Hand Pull Beer Engine

[kelper]

sorry Kelper but mmhg is mm of mercury it is the SI unit of pressure

SI unit of pressure is the Pascal. N/mm2

 

[Buffers brewery]

Pascal = Newton per square metre, N/m2

 

[LeeH]

.

 

[BlackRegent]

Is the consensus that this blue food grade tubing in the above photo is best for the connection between the spout and the cylinder?

I replaced the silicone with transparent PVC on my 4 pump CQ. It was a right faff to get on because of a lack of pliability, even when heated.

 

[peebee]

@BlackRegent ...

What I did was not attempt to use the same length of PVC tube to replace the silicone, but used a longer length that could be routed right around the cylinder's handle linkage and back to nozzle. That way things weren't such a tight squeeze.

Actually I did initially attempt a direct length-for-length replacement, and one pump just crimped the tube shut trying to attempt such a tight radius.

Before (complete with crimped tube!):

After:

The photo does show the tube looking a bit squished, but it opens up when the "maintenance door" is shut. Also shows the solenoid valve I use to keep the nozzle closed between pours (note: these valves are not entirely sanitary and shouldn't be used upstream of the pump).

 

[BlackRegent]

@peebee
Good idea on using a longer piece of hose. I took the direct route on all 4 and, similar to your experience, found one of them crimped so that the flow was nil or negligible. However I took it off and replaced it and it seems to be fine now. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the barbs are at right angles to each other so they naturally twist on closing the door.

 

[LeeH]

Hose swapped.

 

[LeeH]

What size nozzles are we using?

0.6mm seems to be the norm on fleaBay.

 

[private4587]

hi everyone i am hoping to receive a beer engine from a now shutdown pub, i am wanting to use it alongside a King Keg modified to Buffers Brewery specs (gas posted fitted to lid). My question is that the pickup is from a floating pickup attached to one of the posts. Would this still work? I intend to fit a LPG regulator as a secondary regulator

 

[BlackRegent]

@private4587 yes this should work. I've swapped all the dip tubes on my corny kegs for floating tubes and they work fine. So long as the pressure in the King Keg is more than atmospheric pressure, the beer will flow out the floating tube and through the post

 

[peebee]

… My question is that the pickup is from a floating pickup attached to one of the posts. Would this still work? …

Many people use the "Caskwidge" Floating extractors which are part of the "Caskwidge" system for casks of ale So yes; it will work. Just make sure you can't pull the handpump with no gas attached to keep a scrap of pressure in the keg - a handpump is quite capable of collapsing a plastic pressure barrel! If it happens to a Corny keg the seals become ineffective and let air in, whereas a real keg is quite happy to hold negative pressure (you just get to a point where you cannot pull the pump's handle!).

 

[private4587]

Right I received my mum and it is quite manky and needs some TLC. I don't know what make but it has a Craig Farrar label on it. I'm assuming it has been refurbished by them at some time, I have attached pics. I gather these have been taken over now by RLBS. I intend stripping down the cylinder and cleaning(it is a 1/4 pint cylinder) It does pump water OK but like i said it is dirty. Looking at the hose from the discharge of cylinder to the nozzle it appears very tight and almost squished but pumps ok. is there anyway to make this longer but still fit within the engine confines. also Peebee i like your idea of sealing the nozzle to prevent air ingress to beer in cylinder, my intention is to make a 3D printed cap to seal the nozzle any idea of thread used before i get my vernier and thread gauges out? Also if anyone has any ideas of possible problems with the strip down of this type of engine i would be glad to know of them

 

[private4587]

Right I received my mum and it is quite manky and needs some TLC. I don't know what make but it has a Craig Farrar label on it. I'm assuming it has been refurbished by them at some time, I have attached pics. I gather these have been taken over now by RLBS. I intend stripping down the cylinder and cleaning(it is a 1/4 pint cylinder) It does pump water OK but like i said it is dirty. Looking at the hose from the discharge of cylinder to the nozzle it appears very tight and almost squished but pumps ok. is there anyway to make this longer but still fit within the engine confines. also Peebee i like your idea of sealing the nozzle to prevent air ingress to beer in cylinder, my intention is to make a 3D printed cap to seal the nozzle any idea of thread used before i get my vernier and thread gauges out? Also if anyone has any ideas of possible problems with the strip down of this type of engine i would be glad to know of them

Sorry my typing is very bad please read Pump not mum

 

[DixeySJ]

Sorry my typing is very bad please read Pump not mum

That's a relief .... WRT to your OP, I have attached my pump to a King Keg floating pickup with no problems. The gas is fed via a low pressure LPG reg through a one way valve and a modified S30 (I am looking at ways of fitting a standard gas post).

 

[BlackRegent]

@private4587 I can't help with the stripdown of the pump as it's not a model I recognise. On sealing the spouts, I use these cheap silicone caps...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3pcs-Dra...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
They fit nicely over the spout and will also fit over a sparkler if fitted. It's not as elegant a solution as your threaded 3D printed idea, but in case you wanted to save yourself a job

 

[BREWERS DROOP]

Just a word of caution about that 20-300mbar variant: It was great finding that they now sell them without adapters connected (and thread-locked!), including the useless "POL" adapter. But the description now says they can be used as single and second stage regulators which contradicts what I wrote above: They are normally used with Propane which has a fairly low cylinder pressure, whereas a CO2 cylinder will have a pressure of around 57BAR. They cannot be used as single stage regulators, i.e. connected directly to a CO2 cylinder.

So are you putting this inline after the regulator valve attached to the co2?

 

[peebee]

So are you putting this inline after the regulator valve attached to the co2?

Nothing unusual. The "Primary" or cylinder regulator drops the pressure down to, say, 4BAR (from cylinder pressure of about 57BAR) which feeds the LPG regulator (the "Secondary") which drops it down to a few millibar.

The "LPG" regulators used here can only tolerate a feed of up to 16BAR. Because the ratio of feed and output pressure is smaller, secondary regulators are far more precise and can be used to feed much lower pressures.

 

[BREWERS DROOP]

Nothing unusual. The "Primary" or cylinder regulator drops the pressure down to, say, 4BAR (from cylinder pressure of about 57BAR) which feeds the LPG regulator (the "Secondary") which drops it down to a few millibar.

The "LPG" regulators used here can only tolerate a feed of up to 16BAR. Because the ratio of feed and output pressure is smaller, secondary regulators are far more precise and can be used to feed much lower pressures.

Thanks for that. Its a friend of mine whos setting a corny up for his hand pull, as he currently uses mini kegs which run out pretty quick. So asked me what options he had. Thanks again.

 

[LeeH]

What size nozzles are we using?

0.6mm seems to be the norm on fleaBay.

Anyone?

 

[DixeySJ]

Anyone?

Is that the spout on the pump? Mine looks standard pub size - I can find the approximate measurement, but don't have a specification so it will just be me squinting at a plastic ruler. The inlet to the pump fits a standard JG 3/8 coupler.