Gas Poppet vs Liquid Poppet

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stewart194

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I bought 4 kegs a while back, and on all of them, the liquid post poppet was different than the gas post poppet. I don't remember which is which, but one of them has a spring that is a separate piece from the valve...the other is a single piece with a built in spring with 3 prongs on the bottom.

Are they interchangeable? Will either kind work for gas or liquid? I just bought two more ball lock kegs, and one of them has the 3 prong style poppet valve in both the gas and liquid post.

Thanks!
 
All of mine use the three prong poppet. I know that the newer universal poppet is two pieces.

I'm betting they are interchangeable.
 
I recently bought used pin lock kegs. They had the single piece 3-prong poppets on gas and liquid sides. Wanting to get everything as new as possible, I replaced all with the 2 piece universal type poppet. I had no issues, so I believe them to be interchangeable.
 
Thanks guys. I also e-mailed the company that I bought them from just to see what they say about it. I could also just try it and see what happens. Or maybe replacing them all with the 2 piece universal style would be the way to go any way. I didn't know about these.
 
It really depends on the model of keg, and whether or not the post fittings are original to the keg. Most poppets are interchangeable on the same keg, but they're often not interchangeable between kegs.

The determining factor isn't the style of feet but rather the height. If the height of two poppets is identical from where they rest on the diptube to where they seal on the post fitting, then they should be interchangeable. They may not lock into place inside the fitting as they were designed to, but they'll work fine. If however they're different heights, then you'll likely have issues trying to swap them.
 
JuanMoore said:
It really depends on the model of keg, and whether or not the post fittings are original to the keg. Most poppets are interchangeable on the same keg, but they're often not interchangeable between kegs.

The determining factor isn't the style of feet but rather the height. If the height of two poppets is identical from where they rest on the diptube to where they seal on the post fitting, then they should be interchangeable. They may not lock into place inside the fitting as they were designed to, but they'll work fine. If however they're different heights, then you'll likely have issues trying to swap them.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I messed around with this a little over the weekend, and they do seem to be interchangeable. I read somewhere that the flow rate on the liquid side can be restricted if they are not the right height, but they all seem to fit and seal either post. The reviews for the universal valves on the NB site say that they are universal for both sides...but like you mentioned the height is the main thing. They said that you can cut one ring off of the spring if they don't fit properly.

Thanks again!
 

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