Beer engines

[mysterio]

Can anyone give me a little bit of detail on how to connect these to their keg and things to look out for when i'm buying one off ebay? I don't want to end up with an expensive door-stop. A picture or two would be nice!

Am I right in saying that the regulator should be set to 1 psi? Or should the gas be disconnected and the PRV opened, then purged when i'm finished?

[Orfy]

I'm not sure. I've only seen them used on casks rather than kegs.
I'd never thought about using co2 at minimal pressure.
Are the seals in the engine set up for a positive pressure?

[mysterio]

As far as I know they aren't, but I would hope there would be enough length in the beer line on the way to the pump to cancel it out.

[deadlydes]

i only use beers engine for dispense
there a couple of threads around
http://jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2147
http://jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1923

the angram beer engines are the best, they will outlast you! they are more expensive mind. worthside are also good. cant remember the other brands :-S

[mysterio]

Thanks, that's a big help!

[deadlydes]

oh yeah and i have thought of a better way to get CO2 into your king keg (rather than the 15mm ball valve and tank connector i have mentioned before).

you can get a 3/8 bulkhead fitting (push fit, cant remember where i saw these but i could refind them) with a small piece of 3/8 tube in that you connect a 3/8 valve ebay
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... &rd=1&rd=1

then you can just push your gas line in (which is normally 3/8)

nice and small and neat.

[Seveneer]

I use mine with a small (1psi) pressure on the corny. The beer pick up from the engine is just clamped onto a beer out disconnect.

This is a bit of a pain at the moment as the gas pipe only just reaches the corny I'm currently drinking when the garage door's open. To get around this I've bought another gas management board from Norman and will be picking up another gas cylinder to connect it up more permanently sometime soon.

If I think I'm on for a bit of a session I transfer a few pints from a corny into one of my 11l cornys and just leave the pressure release valve open while I dispense. Obviously this is only worth doing if I'm confident of drinking the entire contents in a day or two. Which I usually am

Works beautifully

/Phil.

[mysterio]

Those 11L cornies are cute, how much did you pay for yours?

[Seveneer]

I paid whatever Hop and Grape were asking. Just shy of 40 quid I think. They are new though...... and very shiny

[iowalad]

I would like to learn more about beer engines as well.

Cost to ship them to the states makes it a bit of a deal killer for me though. I may have to look into building my own. It is a bit off in the future for me though as I don't have a basement or space for a kegerator at the moment.

[Frothy]

Those 11L cornies are cute

They also look like they'd fit in a regular fridge

Matt