Sunday 23 January 2011

How to set up a Gas Management Board.

Nearly six months after I bought it, I've finally got my home bar up and running. Properly. 


For this, I have to thank my good friend Yonny from Copper Kettle Home Brewing who bought one of these for his kegerator project. For those who don't know, a kegerator is essentially a modified chest freezer with cornies inside and taps coming out of the wall. Google Kegerator project and you'll see what I mean.


So this is a gas management board. They were originally invented for dispensing soft drinks but they work perfectly with cornies full of beer, once you set them up properly. 


I made the mistake of working from left to right but, actually, if you work the other way it makes much more sense. 


So, from the right you have the main reg, the display of which tells you how much pressure you have in the gas bottle.  Next are five (or six in my case) red gas control valves. 


The CO2 gas in goes on the main reg. You can't see it too well on this pic but there is a screw on the main regulator on the right. This sets the pressure on the furthest valve to the right. This dial is marked carbonator on my management board. There is a pressure gauge above it. 


The next valve is marked diet on my board; I think this is a bit of a bloody cheek frankly but if I ever do brew a diet beer..... The pressure on this one is set by the right hand (of two) red knobs on, to set the pressure you need to pull the knob towards you, set the desired pressure then push it back in. 


The following four valves are all controlled by the remaining red knob on the left hand side. The important thing to remember is that you can't set a higher pressure than the gauge to the right. I set mine up thus:



  • Disconnect all kegs
  • Turn gas on at the bottle and open valve number 6
  • With a blade type screwdriver adjust the pressure to the gauge above valve 6.
  • Open valve 5.
  • Pull the knob above valve 5 and adjust until you get the desired pressure. 
  • Open valve 4 and repeat the process, only this time using the left hand red knob.
I've got mine set to:

Valve 6 (carbonator) 40psi
Valve 5 (diet) 20psi
Valves 1-4 (syrup) 7psi


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