co2 questions......

[newToBrew]

so... some inane ramblings and questions for the Oracles !!!!

here's what I have :

2  1/2 Cornies ( 2 group buys & a small 11 litre one - but it needs a little work, new seals, poppets )
2 Taps
Beer/Gas Lines & JG fittings for 1 keg

3 maybe 4 gas bottles - some are mixed gas - I think two may be old C02 cylinders

Come January I have a mates 40th - marquee - music - so as a pressie I figured I'd run a bar in the marquee

a newcastle brown ale Clone , a blonde Ale  has been the order

Anway up until now I've been pretty Lax in getting the Kegging equipment together, happy for stuff to trickle in on the group buys, pick up odds & ends here & there, usually I get some homebrew vouchers for birthday & xmas

So...  lately I had been considering just buying one of those widget world gas thingys from one o  the sites, seemed a handy way around things for a lazy ass like myself 

January party aside I figured I'd get two crimbo brews into the kegs anyway. hence the widget world - less set up - less heavy crap lying around -less money spent

I guess the price of the regulators combined with the cost of testing all the gas cylinders to find one that is suitable and the hassle of having to go somewhere to do it has left me leaning to the widget do-da
but - something in my head is stopping me from just getting it

now with this party coming up - I figured the widget do da wouldn't cut it.

so im back looking at the regulator solution, and i've been looking at the dual guages on the irish homebrew sites, man - the run 2 kegs ones are pricey !!  seems like its an extra 40 quid for a splitter & an extra shut off valve

So I have been considering the following - get the regular regulator

and buy a gas manifold

I figured buying the 2 keg reg  limits you to.. well two kegs !
and If I am going to outlay 80 - 100 quid on this I guessed I might as well get a manifold for 3 - 4 kegs (not just for this party -but theres no point in limiting the system if I could have expansion options for the same price)
could some one take a look at this :


cheap yoke on ebay

would this be suitable ?
would I end up killing some one of I used this ?
the homebrew specific ones are the bones of @ 50 quid

anyway - these are my inane ramblings for now - I'm sure I could go on with other random thoughts - but this is enough for one day !!!!
so if anyone wants to weigh in with their solutions, opinions - scream at my stupidity - please - feel free !!!

[Rossa]

I'd say the manifold is the cheaper option alright but that one might not fit the gas line that fits into the reg. You could just split the line for the party with a Y splitter (jg brand) . I do that when I bring kegs to parties. In my kegerator I put together a co2 management board with 3 inline regs so the kegs can be carbonated to different levels. It was more expensive but  I figured it was wort it.

If you are using mixed gas you will need a different reg than the co2 one. The mixed are more expensive as far as I can remember.

Hope that helps.

[Rats]

DO NOT BUY http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Aquarium-4-way-manifold-tap-air-pump-CO2-output-new-/360310729960?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item53e4316ce8.
I bought one for my setup and it was water down the drain.It can only take the 5mm hose that you find on the fish tanks and it will not hold the pressure.
You can have mine if you do not believe me.
Here is a pic of mine not good pic but you can see the size.

[Rats]

I bought one of these http://www.mybeerandwine.ie/2-way-gas-manifold-p-418.html and when I upgraded to 4 taps I did this.
Got the splitter and barb fittings from my local compressor agents

[Rats]

Got the splitter and barb fittings from my local compressor agents

Who are they?

Cost me a fiver
Compressed Air Centre Drogheda http://www.compressedaircentre.ie/index.php

[Will_D]

In the rugby club we have two (big) gas bottles; 25/75 for Guinness and 50/50 for everything else.

So two bottles and two regs set to the correct pressure is all we need.

The gas lines then go into the cold room and supply ALL the kegs ( about 16 ) via simple "T" pieces in the gas lines. It really is that simple.

Now my home set up is a lot more complicated in that I have one of Normanumpas Gas Management pannels which give me 6 outlets fed from 3 regulators ( First is the master reg set to about 50 psi so I can prime a keg) and the other two slave regs for different uses: Cornies ( about 30 psi ) or plastic kegs ( set to about 6 psi )

HTH

Will

[Rossa]

other two slave regs for different uses: Cornies ( about 30 psi ) or plastic kegs ( set to about 6 psi )

HTH

Will

I bought a connector for a plastic barrel and co2 reg but haven't tried it yet. Is that what you are using or is it something else all together?

[newToBrew]

hey rath thanks for that -the verdict was exactly what i was wondering about - the pressure - hadnt thought of the pipe width though - 20 quid is not a bad price for the manifold - that & the regular dual reg stilll somes in cheaper than the dual keg one -I'm guessing wit hte splitter thing you added - you always have to have kegs attached to these ? I don't see any shut off valves on that - or do you have a way of closing them off ?

thanks for thr input - think I'll be goin down that route

[Rats]

hey rath thanks for that -the verdict was exactly what i was wondering about - the pressure - hadnt thought of the pipe width though - 20 quid is not a bad price for the manifold - that & the regular dual reg stilll somes in cheaper than the dual keg one -I'm guessing wit hte splitter thing you added - you always have to have kegs attached to these ? I don't see any shut off valves on that - or do you have a way of closing them off ?
All my kegs serving pres are the same and if I need I just disconnect the gas in.Hardly use the taps on the manifold.I use the main one on the regulator.If I do not use it for 2 days I disconnect all the gas in.

thanks for thr input - think I'll be goin down that route

Don't use the taps on the manifold.I use the main one on the reg.If need be I just disconnect all the gas in if I do not use them for more than 2 days.

[newToBrew]

would this be the solution i am looking for ?

adverts

comes in @ the same price as buying a manifold and a reg

[Snuff]

Going to get expensive for you if you can't decide what to do.
I went with :
Two single regulators
Two 5kg co2 tanks
JG splitters giving me up to four gas lines.
I have a 2kg tank for party use.
Never needed any more than that.

[newToBrew]

yeah ! thinkin of the adverts dude now - gives me two lines different pressures and teh option to expand each line in teh future

[Shanna]

Hi Rats

Not sure i understand how you turned 2 into 4 with the splitter? Which of the pipes is for gas and which is for liquid?

Declan

I bought one of these http://www.mybeerandwine.ie/2-way-gas-manifold-p-418.html and when I upgraded to 4 taps I did this.
Got the splitter and barb fittings from my local compressor agents

[Rats]

Hi Rats

Not sure i understand how you turned 2 into 4 with the splitter? Which of the pipes is for gas and which is for liquid?

Declan

I bought one of these http://www.mybeerandwine.ie/2-way-gas-manifold-p-418.html and when I upgraded to 4 taps I did this.
Got the splitter and barb fittings from my local compressor agents

Those are all gas lines the beer lines are not shown.

[newToBrew]

The one one on adverts can run two kegs at different pressures so I figured if I wanted - I could always stick one. of those double  manifolds  on each line - don't think that I'll ever need to - but you never know !!