if everything else comes into line, and that might actually make you smile!

 

Yeah, absolutely.
A glass that is filled with foam will really only contain a few ounces, and yeah it seems like it is screaming fast but it's just fluff quickly taking up space.

One thing about seeing the beer coming out of the faucet and knowing if it is clear beer or foam, that helps to diagnose a some things.

If it is foamy right at the spout then it can be a real pita to fix, because it can be anything all the way back to and including the keg. Warming in the line. Too much pressure. Too little pressure. A kink in the tube. A problem with the coupler.


Cheers.