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A CO2 manifold is a nice addition to a multi-keg
kegerator. By replacing a tee with a manifold with check valves, you
eliminate the possibility of beer back flowing into your CO2 lines.
Also, you can turn off & work on individual CO2 lines without
depressurizing all of your kegs. Simple Rail
Manifolds are nothing more than a rail with an inlet and 1, 2, 3, 4
or 6 outlet ports with no shutoff valves. A simple rail manifold may or
may not have check valves in the outlet ports. They are great if space
is a real concern and simple rail manifolds with check valves will
prevent beer from backing up into your CO2 lines.
Stackable Manifolds are manifolds composed of
individual shutoff valves that are threaded together. Individual valves
are added as needed. Once the cost of shipping is calculated, it's
usually less costly to purchase one complete rail type manifold in the
beginning than to purchase a few stackable shutoff valves & then add
to them later.
Ball Valve Shutoffs lets you to shut off the
gas to individual CO2 lines. With homebrew systems, shutoff valves makes
it easy to switch between a ball lock or pin lock disconnect or replace
a disconnect without turning off your CO2 depressurizing all of your
kegs. With draft systems, a shutoff valves lets you turn off the CO2 to
any individual keg coupler.
Check Valves automatically prevent backflow
from contaminating your CO2 lines by only letting CO2 flow in one
direction - from the manifold to your keg.
Multi-port Manifolds are generally available in
2, 3, 4 and 6 port configurations. Also, manifolds can be daisy chained
together with a pipe union for even more ports. If purchasing a
manifold for a kegerator that you may want to expand later, it's best to
go ahead and buy one that will support your future needs. For
example, you may have a refrigerator that can hold 6 kegs but you only
have 3 kegs today. You can purchase a 3 port manifold to support the 3
kegs and upgrade later or you can just buy a 6 port manifold now for
less total cost and keep three of the ports turned off until you need
them.
Multiple Pressure settings can not be managed
with a single CO2 manifold because a single CO2 manifold is plumbed to a
single CO2 regulator. If you need to deliver more than one pressure at a
time then you need to consider one of our JO60-2 series CO2 regulators.
You can always setup a manifold after each regulator.
My Preference? Buy what you know you will need
up front to prevent re-spending money later. |
