Hey all. Just wondering if anyone had any issues with running multiple kegs through 5/16 line? I’m setting up my kegerator and want to have an inline secondary regulator. The first keg will be direct from the main regulator on the 3/8 line then the subsequent two will be after the inline regulator . This will mean I can carb up on the first and still serve on the second two.
I see the inline regulators all seem to run on 5/16 line though, so I’ll have to reduce the line down from 3/8. Will this be a problem do you think?
Gas lines
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Jocky
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Re: Gas lines
Hi there. To answer your question briefly, no this isn't a problem running gas through 5/16" line, and you can certainly run two kegs off of that as long as you're not intending to pour both kegs at the same time. As you're splitting after the regulator, both kegs have to be at the same serving pressure, and one keg can 'steal' gas from the other when it drops in pressure. I'm not sure if practically that causes any problems as my system has a secondary regulator for each keg.
If I may make a suggestion though. At a guess from what you're saying about 5/16" line you're looking at the Kegland inline secondary regulators?
May I direct you to look at a getting a pub quality secondary reg instead (Cornelius, RLBS, Micromatic, ODL)? You can buy refurbished ones for around £20 or new for £30, and they have a few advantages:
1. They already have John Guest 3/8" fittings on them, so you don't have to spend money on reducers either side of them (£4-5 saved there).
2. They have their own shut off valve as well as the pressure adjustment.
3. They have a pass through as well as an outlet, so you don't need splitters if you want more than one secondary inline (again a few £ saved), you need a plug for the last one in the chain, or you can run a keg from it at the main pressure you're using (e.g. for carbonation).
I've bought from these guys, and they are great:
Refurb: https://www.lawsdrinkssystems.co.uk/cel ... r-465.html
New: https://www.lawsdrinkssystems.co.uk/cel ... r-466.html
Here's my setup - the first two regs were bought new, but the other three are refurbs. Aside from the differing dial on the 5th one you couldn't tell the difference.
They're daisy chained together, with the outlet each going to 1 keg.
If I may make a suggestion though. At a guess from what you're saying about 5/16" line you're looking at the Kegland inline secondary regulators?
May I direct you to look at a getting a pub quality secondary reg instead (Cornelius, RLBS, Micromatic, ODL)? You can buy refurbished ones for around £20 or new for £30, and they have a few advantages:
1. They already have John Guest 3/8" fittings on them, so you don't have to spend money on reducers either side of them (£4-5 saved there).
2. They have their own shut off valve as well as the pressure adjustment.
3. They have a pass through as well as an outlet, so you don't need splitters if you want more than one secondary inline (again a few £ saved), you need a plug for the last one in the chain, or you can run a keg from it at the main pressure you're using (e.g. for carbonation).
I've bought from these guys, and they are great:
Refurb: https://www.lawsdrinkssystems.co.uk/cel ... r-465.html
New: https://www.lawsdrinkssystems.co.uk/cel ... r-466.html
Here's my setup - the first two regs were bought new, but the other three are refurbs. Aside from the differing dial on the 5th one you couldn't tell the difference.
They're daisy chained together, with the outlet each going to 1 keg.
Ingredients: Water, Barley, Hops, Yeast, Seaweed, Blood, Sweat, The swim bladder of a sturgeon, My enemies tears, Scenes of mild peril, An otter's handbag and Riboflavin.
Re: Gas lines
That’s really useful cheers, and loads more practical than the Kegland ones (correct - I was looking at those!). Just ordered a reconditioned one, and will get more as I add kegs. Many thanks!
Re: Gas lines
I wish I'd seen this before I'd bought my 4 way gas manifold for my keezer, I thought I could do every beer at the same psi, how wrong was I, I'm now thinking separate carbonation for each keg. This hobby just eats away money but I can't help myself!!Jocky wrote: ↑Mon Mar 01, 2021 9:39 amHi there. To answer your question briefly, no this isn't a problem running gas through 5/16" line, and you can certainly run two kegs off of that as long as you're not intending to pour both kegs at the same time. As you're splitting after the regulator, both kegs have to be at the same serving pressure, and one keg can 'steal' gas from the other when it drops in pressure. I'm not sure if practically that causes any problems as my system has a secondary regulator for each keg.
If I may make a suggestion though. At a guess from what you're saying about 5/16" line you're looking at the Kegland inline secondary regulators?
May I direct you to look at a getting a pub quality secondary reg instead (Cornelius, RLBS, Micromatic, ODL)? You can buy refurbished ones for around £20 or new for £30, and they have a few advantages:
1. They already have John Guest 3/8" fittings on them, so you don't have to spend money on reducers either side of them (£4-5 saved there).
2. They have their own shut off valve as well as the pressure adjustment.
3. They have a pass through as well as an outlet, so you don't need splitters if you want more than one secondary inline (again a few £ saved), you need a plug for the last one in the chain, or you can run a keg from it at the main pressure you're using (e.g. for carbonation).
I've bought from these guys, and they are great:
Refurb: https://www.lawsdrinkssystems.co.uk/cel ... r-465.html
New: https://www.lawsdrinkssystems.co.uk/cel ... r-466.html
Here's my setup - the first two regs were bought new, but the other three are refurbs. Aside from the differing dial on the 5th one you couldn't tell the difference.
They're daisy chained together, with the outlet each going to 1 keg.
Great post though as I was just about to search for the best secondary regulators to use and this answers everything for me. Are the stoppers easy enough to source? I am planning to have two keezers running upon completing and will need two separate lines and two stoppers, in-line really is the way to go!
Cheers!
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Jocky
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Re: Gas lines
My setup is how it’s done in bars with 10 or 20 lines.
The John Guest plug for the end of the line costs about £1.30 on eBay.
If you want to save some cash then stick a Y splitter off of a secondary reg and it can supply two or more kegs at once.
The John Guest plug for the end of the line costs about £1.30 on eBay.
If you want to save some cash then stick a Y splitter off of a secondary reg and it can supply two or more kegs at once.
Ingredients: Water, Barley, Hops, Yeast, Seaweed, Blood, Sweat, The swim bladder of a sturgeon, My enemies tears, Scenes of mild peril, An otter's handbag and Riboflavin.
Re: Gas lines
I see you're using an Inkbird, I've set up with stc1000s as I'd Read on these threads that they were pretty reliable but the wiring and the probes are a little flimsy and I just wondered if you think the Inkbird is more reliable/better? I've had one of my stc1000s just stop working and all my beer froze although I think that's because I had the probe submerged in water, changed probe and it now works OK. I've now invested in some thermowells to complete the set up but just wondered about the Inkbirds, bit more expensive but they look like a more impressive and sturdy build. Any thoughts?
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Jocky
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Re: Gas lines
I had an STC1000 I wasn’t using when building the keezer, but when I went to use it I found one of the buttons had failed and I couldn’t figure out why.Wozboy wrote: ↑Sat May 01, 2021 10:25 amI see you're using an Inkbird, I've set up with stc1000s as I'd Read on these threads that they were pretty reliable but the wiring and the probes are a little flimsy and I just wondered if you think the Inkbird is more reliable/better? I've had one of my stc1000s just stop working and all my beer froze although I think that's because I had the probe submerged in water, changed probe and it now works OK. I've now invested in some thermowells to complete the set up but just wondered about the Inkbirds, bit more expensive but they look like a more impressive and sturdy build. Any thoughts?
As I wanted the keezer to get up and running, buying the Inkbird was more about the convenience of buying it ready made than anything else.
The advantage with an STC1000 is that when the probe goes you can replace it, and if you want to dunk it in water then it’s probably going to fail at some point. I just have my probe cable tied to the side of a bottle full of water.
Ingredients: Water, Barley, Hops, Yeast, Seaweed, Blood, Sweat, The swim bladder of a sturgeon, My enemies tears, Scenes of mild peril, An otter's handbag and Riboflavin.
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guypettigrew
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Re: Gas lines
Inkbird seem to have sussed this potential problem.
The one I bought a little while ago has the probe attached to the control unit using a 3.5mm stereo jack. There's a short bit of cable coming out of the control unit with the jack socket on, then the probe has a good meter and a half lead with a jack plug.
Guy