Using Your CO2 System

Your regulator will come with one or two gauges. All regulators are equipped with a gauge to monitor the low side pressure which is the pressure that exits the regulator out of the line that has the gas quick-disconnect on it. Some regulators come equipped with a second gauge that monitors the high side pressure. This is the pressure in the tank thus the amount of gas that is left in it.

Using your regulator: First connect the regulator to the tank using the threaded coupling making sure that you use the small plastic washer in the coupling. The washer is very important and can usually be found attached to a new regulator with some sort of tie. Once the regulator is securely attached to the tank, turn the tank valve on. The gauge monitoring the high side pressure will be reading. The other gauge will not move until the control screw has been turned. Turning the screw clockwise increased the low side pressure and counterclockwise reduces the pressure. Remember that once you pressurize a keg you can only drop the pressure by relieving all the pressure and pressurizing again. This means that turning your control screw counterclockwise will not change the pressure in the line or tank unless you relieve that pressure. The low side pressure gauge will display keg and line pressure. To reduce the pressure without a keg on the line requires relieving the pressure from the line, push down on the probe in the center of the gas quick-disconnect.

To dispense your beer you must first relieve the pressure in the keg then connect the gas quick-disconnect and turn up the regulator to 5 psi. Connect the liquid side quick disconnect with hose and faucet. Open the faucet with the thumb lever and pour the chilled beer into a glass. Be sure to tilt the glass at a 45 degree angle and pour down the side if your beer is very foamy you may wish to reduce this to about 2 or 3 psi. In most cases 5 psi is the proper level. In a keg of homebrew the first couple of glasses will have some sediment in them . This is the trub on the bottom of the keg. The remainder of the beer will be clear. If you plan to transport a new keg you may wish to remove a couple of glasses to remove the trub before it gets disturbed.

The ball-lock dose not have pins on the sides of the locks, confusing the liquid and gas lines is possible and will cause damage to your equipment. The easiest way to tell the gas from the liquid ( if not already labeled) is to examine the lock closely. The gas side will often have notches in the bolt portion of the lock. If you cannot find any notches position the keg so that the locks are closest to you. In a standard keg the gas side should be on your left. To connect a ball-lock quick-disconnect, pull up on the slip-ring while sliding the disconnect on, then release. The disconnect should grab the lock. To disconnect, pull up on slip-ring and remove.

The pin-lock will have pins on the sides . These pins are used to lock the pin-lock quick-disconnect onto the pin-lock. You should have no problem confusing the "gas in" with the "liquid out" because the liquid lock has three pins and the gas lock has two. One will not fit on the other. To connect orient the pins to coincide with the slots on the quick disconnect, push down and turn clockwise to lock. Push down and counter-clockwise to unlock.

To open your C-Keg you must first relieve the pressure. Most C-Kegs have a pressure relief valve in the center of the closure hatch. The valve is operated by pulling on the small ring. If you do not have a relief valve, then the pressure can be released by taking a key or similar object and pushing down on the small circle in the center of the gas ball-lock. In either case, when you no longer hear the gas escaping, the pressure has been released. Once the pressure is released, pull up on the wire handle attached to the closure hatch. With a little downward pressure, the hatch will fall down in the C-Keg dangling form the wire handle. Turn the hatch so it will fit out of the closure hole and remove it. Closing the keg is a matter of reinserting the hatch, carefully positioning the hatch in the center of the closure hole, and folding the handle down to the original position.

Using your C-Keg is easy. Simply clean and sanitize the inside of the keg with some Amberdyne. Leave about a gallon of lite Amberdyne solution in the keg. Close the keg and dispense the solution as you would dispense your beer. When the keg is empty, repeat the process with warm water. Your C-Keg is now ready for your beer. Fill the keg with 5 gallons of beer and prime with no more than one half cup of corn sugar. Close the keg and put 10 psi. in the keg to insure a good seal. The beer will be carbonated in about 10 days.

Force carbonating your beer requires only two days but is a little more work. First you must get your keg cold-45° F. or less. Turn your regulator up to 35 psi., pressurize the keg with it, and shake the keg vigorously until you can no longer hear the gas going through the regulator. Keep the keg at 45° F. or less with 35 psi. in it until the next day. The following day, disconnect the keg, relieve the pressure, and tap the keg normally. If the beer is too carbonated, simply disconnect the keg, and relieve the pressure every half hour until the desired level of carbonation is reached.