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Newbie Kegging Question

rauchs

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I have two questions (both are probably very simple).
1.  When pouring a glass, is it normal to hear the a hiss? I would venture to guess that it's the co2 pushing the beer out of the keg.
2.  When I had my 5lb tank filled, after I attached the regulator, the gauge only showed 600psi, which is very close to the red area on the gauge.  Does that sound right? I just want to make sure that the guy who filled my tank didn't rip me off.

Thanks in advance.

 
  I've been hit twice with nearly empty bottles, take it back!!  I now carry a set of gauges with me into the store.  Makes me wonder how many times I've been ripped on Argon, Oxygen and other gasses!  The last time I reported the store to the State Department of Weights and Measures.  The store stated in responce that the bottles were filled at another location.  But I did get the bottle replaced with a full bottle, .... after checking 3 others with my gauges.

 
I think the CO2 pressure will stay the same until you are really near empty.  I think it stays liquid and only releases 600PSI off the top (evaporates into a gas).  So you read 600PSI until there is no more liquid at the bottom.  The stores fill by weight, not pressure.  Maybe an expert can chime in.
 
  I know they fill by weight, gauges just insure there is SOMETHING in there!  I guess I should take a set of scales instead.  Is there a weight std for 5lb aluminum and/or steel bottles and also for 20 bottles?  That info would be great!
 
I did a little digging and found that beer-tigger is right.  The gauge is pretty useless.  It'll read 600psi and when it's empty, it'll be in the red.  Thanks for the responses.

Is it normal to hear a hissing sound when pouring from the tap?
 
Is it normal to hear a hissing sound when pouring from the tap?

Mine doesn't hiss, but that's because I had beer backflow into the regulator and now it doesn't regulate very well.  So I keep everything closed.
The gauge still works, and I use it to make sure the psi in the keg is where I want it to be when I'm done.

The hissing sound you hear is just CO2 coming into the keg to replace the beer you are pouring out.
 
You take the take tare weight and the take size for example my aluminum take is 12lbs empty then add 5lb of CO2 equals 17lb full. If a tank is stored inside a kegerator it will read lower on the gauge then if it where at room temp. I would not go by just the pressure, weight is the way they are filled and more reliable to go by but I noticed on mine once the gauge goes in the red it drops fast. I do not hear a hiss on mine while I fill a glass but if you close the faucet slow I will get a slight hiss. I have a three Perlick 525's on 10' of 3/16 foxx superflex PVC tubing maybe this info can help. 

Some more info these are approximates due to individual manufactures
Tank Weights

5lb  Tank Empty 12lbs to 16lbs      Full  17lbs to 21lbs

10lb Tank Empty 17lbs                    Full  27lbs

15lb Tank Empty 21lbs                    Full  36lbs

20lb Tank Empty 30lbs                    Full  50lbs

Rember these are approximates.
 
  Looks good.  I'll have to keep track of bottle weights.  My shipping scale is battery operated, it's accurate to half an ounce.  I do the bottle exchange so sometimes the 5lb bottles are aluminum, sometimes steel.  The 20's are almost always steel.
  Is there a reason for the 10' liquid line?  I'm putting together my kegerator with 4 Perlic regulators & taps plus one line straight off the main regulator for carbonating, filtering or using the Hop Randell for infusion serving.  My liquid lines off the kegs right now are 3' with picnic taps.  My line cleaning brush just reaches on the 3' lines.  I use a 20lb bottle for the kegerator.
  I have a converted chest freezer that can hold 8 corny's + 4 cases.  I use a 5 lb bottle to maintain/ check those bottles.
 
FWIW- Every tank I have gotten had the tare weight (weight of the empty bottle) stamped into the neck. So a 5lb bottle would be easy to check (or any size for that matter) by weighing and taking the gross an deduct the empty weight. I have caught several "shorts" that way. Even asking them to weigh the bottle AT THE DISTRIBUTOR shouldn't be a problem.
 
When I purchased the Perlick faucets it was a three faucet tower and came with 5ft lines which worked well but talk a bout a fast fill about 4 to 6 seconds on a pint glass. Rule of thumb is a gallon a minute out of the faucet so I tried 10 ft and got around 1 minute 15 seconds pouring BLC while cleaning so I left it there. My liquid temp is between 36 and 38 degrees and I usually carbonate to 2.4 to 2.6 volume of CO2 so my preassure is between 10psi and 12psi. I also have cabonated water at 20psi which runs fast but not an issues so far. Everyone has there own balance issue to solve and I prefer a slower fill thats all, also I don't brush my lines I run BLC then water to clean and disassemble every thing and clean the faucets between kegs and replace lines as needed when stained badly or beer stone starts to build up.
 
rauchs said:
Is it normal to hear a hissing sound when pouring from the tap?
Yes.  That's the small amount of pressure equalizing as you are removing it from the keg.  I don't hear it with the cover on my freezer closed, but if open I hear it.  Same sound when you purge a keg, right?  Psssst! when purging, Hissssss when re-equalizing the pressure.
 
  I made up a few extra liquid lines so if one looks crappy I swap it out for a fresh one.  I keep a keg with PBW pressurized so I just run the brush through & a little PBW.  Give it a shot or two of co2 to clear liquid out & put it in a zip-lock bag until needed.
  Keeping a keg for carbed water is a good idea.  I thought about making up a keg of coffee! ;D 
 
Maine Homebrewer said:
Is there a reason for the 10' liquid line?

Yes.  It allows the pressure to equalize when dispensing the beer. If the line is too short you get a glass full of foam.

Gotcha!  I'll make up a couple of long lines in case I get extra foamy beer!  Thank You for the tip!
 
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