Kegging - No Flow From Tap

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jimi

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Ive been kegging for a few years now and now experiencing my first issue. I hooked up my hop rocket for its first run as a Randall (which increased the line / resistance ) and the beer poured well through the Randall and there was no issues - aside from me finding the hopping rate to grassy. So I disconnected the Randall and from then on got only a very slow pour and froth. I assumed that removing the Randall decreased the line/resistance so I had created an over carbed keg. I vented gas out if the keg for a few days before once again force carbing and connecting to the tap. This time the keg would not pour at all when the tap was pulled instead I just just get a short gurgle of gas released before nothing. No flow at all. I've reconnected the randall (empty) to add line length and still nada. All I can think of doing is degassing and starting over yet again, unless I'm missing something?
Thoughts anyone
 
Hi Jimi,

What's the hop rocket and what were you using in the Randall?

I made a Randall for use with pellets, but I found that sometimes if some of the pellets got through the Randall, they'd block the tap leading to the situation you describe. Not sure if this is your issue?
 
Hi Jimi,

What's the hop rocket and what were you using in the Randall?

I made a Randall for use with pellets, but I found that sometimes if some of the pellets got through the Randall, they'd block the tap leading to the situation you describe. Not sure if this is your issue?

Hi kaiser
The hop rocket is a custom made Randall / hop back from blichmann. Thanks for your interest in the thread but I think I've got it fixed. I inverted the Randall and all seems to be running fine now. Not sure why it worked but I did recall something in the instructions suggesting it might help flow.
Anywho thanks for The suggestion
 
And how do you think that has made a difference to how the tap wasn't poring when you're randal contraption wasn't even hooked up?
 
And how do you think that has made a difference to how the tap wasn't poring when you're randal contraption wasn't even hooked up?
I assume the reduced line resistance from not having the Randall hooked up was leading to excess pressure, but Im not exactly sure why it worked (liked you I take it). Do you have any suggestions, it's always better to know the theory.

For what it's worth prior to inverting the Randall I connected the beer line , Randall and all to another keg and had the same issue out of the tap which lead me try inverting the Randall . I wish I kept the hop rocket instructions but I'm certain it advised the inverting the hr when using as a Randall.
 
Appears the 'fix' was only very temporary and things have gotten worse - I now have two kegs not pouring. To recap I connected the beer line from the keg that was not pouring to one that was and inverted the randall to check that the issue was not caused by the line itself and it poured fine. When I connected the line back to the keg that was not pouring it began pouring too ... Initially. Last night the troublesome kegs pour slow to nothing and the other keg I used to check the line started just gurgling out gas.
Any thoughts folks, I got to get this sorted as I'm down to only one functional keg
 
Connect a 'Out' quick disconnect to your gas line and blast the crap out of the dip tube (300 PSI)

I have this problem all the time, as I always brew ridiculously hoppy beers.

There will be a build up of hop debris in that tube, and it doesnt take much to block it.

The reason it pours for a little bit then stops is that the hops condense in the top until nothing can get past it.

Also take apart your 'Out' QD and clean the inside of it (These get blocked up quite quickly as well)

The blichan hop rocket is a great little device, but I think if you are using as a randal, you might need to invest in a tiny bit of very fine mesh and locate it somewhere on the out side, especially if you are using pellets. Whilst pellets work fine I think it goes better with flowers, which are much easier to find in America where it is designed.

Try this, and let me know how it goes.
 
Mate...
The only thing i can suggest is that you try putting a beer out disconnect on your gas line , connecting the beer out disconnect to the beer out post on your keg and see if pushing some gas down the dip tube can clear a possible blockage..
I got me a blichman and have used it twice and love it...used as a hop back with 100g of cascade and used it as a randall with 100g of motueka flowers had no problem either time...so i can't understand with my very limited experience as to why your having a problem...
The only thing i can think is that you have a bit of hop debris in your dip tube , in your keg....as to how it got there...dunno...couldn't tell you...
The other thing you could try , is if you do have a spare keg , rack from the first keg you had a problem with , into the spare keg and maybe give the first one a good going over , checking all seals , tubes etc...
Just a suggestion...hope it helps
Good luck
Ferg
and beaten by king brown !
 
as king brown suggested - have you unscrewed and fully cleaned the inside of your disconnects?
 
Thanks for the suggestions KB, ferg and kymba. If its a blockage issue I'm not sure why the pouring keg which I used to check the line has stop pouring too when it was reconnected to another line afterward?
For the record I've only used flowers in the hop rocket so far too.
I'll give the QDs a once over as suggested and keep you posted on what I find. Cheers
 
QDs have had a good going over and were as clean as a whistle. Forced CO2 down the beer line which i thought might work but nadda. As ferg et al have suggested I think the only thing left to try is to transfer to another keg. Can anyone see any issues with - degassing, screwing in a spare beer out post with dip tube into the gas in line/post and doing the old zwickel siphon method into another spare keg?
 
I've had issues with a heavily hopped bear where the blockage occured around the poppet in the post. Another time I dry hopped the keg with some flowers I grew and that clogged the dip tube. Initially I thought it was just somewhere in the disconnect or tap, but after hooking up a picnic tap and not getting any flow I knew it was a problem inside the keg. Disconnecting the other kegs and cranking the gas up while holding the tap open eventually cleared the blockages.

So if you've got a picnic tap and line, connect it to the keg and see if it's flowing normally through that.

If you are planning on degassing and swapping the disconnect - why not degass and clean the beer out disconnect and post, put them back in and gas the keg again?
 
Just had another, slightly more spirited, go at flushing CO2 down the beer post and we have flow again. :D
Beer is murky as though and I'm not sure how I let so much crap get into the keg. I'm assuming that HR actually filtered this when I had it attached so that I didn't notice earlier.
I might still transfer the beer as that crud has to settle again sometime.
 
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