I'm posting a few lessons learned in case someone with the same problems
does a newsgroup search some time.

#1. Sticky tap: I just set up a Cornelius keg system with the kegs in a
fridge in the garage feeding lines taps in the bar on the other side of the
wall. One tap is for my beer and one is for root beer. The root beer tap
gets pretty constant use and works just fine. The beer tap normally got
used only on the weekends, and by Friday it would start to get stiff. A
friend warned me that this is a known problem with the cheaper taps. I
filled a third keg with water and hooked it up to clean the beer line and
tap. Then I got the idea to carbonate that keg and leave it hooked up to
the beer tap during the week. Carbonated water makes a nice dinner
beverage, either with a little lemon and sugar or as is, and it keeps the
line and tap clear. The first few glassed of water do have a slight beer
residual taste, but that doesn't bother me. It's kind of like drinking
light beer.

#2. Foamy beer mystery: The first keg of beer I ran through my new system
worked fine once I got the pressures sorted out. The second batch has been
annoyingly foamy from the start, though. No matter how low I ran the
pressure, I still had to pour each glass in stages and wait until the foam
settled. Today I though that there might be a restriction somewhere in the
keg, so I opened it up and removed the ball lock to clean it. That's when I
noticed that the metal tube running to the bottom of the keg had gotten
mis-aligned and was probably pinched against the bottom. I bet it happened
when I tightened the ball lock just after filling the keg. The lesson
learned (and probably well documented somewhere obvious) is to only mess
with ball lock nut with the keg opened.

Dave

dave d wrote:
[color=blue]
> I'm posting a few lessons learned in case someone with the same problems
> does a newsgroup search some time.
>
> #1. Sticky tap: I just set up a Cornelius keg system with the kegs in a
> fridge in the garage feeding lines taps in the bar on the other side of the
> wall. One tap is for my beer and one is for root beer. The root beer tap
> gets pretty constant use and works just fine. The beer tap normally got
> used only on the weekends, and by Friday it would start to get stiff. A
> friend warned me that this is a known problem with the cheaper taps. I
> filled a third keg with water and hooked it up to clean the beer line and
> tap. Then I got the idea to carbonate that keg and leave it hooked up to
> the beer tap during the week. Carbonated water makes a nice dinner
> beverage, either with a little lemon and sugar or as is, and it keeps the
> line and tap clear. The first few glassed of water do have a slight beer
> residual taste, but that doesn't bother me. It's kind of like drinking
> light beer.
>
> #2. Foamy beer mystery: The first keg of beer I ran through my new system
> worked fine once I got the pressures sorted out. The second batch has been
> annoyingly foamy from the start, though. No matter how low I ran the
> pressure, I still had to pour each glass in stages and wait until the foam
> settled. Today I though that there might be a restriction somewhere in the
> keg, so I opened it up and removed the ball lock to clean it. That's when I
> noticed that the metal tube running to the bottom of the keg had gotten
> mis-aligned and was probably pinched against the bottom. I bet it happened
> when I tightened the ball lock just after filling the keg. The lesson
> learned (and probably well documented somewhere obvious) is to only mess
> with ball lock nut with the keg opened.
>
> Dave
>
>[/color]
Sticky tap problems? Hmmm...I've had them too with less expensive
faucets. Here's the solution. When you start to notice they're getting
hard to pull, remove the faucet and let it soak for a bit in warm warm.
Gently massage the dispensing lever to see if it's been freed up. If so,
apply a drop or two of vegetable oil (nahhh...it doesn't have to be pure
virgin olive oil) to the front of the faucet and the handle mechanism.
The vegetable oil is a good lubricant and imparts no taste to the poured
beer.

Foamy beer. No problem. Simply disconnect the gas in line for a few
days. Let the beer absorb the remaining gas. This will usually take a
week or so. Dispense a few ounces on a daily basis. Once the dispensed
beer has returned to its normal foam level, reattach the gas in line. I
try to keep most of by beers in the 10-12 psi range and that works fine
for hundreds of beers I've brewed.

Hope this helps...

Ken

Ken

"Ken Montgomery" <k.montgomery1@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:suednQgEVKUqHSDeRVn-tw@comcast.com...[color=blue]
> dave d wrote:
>[color=green]
>> I'm posting a few lessons learned in case someone with the same problems
>> does a newsgroup search some time.
>>
>> #1. Sticky tap: I just set up a Cornelius keg system with the kegs in a
>> fridge in the garage feeding lines taps in the bar on the other side of
>> the wall. One tap is for my beer and one is for root beer. The root
>> beer tap gets pretty constant use and works just fine. The beer tap
>> normally got used only on the weekends, and by Friday it would start to
>> get stiff. A friend warned me that this is a known problem with the
>> cheaper taps. I filled a third keg with water and hooked it up to clean
>> the beer line and tap. Then I got the idea to carbonate that keg and
>> leave it hooked up to the beer tap during the week. Carbonated water
>> makes a nice dinner beverage, either with a little lemon and sugar or as
>> is, and it keeps the line and tap clear. The first few glassed of water
>> do have a slight beer residual taste, but that doesn't bother me. It's
>> kind of like drinking light beer.
>>
>> #2. Foamy beer mystery: The first keg of beer I ran through my new
>> system worked fine once I got the pressures sorted out. The second batch
>> has been annoyingly foamy from the start, though. No matter how low I
>> ran the pressure, I still had to pour each glass in stages and wait until
>> the foam settled. Today I though that there might be a restriction
>> somewhere in the keg, so I opened it up and removed the ball lock to
>> clean it. That's when I noticed that the metal tube running to the
>> bottom of the keg had gotten mis-aligned and was probably pinched against
>> the bottom. I bet it happened when I tightened the ball lock just after
>> filling the keg. The lesson learned (and probably well documented
>> somewhere obvious) is to only mess with ball lock nut with the keg
>> opened.
>>
>> Dave[/color]
> Sticky tap problems? Hmmm...I've had them too with less expensive faucets.
> Here's the solution. When you start to notice they're getting hard to
> pull, remove the faucet and let it soak for a bit in warm warm. Gently
> massage the dispensing lever to see if it's been freed up. If so, apply a
> drop or two of vegetable oil (nahhh...it doesn't have to be pure virgin
> olive oil) to the front of the faucet and the handle mechanism. The
> vegetable oil is a good lubricant and imparts no taste to the poured beer.
>[/color]
I was prepared for a full wash, but found that running the water through it
cleared it up right away. Now I leave the soda water hooked up during the
week and switch to the beer on the weekends. I really like having soda
water on tap to drink with dinner when I 'm not having beer, and also to cut
the sweetness of the root beer from the other tap.

[color=blue]
> Foamy beer. No problem. Simply disconnect the gas in line for a few days.
> Let the beer absorb the remaining gas. This will usually take a week or
> so. Dispense a few ounces on a daily basis. Once the dispensed beer has
> returned to its normal foam level, reattach the gas in line. I try to keep
> most of by beers in the 10-12 psi range and that works fine for hundreds
> of beers I've brewed.
>
> Hope this helps...
>
> Ken
>[/color]

The foamy beer problem was solved instantly when I re-oriented the intake
pipe within the keg. It had been pinched against the bottom. I also keep
my beer (and rootbeer) at 10-12 psi, but I never leave the CO2 hooked up.
That's because I'm too cheap to buy a dual regulator. I keep the regulator
set to 30 or so for the soda water keg and also for various soda experiments
in 2 liter bottles (w/ Carbonator). I simply top off the beer and rootbeer
pressure levels once in a while by connecting the gas to the keg with the
valve closed and opening the valve in short bursts until the pressure is
right.

Dave