Well I figured there were some CTD owners that like to drink some beer and may know something about kegerators and CO2. I have a 2-keg kegerator at the house as seen below. The setup did not come with a CO2 tank, but did come with the panel regulators as seen below. There is a white plastic hose coming out of the dual panel regulator which should lead to the CO2 cylinder. My question is, do I need a primary regulator from the cylinder to this white hose which leads to the dual panel regulators or do the dual panel regulators reduce the pressure from the hose to the kegs? This hose worked well for the first 5 pound cylinder but blew out last night when installing the new one; not a fun thing! The setup is used and the hose did show some wear though. Let me here your thoughts!

The Kegerator:


Dual Regulator Panel (white hose leading to cylinder on right):

 

You should be able to just use that dual regulator set up. I would use the same red hose as you have on the other lines or just go to lowes and get some high pressure hose. You could also use a regulator on the tank and be ok as well. I personnally use a dual regulator on the tank which shows pressure going out as well as the internal pressure of the tank telling me how much is left in the tank. I will try to down load some pictures of my hand built bar just to show it off. Any questions feel free to pm me.

TRAVIST

 

That hose looks like a low pressure hose. A new CO2 cylinder is in the 800 to 1800 PSI range depending on tank type (Steel cylinders at a lower pressure than aluminum) , so you need a higher pressure hose from the tank to the regulator. You might want to put a gauge inline with the hose so that you know your tank pressure. Your current setup only allows you to see the pressure going to each keg and adjust each keg independently.

You could place a regulator at the tank and drop the pressure to 100psi or so then use the braided hose.

This is the first hose I found online that has a CO2 nut already swaged on and is high pressure. Part #5057 on their page.


Hose

 

Beer should be kept on 7-10 psi of CO2. I can take some pictures of the one I have and post it later this afternoon. A welding shop could supply you with the necessary regulators if you do not have it. As a side note, a high pressure CO2 hose will be stainless steel braided hose.

Also, it may be worth your while to replace the first level beer hoses. (the ones that are yellowed) I have seen them fail when they get pressurized.

Here is an excellent source for all of your kegerator needs. http://www.rapidswholesale.com/

 

Thanks for all of the comments and suggestions. I think it is probably best to add a dual regulator showing outgoing and internal pressure directly to the tank. I will then drop the outgoing pressure to around 50-100 PSI and let the dual regulator panel reduce them to the kegs as Travis and scscuba said. Is the braided plastic hose sufficient for <100 PSI?

Durasmack--what do you mean by the first level beer hoses failing? I know they are dirty (beer still tastes good though!) and I have been trying to figure out how to clean the system. Replacing the hoses is now on the agenda, great idea.

I only have one keg in the setup now, I want to make sure the system works perfect before spending $80 on another keg. Is it ok to remove the keg tap from a keg while not in use? I dont want a 3/4 full keg to go bad on me. Well i plan on utilizing the keg this weekend, so I am off to the welding supply stores tommorow. Thanks again, matt.

 

By failing, i have seen an over pressurized keg hooked up and one blow out like a bad garden hose.... hoses were very brittle and old though

Kegs will not go bad when disconnected as long as they were pressurized with CO2 prior to disconnecting.

You may consider going lower than 100 on that braided line. you only need 8 coming off the last regulator. That is more of a trial, drink, and error process... get some pitchers and test it. you can adjust and get the flow right while not creating too much head on the beer...

Another general maintenance tip: make sure when you are done using the tap for the function, or every few days with frequent use, take the tap spigots off and wash the beer out.... fruit flies will thrive on the leftover beer in the spigot.


--Trey