BBT Head Space Pressure PLEASE HELP!

[jtoneller]

At our brewpub, we have 10 7 bbl serving tanks. The beer sits at 37-38 degrees in a cold room. I try to keep the head space pressure at 11-12 psi. The main CO2 regulator coming into the building from the bulk tanks is at 120 psi. As the beer is poured at the bar, the head space pressure will slowly decrease and will not maintain the volume I set it at. The pressure drops in all of the tanks on both regulators in the cold room (the one right on the individual tanks and the primary regulator above the tanks which regulates two tanks). It is quite a long run from the bulk tanks to the cold room. The soda system is about 10-15 feet away from the the serving tanks and it is reading 110 psi. For reference, another brewpub in our chain of restaurants keeps 9 tanks at 15 psi but only has 90 psi going into the building and his tanks always maintain that 15 psi of head space pressure. Why can't mine maintain the pressure I set it at? This causes me a lot of grief because I have to constantly top up the pressures manually.

[idylldon]

What is the diameter of the CO2 line? Is it the same as your other restaurant? Are the other things (size of CO2 tank, etc.) the same as in the other restaurant?

Cheers,
--
Don

[jtoneller]

The diameter of the piping is 3/8ths. It is the exact same set up at the other location with the only difference being the distance from the bulk CO2 tanks to the serving tanks (much closer at other location). Is it as simple as adding up the total demand from the serving tanks and ensuring that I have more than that being supplied by the CO2 tanks?

[mmussen]

There's a few things I can think of that may be the problem.

Your regulators may be dirty and sticking, hence gas isn't starting to flow when its needed.
Have you checked any of the pressure gauges to make sure they're still calibrated and reading correctly?
It could be that where you're having problems you're using more CO2 than at the other location and the CO2 in the bulk tank, or the main regulator, is freezing up and not letting you pull CO2.

Hopefully you get it figured out soon
Cheers

[theomuller]

My understanding is the soda pressure stays topped up automatically, but the brites don't. So it can't be a bulk tank, primaryregulator, or line blockage.

Are all the lines connected to the same bulk tank? If so, where is the line split? Is it feasible to reconnect the brite tank hookups to the soda tank regulator to see what the problem is? What do you mean 'manually' top up, ,what is the process there?

My guess would be the regulators on the brites are dirty, for what it's worth. Try swapping one out to check.

[OPO Brewer]

Are you sure the bulk tank regulator isn't freezing up?

[andrew_FSBC]

Have you calibrated your PRVs and all gauges, are your beers under-carbed?

[soia1138]

The diameter of the piping is 3/8ths. It is the exact same set up at the other location with the only difference being the distance from the bulk CO2 tanks to the serving tanks (much closer at other location). Is it as simple as adding up the total demand from the serving tanks and ensuring that I have more than that being supplied by the CO2 tanks?

You may have answered your own question. Your main supply line is probably undersized. All things are equal between two locations except the length of that line? That's where I would start looking for my solution if I were troubleshooting it.