Perlick Flow Control Taps - All Foam Wtf?

[seemax]

Sharp bends and crap shanks will cause turbulence in the flow... combined with warm tap and potentially over gassed equals a foam parade !!

I've got 525's on a keezer with nice stainless shanks, straight barbs... doesn't matter what beer line length or ambient temp I pretty much get perfect pour all the time.

Hope the new shanks work out...

 

[mikec]

I don't think the kegs are overcarbed. If they were the old taps would be pouring foam too, no?
I have two Perlicks on now, one with 1m and one with 4m of line, both foam.
Pretty sure the problem is at the tap, not the keg.
But it can't hurt to switch off the gas on one and see what happens I guess. New shanks will be a few days... prescious drinking days...

 

[mikec]

Tell you what else, these things drip like crazy.
I have to wind back the flow control to stop them dripping. But then this completely destroys the benefit of having forward sealing taps, doesn't it?

 

[bradsbrew]

I don't think the kegs are overcarbed. If they were the old taps would be pouring foam too, no?
I have two Perlicks on now, one with 1m and one with 4m of line, both foam.
Pretty sure the problem is at the tap, not the keg.
But it can't hurt to switch off the gas on one and see what happens I guess. New shanks will be a few days... prescious drinking days...

Have you tried releasing all the pressure out of the kegs then slowly adjust the pouring pressure with the tap open?

 

[bradsbrew]

Tell you what else, these things drip like crazy.
I have to wind back the flow control to stop them dripping. But then this completely destroys the benefit of having forward sealing taps, doesn't it?

My perlick creamers are drippers also, but the only time I get foaming is when the keg is over carbed and my lines would not be any longer than 1.2-1.5m. I did have a keg that poured foam all the time no matter what until I soaked the dip tube and cleaned the poppets with sod perc, should have seen the water after( is one of the coca cola type with the hard to remove poppets), now works fine.

Have you got a picnic tap to try and see if it pours better from the keg?

Cheers

 

[pk.sax]

And most likely all kegs connected to the same manifold with no NRV between them, just up the line to the reg?

What is your pouring pressure on the reg anyway? Just curious now. Never owned a kegerator, have been considering it though.

I used to have old Pluto taps on my system before I got the 545pc's. phenomenal difference in 'ease' of pouring. Changing taps, line length etc, you have to review your pressures too.

Btw, no drips afai can remember. One drop after shutting it off and that is it.

Did you dissemble the taps before putting them on the kegerator? You didn't put the flow control lever back to front did you? It's easy to do but I don't think it works well that way.

Anyway, if you really believe its the shanks, find a nut and barb and straight through wall shank if you can and hook up the new tap and see if that works. If not, it's some other problem.

 

[mikec]

I have a 4-way secondary reg, so each keg has independent pressure. NRV's are built-in.
I did pull one apart and clean thoroughly after the initial problems, definitely back the right way around. So I have one as new, one has been pulled apart, both drip.
Good idea to try with a different shank - unfortunately being this time of year options are limited.
I'll definitely have a go at bringing the pressure right down, other than that I think I'll have to wait patiently for the new shanks to arrive.

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Didn't look like picnic taps you where serving from when I visited your place, perhaps you've down graded.

No I don't serve flat beer here. If you don't know how to set up and balance draft system you should stay with bottling. (or picnic taps)

You were drinking from the bar (Celli's with flow control), lucky you. In the cool room I only run picnic tap, no matter what keg is connected it pours very well.
Picnic taps are pretty much fool proof. :beer: Flow controllers take a lot of dicking around to get set properly.
Nev

 

[Nick JD]

Picnic taps are pretty much fool proof. :beer:

 

[GalBrew]

Flow controllers take a lot of dicking around to get set properly.
Nev

Nope, easy. No problems, I have 4, no drips no 'foaming' issues, just a perfect pour for whatever drink.

 

[Batz]

Nope, easy. No problems, I have 4, no drips no 'foaming' issues, just a perfect pour for whatever drink.

I have to say I have had the same experience, hooked up my Perlicks and they were perfect straight away. I've never had any dripping issues in the 12 months I've had them either.
I do believe the creamers have an issue with dripping though.

Perhaps I was just lucky.

Batz

 

[Diesel80]

mikec,

did you remove the spring from within the shank when you replaced the old faucet?

Cheers
D80

 

[nala]

For my sins I play golf and go fishing.
There is more ******** sold in both of these pass times than beneficial accessories - sadly I'm afraid to admit home brewing
falls into this category also. It is my belief that bling is more important than beer !
I bought taps because I listened to people who I thought knew better than me, picnic taps do the job perfectly well.

 

[gordo_t]

With my flow control taps I replaced my shanks also. I screwed them on with the control rate dialled down then opened them up as I got the right speed. Your flow controller is pointing towards you right?

hmmm, my flow controls are pointing back the other way (towards the fridge). Thats how they came and I just threw them straight on the shanks. Mind you they do pour a lot of foam at the moment, I just assumed over carbonated keg. Have I got it completely wrong? Maybe I'd better take one apart and put it the other way.

 

[mikec]

mikec,

did you remove the spring from within the shank when you replaced the old faucet?

Cheers
D80

Sure did.

 

[Screwtop]

mikec,

did you remove the spring from within the shank when you replaced the old faucet?

Cheers
D80

Spring ?????????? :blink:

Screwy

 

[jc64]

Flow controllers face away from fridge.

 

[Spiesy]

I have a Keg King Kegerator, 2-tap font. Just last week I installed 2 x Perlick 545FC taps, along with new SS shanks and new Valpar line (at just over a meter per tap). No problems. No foaming, no excessive dripping. I did notice that on the new SS shanks, the opening on them was of a different shape to those cheap shitters that came with the Kegerator... the new SS shanks are rounded out.

A trick that Cocko told me, is for your first pour on a tap, do it at a trickle... just to chill the tap, then let it go as desired.

I have my taps set to the same serving pressure as the old taps (12 psi) - same as you. Mind you, with a properly carbonated keg, I can't open up the flow restrictors too much, or it will gush out and it will be foamy. I start with them closed, open up a little to chill the font and then open it as needed until I get the head I like, then close them down again... I'm still learning.

 

[gordo_t]

Flow controllers face away from fridge.

ok, i've changed them so that they face away from the fridge. first beer came out fine but so where the previous pours (after first few), so will see how it goes after a few days, see if it makes a difference.

 

[mikec]

I thought I should give an update, so anyone with similar issues knows what to do next.

I got some new shanks from Craftbrewer. They are different to the originals in two ways:
1) The inside surface is meant to be better quality and is currently nice and silver and smooth.
2) The chamber behind the faucet is smaller, so less beer sitting idle, and perhaps a bit more consistency with liquid flow.

Changing the shanks on one of those 3-tap fonts is, well, lots of four letter words. The spanner provided with it, for undoing the nuts inside the tower for the old shanks, is a RING SPANNER. Think about that for a second.
I actually bought a new faucet/shank spanner with the shanks, which is a tad better, but the old nuts were too big for this.
I eventually got the new ones screwed in tight using a combination of the new spanner and a spanner from my toolbox, a fraction of a turn at a time with each one, alternating between fractions...
Anyone who has done this before would know my pain, anyone who doesn't have one of these fonts is probably wondering what the hell I'm on about.

ANYHOO with that done, I put everything back together, and I now have a tube going up to the top of the font to deliver cool air from a fan in the fridge. The top of the font has some nice condensation on it and the font feels pretty cool. Unfortunately by doing this I sacrificed the fan's previous role of circulating air in the fridge, so I'll have to add another one to do this (the temp variation between different areas inside this fridge is up to 6 degrees!).

SO, the big test! Pour beer. First few test pours were still rubbish! But the kegs had been out and warming up for a while so I left it until the next day and tried again.

Now, results are similar to what I'm used to. First pour from the tap coughs and splutters and I get half a glass of foam, after that all is good. There does't seem to be much difference between short lines and long.
It would seem that the CO2 in the tap and lines is coming out of solution perhaps? I am thinking that MAYBE I now need to increase the serving pressure a bit, to keep pressure on the liquid in the lines - would that be logical?
When I was having all the foaming issues I had turned the pressure right down. Over the last couple of days I've been increasing the pressure ever so slightly each day (now at about 12psi), and so far no ill-effects.