• Several issues with Magic Chef kegerator

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Kegerator Community Home  »  Draft Beer Dispensing at Home » Kegerator Problems & Troubleshooting » Several issues with Magic Chef kegerator
Posted:  27 Aug 2011 16:40

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My husband and I bought a Magic Chef kegerator quite a while ago and have been having problems with it since the beginning. The only modifications we've done are building it into a bar (just did that this past month) and when I did that, I tried putting more insulation into the tower thing (sorry, don't know the technical terms).  I can probably look up the exact model, if you need that.

First of all, we've been getting pony kegs of Bud Light.  Pressure is typically set around 12psi (although we've played around with it at times).

The really big issue is foam. If we're pouring into a small mug, we'll typically get about 3/4 foam.  In a bigger mug, we'll get about 1/2 foam, and in a pitcher, about 1/4 foam.  Like I said, we've played around with the pressure and can get it so the foam isn't as bad, but that typically only lasts about a day.

And another problem, which I'm sure is related to the foam issue, is the beer tends to get flat a lot quicker than it should.  We just got our current keg last weekend and my husband had some last night and was complaining that it was already tasting really flat (he's actually the beer drinker, not me).

We've also had problems off & on with low flow.  It seems like if we can manage to get the correct amount of head, it comes out as a trickle but when we get a decent flow, that's when we have the foam issue.

I cleaned out the hose & tapper right before this last keg so I don't think it's a dirty hose (we had the same issue with the very first keg we had when everything was brand new).

It seems like we have to constantly fiddle with it to get it working even half way decent.  I can understand playing around a little to get it set just right at the beginning of each new keg, but it just doesn't seem right to me that we should be having to fight with it this much and still not be able to get it working correctly.

We would greatly appreciate any suggestions (and if you need any more info, just ask).
Posted:  02 Sep 2011 02:01

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No one even has any suggestions on where to start?
Posted:  18 Nov 2011 23:37

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Join Date: Nov 2011
There are three possible issues.

The first is sanitation. This is different than cleanliness. You didn't mention how you cleaned everything, but you need to make sure that you are cleaning the coupling, the faucet, and the beer line with Beer Line Cleaner (found at home brew stores, restaurant supply stores, or online). BLC is not just soap, it also sanitizes the equipment. This should happen between kegs, ideally every two weeks.

Secondly, you mentioned adding insulation to the tower, but in residential kegerators, this generally isn't enough because the cold air in the kegerator will not rise into the tower, so the beer sitting in the line will become room temperature. This doesn't matter if you drink the beer fast enough so it doesn't have time to warm up in the tower, but if it's just one person drinking a couple pints a night, you'll have a problem. To overcome this, you need to circulate air from the kegerator into the tower. You can buy a kit designed specifically for this online, or you can just do what I did and buy a blower, a AC to DC adapter, and some tubing (I used copper tubes because most types of flexible tubes have too much resistance and the blower can't force the air through). You can rig all this up to pump air into the tower. Be sure to get a blower, not just a fan, and that the tube and the beer line leave a gap where the tower meets the top of the kegerator so that air can flow back from the tower to complete the circulation.

The last possible issue is more complicated. There are four variables at play: the temperature, the pressure, the beer line length, and the correct volumes of carbon dioxide. The volumes of carbon dioxide represent the amount of CO2 that's dissolved in the beer, and the correct amount varies by style of beer. You should be able to google the amount for Bud Light, but it's probably around 2.6. The volumes of CO2 is controlled by the combination of the temperature and pressure. The length of the beer line is important, because for a given beer line length, there is a pressure that results in the ideal speed of the pour out of the faucet. Too high pressure, and the beer comes out too fast (which agitates the beer and adds to the foam problem). Too slow, and you get the trickle effect you've described. You'll have to google this topic to find a chart or something that correlates beer line length to ideal pressure, or you could determine this through experimentation.

Once you have the correct pressure for your beer line length, and you know what volumes of CO2 you are targeting, you can find a chart (again, through google) that will tell you what temperature you need given the other two variables.

Well, I hope this helps. Best of luck! One final piece of advice: you may never be able to completely eliminate the foam and get a perfect pour every time. If you watch bartenders, you'll see that they are constantly dumping out foam. You might want to keep a large cup near your kegerator, and poor the first bit into it each time to get the foam out of the way. If you've done some tweaking, you might only need to do this on the first glass poured every day.

Oh, and also be sure your glasses are very clean. Any bits of residual food or dust will just add to the foam. If possible, wash the glasses by hand or when there is nothing with food on it in the dishwasher.

Cheers!