Triple Gas Regulator?

[greengrass]

Thanks for the info I might to go for a double regulator (see below) as I only have room for 3 kegs anyway, I will pressurise 2 kegs via a John Guest splitter, at one pressure for beer and the third for larger etc, anybody see any problems with that?
Greengrass

[f00b4r]

Beware using JG splitters as they don't usually have any check valves to prevent backflow of beer or gas. You can get away with it if you are careful but you are probably better getting a manifold, which will also allow you to shut off individual kegs.

[greengrass]

Thanks I have not thought of that, I will put in a double manifold instead, the shopping list is getting longer. (will have to hide it from the wife)
Greengrass

[greengrass]

Also I have read, that to reduce excessive foaming it has been suggested to reduce the size of the beer tube from 3/8" down but I can not remember the smaller size tube recommended?. And how you go about balancing the lines? (lot to learn)
Greengrass.

[f00b4r]

3/16 line makes a huge difference and the are a couple of ways to do it but I prefer the stem reducers as you then don't need 3/8 beer line.

[Kev888]

Yes, 3/16" (OD) is 'much' smaller in cross section ID than 3/8", and so offers noticeably more restriction to the beer flow. The beer's pressure then drops gradually on the way to the tap without needing very long lengths of line.

Though the best/first strategy to avoid foaming is to be modest about how highly carbonated the beer is, or certainly to avoid things that cause over-carbonation. Then to use consistent pressures and consistent (and preferably cool) temperatures. Once you have the pressure & temperature for the keg worked out, then you can choose a beer line to suit - either by calculation or by testing.

The idea is to have the line naturally pour at the right kind of rate (if you watch in a pub, this is perhaps slower than realised). You can get adjustable restrictors (flow controls) to help, but it is best if the line is roughly right to begin with, with the flow controls then used just to teak or add flexibility.

[greengrass]

Thanks Kev, your system is exactly the kind of system I plan to do myself, I have 2 larder fridges, one for fermentation and one for a keg system which I guess I can fit 3 kegs in. both are controlled with a STC1000.
Do your 3/16" lines go directly into the shank on the rear of the faucet, or do you have a 3/16" to 3/8" reducer?.
Greengrass

[Kev888]

I've some taps that take 3/16th directly and some have a stem adaptor to 3/8ths. Both seem to work okay for me.

[Haydnexport]

while we're on the subject , anyone know where i can source parts for the gas management board I posted ? i have a spare that is missing the first passthrough regulator and the connection into the right hand side of the board into the 'carbonation' dial. and a spare on off tap assembly would be handy or even just the rubber seals

[Kev888]

This could be wrong, but I think the secondaries on those boards may be made by Norgren. Or at least, they make some that look very, very similar. They come up on ebay sometimes, but there are different pressures and so on. If the second one is still there, presumably the part number would be on the bottom (i.e. hidden by the board's backplate).

[Haydnexport]

I'll have a look at it tomorrow, ive got a standard secondary reg in its place atm, bypassing the 'carbonation' dial completely.

[Heron1952]

I'm sure they are Norgren regulators. But I'm being a bit thick probably, don't understand if the regulators missing why are u bypassing the carbonation dial? Isn't it fed directly from the " primary" regulator? I have a spare Norgren reg.somewhere I'll try and find it and see if there is any way it wold fit my old gas management board.

[Haydnexport]

the carbonation dial is fed from a bypass regulator, through the side enterance , but this is a 15mm bore or so not a 10mm like the rest, I dont have anything to block off the hole.

[Heron1952]

Just taken my set up off the metal back plate. The primary regulator feeds into the plastic box with a tee in the plastic which as u say is 15mm this then reduces to 3/8 down to the carbonation tap. Upwards it passes out of the box to a 90 elbow feeding into the diet regulator it passes on through this unregulated to the syrup regulator, and also down to the diet dial and then tap. It looks to me that this diet regulator could be replaced by a Norgren secondary regulator, but I'm not taking mine apart any further!!!!

[PeeBee]

Clearing my computer desktop of collected detritus I came across these which illustrate the "compound manifold" in my earlier post. The manifolds being discussed more recently in this thread would represent what I described as "complex manifold".

The regulators are the NR200s I mentioned in a later post. Norgen make similar stand alone regulators, but they are considerably more expensive.

The "primary" regulator is out of shot but you do see the gauge indicating 3BAR to supply the "secondary" regulators. The "bus" line at 3BAR is protected by a PRV rated at 75PSI.

The photo is telling a bit of a lie. But it does show-off the versatility of this management method. The kegs aren't full of beer being served at 12PSI, they are full of beer undergoing primary fermentation (under pressure). These regulators have an accurate built-in "relieving" feature, and are being used here as "spunding" valves. Beats those crappy PRVs usually used as "spunding" valves.

The regulators have a check valve attached as these type of regulators can vent the output side if the input side drops to zero (hence the CO2 cylinder is attached even though the regulators are being used as "spunding" valves and don't need the CO2). The tidy pneumatic/hydraulic connectors look the biz, but are actually cheaper than commonly used pushfit (e.g. John Guest) fittings.